Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate changes in thermal profile, meat texture and color of pork chop during pan-frying with or without one turnover. Pork chops (1.2 cm thick) were individually pan-fried at 175 ºC for 75 s without turnover or 150 s with one turnover. Internal temperature, meat color and texture at 11 designated positions were tracked. During frying, temperature and cooking loss significantly increased (P<0.001), accompanied by a significant increase (P<0.001) in hardness, gumminess, chewiness and L* value, together with a significant decrease (P<0.05) in springiness, cohesiveness, resilience and a* value. Positions close to the periphery generally showed significantly higher (P<0.05) final temperatures, and significantly lower (P<0.05) hardness, gumminess, chewiness, L* and a* values than those close to the center. These results could explain variation in tenderness within the same sample when evaluating eating quality of cooked meat.

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