Effects of end-point temperature, reheating, holding time, and holding temperature on beef tenderness

Abstract

We cooked steaks from two muscles; outside round (biceps femoris), and strip loin (longissimus lumborum) with an electric belt grill. Biceps femoris steaks had higher Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), connective tissue force (WB Cforce), and myofibrillar force (WB Mforce) values than longissimus lumborum steaks. Holding biceps femoris steaks at 144°F after cooking increased WB C-force (P<0.05) and WB M-force (P<0.01) as compared to holding them at 135°F. Holding biceps femoris steaks for 15 min decreased shear force by 12%, whereas the decrease was only 3% from holding for 30 min, likely because more moisture was lost with the longer holding time. Reheating had the only significant effect on longissimus lumborum steaks’ WB measures because low collagen content of this muscle is not affected by holding time or temperature.