Control of sous-vide physicochemical, sensory, and microbial properties through the manipulation of cooking temperatures and times.

Abstract

The selection of appropriate temperatures and times for cooking various muscle meats are the key factors for manipulating eating quality such as tenderness, the degree of doneness, water retention, and taste. The mild cooking temperature in sous-vide tends to affect meat quality. The impact of prolonged cooking is deemed the prerequisite treatment for the microbiological safety of sous-vide meat. An approach to sequential sous-vide cooking and its effect on textural properties is also presented in this review. Neither the physicochemical properties (tenderness, color, and water retention) nor palatability (umami and volatile flavors) was perceived as optimal at one temperature point. Temperatures of 50-60 °C were vital for the textural properties of sous-vide cooked meat. Temperatures >70 °C had a pronounced effect on palatability development, likely from the generation of umami from nucleotides and volatile flavor from the Strecker degradation of amino acids occurring at higher temperatures.