Effects of Different Drying Methods on the Quality of Factory Instant Bacon

Three drying methods, including natural air drying, hot air drying, and heat pump drying were studied in this paper to meet the different needs for the industrial production of Chinese bacon. The principal components analysis (PCA) on the physical and chemical indicators was conducted by comparing water activities, moisture contents, yield ratios, acid values, peroxide values, hues, organoleptic attributes, and textures. The results indicated that the Chinese bacon obtained by natural air drying had poor color quality, while the Chinese bacon obtained by hot air drying had the highest acid value, peroxide value, and yield ratio. In addition, the Chinese bacon obtained by heat pump drying had the lowest water activity, lowest moisture content, best color quality, highest sensory score, lowest hardness, and fastest drying rate. Its water activity was 0.718, the moisture content was 18.13 g/100 g, the yield ratio was 62.20%, the peroxide value was 0.127 g/100 g, the acid value was 0.83 mg/g, the color deviation was 12.28, the sensory score was 39.50, and the hardness was 8120.16 g. By PCA, the first two principal components were extracted, and the cumulative contribution rate reached 100%. Furthermore, the water activity, moisture content, peroxide value, hardness, springiness, gumminess and chewiness contributed to the first principal component, while the yield ratio, acid value, color deviation, and resilience contributed to the second principal component. In summary, the best quality of Chinese bacon products can be obtained by heat pump drying, which can provide a theoretical basis for the industrial production of meat products.