Using canola oil hydrogels and organogels to reduce saturated animal fat in meat batters

Conventional canola oil and structured canola oil systems, consisting of oil in water hydrogelled emulsions (with 1.5% or 3% kappa carrageenan) and ethylcellulose organogels (12%, with 0%, 1.5% or 3% glycerol monostearate), were used to replace beef fat in emulsion type meat batters. Replacement with regular canola oil increased hardness and lightness (P < .05) of the reformulated products as compared to those with beef fat. Structuring the oil resulted in similar color and texture (P > .05), and lower oxidation values (P < .05) of meat batters. Reformulated products also gave rise to a healthier fatty acid profile, evidenced by a decrease in saturated fatty acids (SFA) from 11.8% to ≈ 2% and an increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) from 0.3% to ≈ 5%. Omega-6 to omega-3 ratio also decreased (16.2 to ≈ 2) when incorporating canola oil into meat batters. Batters formulated with organogels showed improved matrix stability compared to those with hydrogelled emulsions, which showed some coalescence of fat globules and fat losses during cooking, resulting in a reduction of fat content (P < .05).