Characterisation of deep-fried batter and breaded coatings

Deep-fried battered and breaded coatings provide foods with texture, flavour, reduced moisture loss and oil uptake. The physical characteristics of deep-fried batter and breadcrumb coatings was investigated for deep-fried prawns. Previous data on the effect of breadcrumb size on the microstructure of the coating is limited, therefore breadcrumbs were divided using the following sieve sizes and then applied to the coating in order to investigate the effect of breadcrumb size on the physical and mechanical properties: 4.0 mm, 2.8 mm, 2.0 mm, 1.4 mm, 1.0 mm, 710 μm, 500 μm, 355 μm. After frying, internal morphology was studied using X-ray microCT showing that the total porosity of coatings decreases with breadcrumb size whilst pore size distribution and structure thickness distribution increased with breadcrumb size. As crispness is a fundamental sensorial property of deep-fried battered products, crispness was evaluated by uniaxial compression to acquire mechanical and acoustical measurements simultaneously. Results showed decreasing breadcrumb size reduced the number of multiple failures, reduced jagged appearance of the force profile was observed, reduced maximum compression force and acoustic emission, which has been used as a representative of crispness. This study provides evidence of the importance of breadcrumb size in deep-fried battered and breaded formulations.