Abstract
The purpose of this research was to examine the effectiveness of pre-cooking treatments on the quality characteristics of ready-to-eat (RTE) empal gentong. Raw beef meat was pre-cooked in water bath at 90°C for 0 min (C), 10 min (T1), 20 min (T2), and 30 min (T3) prior to retorting process at 121°C and pressure at 70,000 Pa. Results showed that pre-cooking treatments in all treated samples could reduce fat contents in empal gentong's meat by 0.02% (T1), 0.28% (T2), and 1.13% (T3) respectively. Highest precooking time tends to increase the pH and CIE a* values. However, CIE b* values, water holding capacity, and sensory analysis were not affected by pre-cooking duration which must have been affected by sterilization process after pre-cooking. In conclusion, pre-cooking treatment before sterilization in producing empal gentong is a probable technique to reduce its fat content and improve its physical quality. A specific treatment at 90°C for 10 min is recommended to achieve optimum quality of RTE empal gentong's meat.