Salted cod manufacturing:: influence of salting procedure on process yield and product characteristics

Cod (Gadus morhua L.) is a white fish that man has been traditionally using for his feeding. In the Mediterranean countries, it is commercialized mainly as salted cod with different moisture content depending on the extension of the drying step. Different salting methods can be used for cod salting (kench salting, pickling and brining) and the comparison of the final product characteristics could help to evaluate the process and to understand the different mass transfer mechanisms involved. In this work, four salting methods were used to manufacture salted cod, completing the process with the corresponding drying, desalting and cooking steps. The aim of the study was to analyze the influence of the salting method on the following steps of the manufacturing process. The results obtained showed significant differences (alpha < 0.05) on the yield of the process mainly due to differences in the amount of liquid phase in the muscle. In spite of these yield differences the quality attributes of cooked product were similar in all cases. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.