Characterization of baked color of cookie, toast and chicken: a model of light-colored food

Abstract

Producing delicious-looking food is one of the features required of cooking equipment. For optimizing the technical advantages of oven cooking, color changes of light-colored food during oven cooking were characterized based on time-series colorimetric data. Three types of food materials were used as samples: toast (sliced white bread), plain cookie, and raw chicken meat pate. The colorimetric data were measured in situ using an optical fiber and a spectrometer under various conditions, with two types of steam ovens. Prediction expressions for the chroma and lightness (quantitative attributes) history of the food surface during oven baking were developed. The profiles of changes in the chroma and lightness for each material and under each set of heating conditions were investigated using the measured data and calculated values. The profiles, prediction method, and “browning index” defined in this study can be applied for optimizing automatic oven operation using the preferences index.