It is known that in the gelation of salt-ground meat from walleye pollack surimi, favorable setting temperature appears to be at around 25°C, and the changing profile of gel strength of kamaboko gel as a function of setting at 40°C varies among the preparations of frozen surimi. At a setting temperature of 40°C, there was a general trend that the breaking strength of kamaboko gel formed from high grade surimi changed in a biphasic manner: on increase at an early stage of the setting and a subsequent decrease at a later stage, while the breaking strength of the gel from low grade surimi reduced in a monophasic manner.
We showed that there is a good correlation between the maximum value of breaking strength of kamaboko gel attained through the setting at 25°C and the changing rate of breaking strength of kamaboko gel as a function of the setting time at 40°C.
On the basis of these findings, we proposed a simple and quick method for evaluating the characteristic gelling ability of walleye pollack frozen surimi for practical use in a factory.
