Effect of meat temperature on proteins, texture, and cook loss for ground chicken breast patties.

Soluble proteins, myofibrillar proteins, collagen, texture, and cook loss were evaluated at different meat temperatures by heating ground and formed chicken breast meat in brass containers in a water bath to temperatures of 40, 50, 60, 70, or 80 C. The soluble proteins decreased by approximately 90% as meat temperature increased from 23 to 80 C. The myofibrillar protein subunits of molecular weight greater than 43 kDa decreased with increasing temperature from 23 to 80 C as analyzed via SDS-PAGE. Amount of soluble collagen more than doubled when meat temperature was increased from 50 to 70 C. The maximum peak shear force was obtained, via Warner-Bratzler shear test, at 60 C for ground chicken breast patties. The weight of patties decreased approximately 10.3% when meat temperatures were increased from 23 to 80 C. Overall, heating temperature affected the texture of the meat and caused changes in proteins and cook loss.