Rehydration of salt-cured cod using injection and tumbling technologies

• Published in: Food research international 2004, Vol.37 (10), p.925-931
• Main Authors: Bjørkevoll, Ingebrigt, Olsen, Jan-Vidar, Olsen, Ragnar L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; cod (fish); cohesion; color; cured foods; Fish and seafood industries; Food industries; food processing quality; food quality; food storage; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; injection; Injection and tumbling technologies; juiciness; optimization; plate count; process control; Product quality and stability; Rehydration; salt concentration; Salt-cured cod; salted fish; sensory properties; shelf life; smell; sodium chloride; storage stability; taste; texture; traditional technology; water content; weight
• ISSN: 0963-9969; 1873-7145
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2004.06.002

Traditional rehydration of salt-cured and dried salt-cured cod (klipfish) is most often carried out in stagnant water for 24–48 h. This process has however been difficult to run in industrial scale due to problems related both to process flow and product quality. The new three-step rehydration method developed in this work includes injection of tap water followed by tumbling in water and tumbling in a 2% NaCl brine. Using the new rapid method whole fillets and loins are rehydrated within 3 h. Similar to traditional rehydration, a weight gain of 33–34% was obtained. A trained sensory panel found significant differences in cohesiveness, after-taste and sour smell between fillets rehydrated with the traditional and the new method. No differences were found concerning 14 other sensory properties or the storage stability of rehydrated samples.