Effect of stunning method,carcase chilling temperature and filleting time on the texture of turkey breast meat

1. Three hundred and sixty turkeys comprising 16 week‐old stags (medium stags), 22 week‐old stags (large stags) or 52 week‐old hens (hens) were stunned with either argon‐induced anoxia, 30% carbon dioxide in argon with 2% residual oxygen (gas mixture) or electric current and the carcases were processed under commercial conditions. The carcases were chilled at either 16°C or 3°C using a commercial immersion chiller and the carcases were held in a cold room (3°C).

2. Breast muscles (pectoralis major) were filleted at either 2, 3, 5 or 18 h post‐mortem, and pH and muscle temperature were measured at the time of filleting for the medium and large stags. The breast fillets removed soon after killing were stored at 3°C until transported to the laboratory.

3. All the breast fillets were cooked to an internal muscle temperature of 85°C and their texture was measured instrumentally. The fillets were weighed before and after cooking to determine the proportional cooking loss.

4. The results showed that, for electrical stunning, the rate of pH fall soon after killing differed between the bird types, and it resulted in a variable texture in the breast meat when filleting was performed soon after killing. The medium stags had a relatively slower rate of pH fall and filleting them soon after killing resulted in tougher breast meat.

5. By contrast, in all the three bird types, gas stunning resulted in a rapid pH fall soon after killing and produced tender breast meat at all the filleting times tested.

6. The cooking loss was higher in the large stags than in the medium stags or hens.

7. Stunning turkeys by anoxia or 30% carbon dioxide in argon would enable filleting to be performed soon after killing, and produce less variable‐and more tender breast meat.