The interaction effect of microwave precooking and temperature
was significant on moisture loss of chicken nuggets during
deep-fat frying. There was a general decrease in the moisture content
of the breading coating. The core moisture content decreased
significantly after precooking and slightly during frying. Precooking
and frying temperature influenced oil uptake for precooked
chicken nuggets breading part. Precooking at 6.7 W/g produced
chicken nuggets with the least fat uptake at all the frying temperatures,
which shows that precooking chicken nuggets within this
level has the possibility of reducing fat absorption. The kinetics
models gave a good and varied fit for moisture diffusion and oil
transfer, respectively, in the breading part. A poor fit was produced
for fat transfer in the core part. The Arrhenius plot showed the
temperature dependency of mass diffusion in the product.