Results: A review of adding hydrolyzed pork collagen to a cooked ham or bacon

Sonac’s hydrolyzed pork collagen—called QBoost Pork Hydro-P Premium—is an ingredient that’s easy to use and worth adding to cooked ham or bacon meat products for various benefits, from texture to nutrition to improved costs.

Incorporating Hydro-P Premium into a ham and/or bacon recipe is fairly easy: beginning with your fresh, raw meat (either ham or bacon), add your brine by tumbling or injection. Our hydrolyzed collagen can be incorporated into the brine—the broken-down peptides and fine white powder consistency of the product make it easily soluble. From there, the production of the ham and/or bacon can be finished as usual.

Here we outline the key end results when you add Hydro-P Premium to both types of meat proteins

The end results of adding hydrolyzed pork collagen to cooked ham or bacon

More desirable texture.

Both the bite and mouthfeel of the cooked ham or bacon is of a higher quality. Although Hydro-P Premium does not gel when cooked with water at any ratio, when you apply it in a meat matrix, Hydro-P Premium significantly increases water retention levels. This helps to make the bite of the meat product snappier and the overall mouthfeel meaty.

Improved sliceability and cooking yield.

Another benefit to Hydro-P Premium improving texture, is that it helps make slicing ham and bacon easier (they can be sliced faster and there is less breakage and loss). The meat can also be sliced into thinner pieces, which is a quality consumers prefer. Furthermore, Hydro-P Premium contributes to a significant increase of water retention and cooking yield, compared to a product without added protein.

A clean and clear label.

Hydro-P Premium is an excellent replacement for carrageenan (an additive, and an E number or INS number). Using Hydro-P premium yields a cleaner and clearer ingredient list, as Hydro-P Premium is listed on the ingredient list in terms—as either bouillon, broth, or collagen—that are pronounceable and recognizable to consumers.

Higher nutritional value.

Not only is the quality of the product improved from a texture and labeling point of view, but the protein content of your end product is higher (Hydro-P Premium is 90% protein content), and it consists of collagen, an ingredient that more and more consumers now desire.

Learn more about Hydro-P Premium

To learn more about Hydro-P Premium, download our whitepaper "The benefits of hydrolyzed collagen for pork meat" here

Or, if you’re interested in securing a sample of Hydro-P Premium, connect with one of our product specialists here to secure yourself a sample.