Effect of chilling methods on the surface color and water retention of yellow-feathered chickens

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of air chilling (AC), water chilling (WC), combined chilling consisting of WC for 20 min and AC (CO20), and combined chilling consisting of WC for 30 min and AC (CO30) on the microbiological status, surface color, processing yield, and moisture content of yellow-feathered chicken carcasses. After chilling, the carcasses treated by AC exhibited the highest total viable counts (TVC) (4.7 cfu/cm2), followed by those treated by CO20 and CO30, whereas the carcasses treated by WC showed the lowest (P 0.05) was found among the carcasses treated by CO20, CO30, and WC. The skin samples of carcass parts treated by WC (breast, thighs, drumsticks, back, neck, and wings) exhibited higher moisture contents than the skin samples of the carcasses treated by AC (P 0.05). The results of this work can be useful for understanding and improving the chilling process for yellow-feathered chickens.