Experiments were conducted on white and dark raw deboned meat from light and heavy fowl to observe effects of sodium chloride and polyphosphate (Kena) soak treatments before cooking. Treatments were soaked overnight at 3 C in the following solutions: distilled water, 2% sodium chloride, 3% Kena (commercial polyphosphate mixture), and 2% sodium chloride + 3% Kena. White and dark meat from light and heavy fowl were treated separately. Determinations were made of proximate composition after soak and after cook, sodium chloride and phosphorus absorption and retention, percent weight gain after soak, and percent cook yield. Sensory evaluations and objective texture measurements were also made on water-cooked pieces.Significant (P<.05) effects of the phosphate, with and without sodium chloride, were noted in improved sensory quality and lower shear values of meat from light fowl. Soaking heavy fowl in phosphate, with and without sodium chloride, significantly (P<.05) reduced objective texture values for hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, and chewiness. The various meat-fowl combinations responded differently to the amount of sodium chloride and phosphorus absorbed on soaking and retained after cooking. However, the primary source of variation in the data was due to treatment of soaking in sodium chloride or phosphate, alone or in combination. (