Frozen chicken products

Abstract

From 1987 to 1990 Puerto Rico imported an average of 148 million pounds of chicken per year. Even though local poultry production has been steadily increasing, there is still need to replace imports with locally elaborated products. To provide alternatives that can be used to diversify and increase local poultry production, we developed convenience frozen products: fricassee, patties, nuggets, rolls, uncooked and precooked breaded breast fillets and baked chicken in cream sauce. The sensory parameters measured included appearance, flavor, texture and overall acceptability. All samples were evaluated for up to 6-month frozen storage. Results indicated that all products developed were highly rated by the taste panel. This finding suggests that there is a market potential for the developed products. A quality shelf-life of at least 6 months should prove adequate to provide enough room for successful marketing. Since these products were formulated as prime quality foods, ingredient substitution or omission to lower production cost could be considered by whoever produces these products commercially if such cost reduction is desired.