Effect of Holding Time and Temperatures on the Quality of Precooked Frozen Meals

The feasibility of heating precooked frozen meals and maintaining them not for six or eight hours at 71 deg C until they were consumed was determined. The sensory quality of the meals and the dependability of a commercial holding oven were also investigated in this study. With the exception of the Sliced Beef and Gravy meal, all other meals tested Veal Parmesan, Fried Chicken, Salisbury Steak and Turkey with Gravy were judged acceptable in sensory quality by a technological panel based on a 9-point quality scale. The commerical holding oven proved to be dependable because it allowed a maximum of 16 meals to be held at 71 deg C for six or eight hours.