Characteristics of freeze-dried meat batter powder subjected to different freezing temperatures

This study investigated the effects of the freezing temperatures (-20 °C and -70 °C) on the properties of freeze-dried (FD) meat batter. A trend toward a faster drying rate was found in the batter frozen at -20 °C (cf., -70 °C; P = 0.057). The FD batter showed lower intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence intensity than the frozen-then-thawed batter. Surface hydrophobicity was higher in the FD batter frozen at -70 °C than at -20 °C (P < 0.05). Gels made from the FD batter frozen at -70 °C exhibited a higher cooking loss than those from the FD batter frozen at -20 °C (P < 0.05). The cured color development was lower in the FD gels than in the raw gel. Although the processing properties of FD batter were inferior to those of raw batter, the FD batter could be used to produce gel-type products. Freezing at -20 °C prior to freeze-drying yielded more favorable properties than freezing at -70 °C.