Evaluation of Potato Cakes and Breaded Chicken Patties Fried by the Fry Less 100 K Radiant System Compared to Oil Immersion Frying

摘要

The objective of this research was to evaluate potato cakes and chicken patties fried using the FryLess 100K controlled dynamic radiant system and compare to oil immersion frying. The FryLess 100K is an alternative frying process, which produces friedfoods with 30 - 50% less oil than their immersion fried counterparts. The FryLess uses high temperature radiant emitters to generate high flux infrared radiation. It differs from other cooking methods because it mimics the heat flux experienced during immersion frying, supplying energy to the surface of the food to cause water evaporation, crust formation, and browning. Benefits of the FryLess are high heat flux generation, reduced fat and caloric content, accelerated product heating, removal of safetyhazards associated with hot frying oil, and elimination of fry oil waste. For comparisons, both frozen products were prepared using via FryLess and immersion frying. Physical properties measured included oil and moisture content. Temperatures of the FryLess product were equivalent with immersion frying temperatures with averages being 110°C (external) and 85°C (internal) for the potato cakes and 95°C (internal) for the chicken patties. A 37% and 38% (by weight) reduction in oil was observed in the Fryless products. Moisture content of the immersion fried and the FryLess products differed significantly (p < 0.0001) for the potato cakes being 46.2 and 58.9% whereas moisture content for the chicken patties did not differ significantly (p = 0.097) being 46.7 and 50.1%, respectively. The FryLess 100K has potential to produce a lower fat, reduced calorie, fried product with appeal equal to immersion fried products.