Sensory and Consumer Evaluation of Smoked Pulled Pork Prepared Using Different Smokers and Different Types of Wood

Abstract

Smoked and barbecued meats have continued to gain popularity in recent years, however, no consensus exists on the best methods for preparation. Several smoker types and many varieties of wood are used for smoking meat in the restaurant industry and by amateur “pit‐masters.” In this research, pork was smoked with an outdoor offset smoker and an indoor electric smoker using four wood types: hickory, apple, oak, and mesquite. Descriptive and consumer acceptance tests were conducted to evaluate the different treatments and determine drivers of liking. Pork smoked with the offset smoker using hickory wood had the highest overall acceptance. Appearance characteristics, such as intensity of red color, were the top drivers of liking for the smoked pork product. Practical Application This research demonstrates the drivers of liking for smoked pork products commonly found in American barbecue, specifically Kansas City‐style barbecue. The results have application in both retail and restaurant environments and can be used to produce an optimized smoked pork product.

Using correspondence analysis to evaluate consumer terminology and understand the effects of smoking method and type of wood on the sensory perception of smoked meat

“…Charcoal was used as the heating source for the offset smoker (Kingsford Charcoal, The Clorox Company, Oakland, CA). The four wood types, in chunk form, hickory, apple, oak, and mesquite, were chosen based on their popularity with amateur barbecue enthusiasts and use in professional kitchens locally (Swaney‐Stueve et al, ). Ten treatments were prepared for this experiment with two “negative” control treatments (no wood) for each smoker type (offset and electric).…”

“…Meat pieces were broken into 8.5–14 g chunks and served warm (150–155 °F). All pork preparation was performed by a trained chef (Swaney‐Stueve et al, ).…”

“…CATA questions were used for probing the reason for liking and/or disliking. Terms used for CATA were randomized in the study and include meat color, crust/bark color, smoke flavor, meat flavor, seasoning, texture, tenderness, moistness, not enough smoke flavor, too much smoke flavor, too much seasoning, not enough seasoning, too dry, too tough, too fatty, too mushy, not enough meat flavor, and too much meat flavor (Swaney‐Stueve et al, ). The constrained open‐ended question was asked at the very end of the questionnaire.…”

“…Initial lexicon terms were procured from Jaffe et al () study. For attributes, definitions, and references, please see Swaney‐Stueve et al ().…”

“…Only a few papers that propose an emphasis on documenting sensory experiences and consumer perceptions on smoked products have been reported previously (Jaffe, Wang, & Chambers, ; Pham et al, ). While another study was designed to understand consumer perceptions and drivers of liking of KC‐style barbeque based on descriptive data (Swaney‐Stueve et al, ), little is known about the comparison of sensory profiles with consumers' terminology to describe specific perception characteristics of KC‐style barbeque. This study was planned and executed to address this objective.…”