Canned Products and Pâté 347
Liver (poultry, pork, game, etc.)
Lean meat + viscera
12 - 18% final product
Fat
45 - 50% final product
Cooking at 80oC
Scalding at 65oC
HOMOGENIZATION
(emulsion formation)
Spices, herbs,
other additives
Heattreatment
time-temperature relationship
depends on the can or casing
diameter
Figure 19.2. Flow diagram of liver p â t é fabrication.
Table 19.1. Nutritional content of pork liver p â t é and p â t é de foie - gras (100 g)
energy
(kcal)
protein
(g)
fat(g) Cholesterol
(mg)
sodium
(mg)
Iron
(mg)
pork liver p â t é 305 10 28 96 660 3.5
p â t é de foie - gras 448 10 44 380 740 6.4
http://www.consumer.es/web/es/alimentacion/aprender_a_comer_bien/curiosidades/2008/01/19/145977.php
58 minutes at the product center; in large
formats (150 mm diameter), 68 ° to 70 ° C for
314 to 360 minutes are necessary for a fully
processed material (Totosaus and P é rez -
Chabela 2005 ). Figure 19.2 depicts the
general process to obtain liver p â t é. In addi-
tion to ensuring product microbial safety,
heating develops sensory characteristics such
as fl avor and texture; the emulsion turns into
a gel, stabilizing the product, although the
high fat content also contributes to the desir-
able spreadability characteristic of this meat
product.
In the case of p â t é foie gras, the high fat
content (44%, Table 19.1 ) makes this product
melt too easily, so it is served chilled; liver
p â t é s can be served warm or hot. Chefs rec-
ommend that canned p â t é age for three
months before opening, to develop fl avor.
Physicochemical Characteristics
Since p â t é is a semisolid food that is expected
to be consumed as a spread, texture in general
and spreadability in particular are the most
important physicochemical characteristics.
Spreadability, a subjective texture charac-
teristic of semisolid foods, is related to the
material yield stress, the minimum shear
stress required to initiate fl ow ( σ o); it is
inversely proportional to σ o. Kryscio and
others (2008) developed a method to measure
spreadability of pharmaceutical topical for-
mulations, based on a torque exerted by a
vane. It involves the immersion of vane
blades into a sample, followed by slow rota-
tion at a constant speed until the torque
exerted on the vane reaches a maximum
value and the sample begins to fl ow. Torque
versus time curves are used to determine
yield stress, and the maximum torque
exerted on the vane by the fl uid is measured.
Daubert and others (2007) reported a method
for rapid and quantitative measurement of
spreadability based on the yield point of
food items. The authors concluded that this
textural property has been linked to the
yield stress of a material, but observations