Method of Express Diagnostics of Fishsemi-Finished Products

Abstract

Background. The main aspects of quality assessment of fish raw materials and combi ovens for its heat treatment are considered. The results of connection researches of structural and mechanical properties of raw materials with its thermophysical charac­teristics and parameters of necessary culinary processing are presented. The expediency of using physical methods for assessing the quality of raw materials to predict the mode of heat treatment is determined. The aim of the study is to develop a system of rapid diagnostics of structural-mecha­nical and thermophysical properties of fish semi-finished products for the insti­tutions of the HoReCa industry. Materials and methods. The object of research is the structural-mechanical and thermophysical properties of grass carp and their changes during storage. The subject of research – culinary semi-finished products, specifically – grass carp steaks. Determination of structural and mechanical properties of steaks was carried out by a measuring sensor of original design, developed on the basis of components of ITM LLC. The heating kinetics of grass carp semi-finished products were performed in a PolEco cabinet at a temperature of 180 ºC and forced convection. The temperature in the samples was recorded by standard thermal sensors of the UMCD with a measure­ment period of 20 seconds. The amount of active electricity, consumed for the preparation of steaks, was determined excluding the reactive component, by using current measuring clamp. Culinary processing of steaks was in the steam convection oven Convotherm OEB 6.10. Results. A set of structural and mechanical properties of grass carp steaks with different shelf life was determined with a sensor of the original design of UMCD. The correlation of changes in the indicators of adhesion, penetration and relaxation force after compression with the shelf life of steaks was established. A correlation between the shelf life and the heating speed of the samples was established with a standard thermo sensors of UMCD. The heating speed of the samples after 24 h of storage increases by 10–11 %. By recording the current in the power cable of the combi steamer, the electricity consumption for cooking 12 portions of steaks (2400 g) was determined. The possibility of saving electricity from 4.6 % for cooking freshly asleep fish and up to 16.5 % for chilled fish stored for 24 hours was established. Conclusion. The measuring sensor was tested. It allows determining the rela­xation, strength and adhesion of fish raw materials in the express mode. It was found that the structural-mechanical and thermophysical properties of grass carp change with storage time. It is experimentally confirmed that the change of information parameters of heat treatment in the steam convection oven is a criterion of quality of culinary products from freshwater fish. The developed method of express diagnostics allows determining the rheological properties of raw materials from freshwater fish and optimizing the heat treatment of culinary products in restaurants in terms of differential quality of raw materials. Due to the selection of individual processing modes for fish raw materials of different consistency and shelf life, it is possible to reduce electricity consumption by the steam convection oven by 4.6–22.4 %.