Effect of pretreatments and vacuum drying on instant dried pork process optimization

Abstract

Dehydrated meat which can be instantly rehydrated is needed by the industry. This research was aimed to investigate a more economical drying process. Central composite design was applied with three variables: cooking pressure, cooking time, and vacuum drying temperature. The responses were shear force (N), work of shear (N.mm) and % rehydration. The multiple linear regression equation models could predict 91.7, 90.9 and 94.8% of each response, respectively. Cooked pork meat was used for target responses. Its maximum shear force was 43.39±5.42 N, and work of shear was 419.50±64.17 N.mm. Vacuum drying temperature highly affected all responses. Validation of the predicted data was done using two optimum conditions. First condition was cooking pressure of 21.6 lb/in.(2), cooking time of 50 min, and vacuum drying temperature of 95°C. The second condition was cooking pressure of 38.4 lb/in.(2), cooking time of 35 min, and vacuum drying temperature of 100°C. A t-test confirmed that the observed data were not statistically different from the predicted data.