Effects of cold shortening and cooking rate on beef tenderness
Effects of cold shortening and cooking rate on beef tenderness
D.A. King
M. Koohmaraie
Michael E. Dikeman
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Effects of cold shortening and cooking rate on beef tenderness
Abstract
A study was conducted to determine if excised, cold-shortened muscle improves in tenderness with
refrigerated aging. Changes in muscle tenderness due to cooking rates were also evaluated. Beef ribeye and
shoulder clod muscles from the left side of 12 carcasses were removed 45 min postmortem and placed in an
ice bath to induce cold shortening. Corresponding muscles from the right side were chilled conventionally on
the intact side. One-inch steaks from these muscles were either frozen at 24 hours or aged for 14 days at 40ºF
before being cooked and analyzed. Steaks were analyzed raw, or cooked to 160ºF internally in a oven at 200
(SLOW) or 500°F (FAST). Sarcomere length (degree of contraction), tenderness, and the extent of
degradation of structural proteins were measured. Rapid chilling caused severe muscle contraction, which had
a dramatic toughening effect. At 24 hours, the cold-shortened muscle showed less protein degradation than
conventionally chilled muscle. After aging 14 days, tenderness had improved and protein degradation had
occurred in both cold-shortened and conventional muscles, but degradation was still less in cold-shortened
muscles. The improvement in tenderness and the increase in protein degradation from 1 to 14 days were equal
between cold-shortened and conventional chilling treatments but the cold-shortened muscles remained
tougher. FAST cooking resulted in greater cooking losses and greater sarcomere shortening than SLOW
cooking. Cooking rate did not affect the tenderness of ribeye steaks, but SLOW cooking improved the
tenderness of shoulder clod steaks that are higher in connective tissue. Extreme chilling conditions, which
induce cold shortening, may reduce protein degradation beyond the effect of shortening. Although aging
improved the tenderness of cold-shortened muscles, they remained tougher than their conventionally chilled
counterparts.
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Authors
D.A. King, T.L. Wheeler, M. Koohmaraie, Michael E. Dikeman, and Curtis L. Kastner
This Research Report article is available in Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports: https://newprairiepress.org/
kaesrr/vol0/iss1/375
EFFECTS OF COLD SHORTENING AND
COOKING RATE ON BEEF TENDERNESS
Summary
A study was conducted to determine if
excised, cold-shortened muscle improves in
tenderness with refrigerated aging.
Changes in muscle tenderness due to
cooking rates were also evaluated. Beef
ribeye and shoulder clod muscles from the
left side of 12 carcasses were removed 45
min postmortem and placed in an ice bath
to induce cold shortening. Corresponding
muscles from the right side were chilled
conventionally on the intact side. One-inch
steaks from these muscles were either
frozen at 24 hours or aged for 14 days at 40ºF
before being cooked and analyzed. Steaks
were analyzed raw, or cooked to 160ºF
internally in a oven at 200 (SLOW) or 500°F
(FAST). Sarcomere length (degree of
contraction), tenderness, and the extent of
degradation of structural proteins were
measured. Rapid chilling caused severe
muscle contraction, which had a dramatic
toughening effect. At 24 hours, the
coldshortened muscle showed less protein
degradation than conventionally chilled
muscle. After aging 14 days, tenderness had
improved and protein degradation had
occurred in both cold-shortened and
conventional muscles, but degradation was still
less in cold-shortened muscles. The
improvement in tenderness and the increase in
protein degradation from 1 to 14 days were
equal between cold-shortened and
conventional chilling treatments but the
coldshortened muscles remained tougher.
FAST cooking resulted in greater cooking
losses and greater sarcomere shortening
than SLOW cooking. Cooking rate did not
affect the tenderness of ribeye steaks, but
SLOW cooking improved the tenderness of
shoulder clod steaks that are higher in
connective tissue. (...truncated)