The Effects of Different Reheating Methods on the Quality of Pre-Cooked Braised Chicken

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of microwave (MW) reheating, water boiling (WB) reheating, and steaming (ST) reheating on the quality attributes (including reheating loss, moisture content, centrifugal loss, water distribution, color, texture, microstructure, flavor, and taste) of pre-cooked braised chicken (PBC), using a non-reheated group as a control (C). The results showed that the ST group demonstrated the lowest reheating loss, and that ST reheating had the least influence on textural characteristics among all the reheating methods. In addition, the results of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that the integrity of the muscle fibers in the ST group was most comparable to the C group. Meanwhile, the aroma of the ST group was similar to that of the other reheating groups, and it exhibited a greater taste intensity. The ST treatment emerges as a viable reheating method for preserving the quality characteristics of PBC.