ABSTRACT

The comparative assessment of smoked frozen mackerel (Scomber scombrus) using a modified drum kiln (MDK) and traditional drum kiln (TDK) was examined. A MDK and TDK was constructed. Its performance were compared in terms of fuel wood utilization, quality of the product, wholesomeness of the fish, cost benefit of constructing each type of kiln and convenience associated with the smoking process. In the study 6.8kg of frozen fish was smoked with 2.7kg of wood using the MDK, while 8.7kg of wood was used to smoke 2.2kg o the same species using TDK. The study revealed that MDK is more efficient in the utilization of wood than the TDK as 51.20% fuei wood was conserved. Similarly, the cost of using the modified drum kiln was lower than the fish smoked in TDK, which suggests that it is cheaper to produce fish in MDK than the TDK. Sensory evaluation scores revealed that the fish smoked in the MDK was better in appearance and overall acceptability. The proximate analysis of the frozen fish and the smoked fish were analyzed. Result showed that the moisture content of fish sample smoked with MDK having the' least value of 26.40±O.03%, fish smoked with TDK having the value 29.98±O.02% showed significant difference (P<0.05) from the control with the highest value of 71.17± O.04%.The cost of constructing each of the kilns was calculated and comparison made between the economic advantages of the modified drum kiln against the traditional drum kiln, which showed that, the MDK processes three times the fish that can be process with TDK. Also MDK is more efficient in the utilization of wood then the TDK. it is recommended that MDK was the best smoking kln because of the reduction of moisture content.