Effect of Preparation and Service on the Thiamin Content of Oven-Baked Chicken

Chicken breast halves were oven-baked and evaluated for thiamin content when prepared and served under a cafeteria-style foodservice system. After preparation, they were held on a steam table for 90 min, frozen stored for 4 wk and finally reheated using conventional and microwave ovens. Thiamin determinations were conducted on raw, cooked, hot-held, frozen-cooked and reheated samples. The mean total percent cooking losses for the freshly cooked chicken were 20.4 ± 10.9%. The steam table holding for 90 min resulted in 4.4 ± 0.7% evaporation losses. The mean percent evaporation losses for the microwave reheated chicken were not significantly different from those of the conventionally reheated samples. No significant differences were noted in the moisture and fat content among various treatments. The thiamin content of raw meat when calculated on a dry, fat-free basis was significantly higher than the thiamin content of the cooked meat. There were no significant differences in the thiamin content after various treatments.