Effects of smoking and marination on the sensory characteristics of cold-cut chicken breast filets: A pilot study

This study aimed to determine individual and combined effects of smoking and marination on the sensory characteristics of boneless, skinless chicken breast meat. Four types of cooked, cold-cut chicken breast meat, i.e., marinated cooked, marinated smoked, and controls of non-marinated cooked and non-marinated smoked chicken, were evaluated for 28 sensory characteristics. Marination significantly increased saltiness, sweetness, roasted flavor, smoked flavor, and moistness of the cold-cut chicken breast meat. In addition, smoking significantly enhanced the saltiness, bitterness, roasted flavor, smoked flavor, and moistness of mass. Interestingly, a combination of smoking and marination processes resulted in a synergistic increase in the perceived moistness of mass compared to their individual treatments. In conclusion, this study demonstrates individual and combined influences of smoking and marination on the sensory characteristics of cold-cut chicken breast meat.