Influence of combined IR-grilling and hot air cooking conditions on moisture and fat content, texture and colour attributes of meat patties

The influence of different IR-grilling/hot air cooking conditions on moisture and fat content and on texture and colour attributes of meat patties (hamburgers) was studied. A custom-built lab-scale grill and oven were used to study the effects of grilling time (0 ⩽ tgrill ⩽ 150 s), air temperature (100 ⩽ Tair ⩽ 175 °C) and air velocity (3.8 ⩽ vair ⩽ 7.5 m/s) on meat patty moisture loss, fat loss, total weight loss, texture and colour. The cooking time was defined as the time required until the hamburger reached a core temperature of 72 °C. Clear relationships between the intensity of thermal processing and the weight and moisture loss rates, colour and texture were found. No significant effect of thermal processing conditions on fat losses were found. However, it was also observed that intensifying thermal processing (i.e., higher air velocity, higher air temperature) led to shorter cooking times to attain a core temperature of 72 °C, resulting in less significant differences in moisture and total weight loss of the processed meat patties.