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Tenderness of beef as affected by different freezing temperatures^*

United States Department of Agriculture

Abstract

Any factor that has a bearing on tenderness of meat is of definite concern to the consuming public. The relative effects of different freezing temperatures on tenderness is one of the more important problems brought into the foreground in recent years by the greatly increased use of temperatures below the freezing point in preserving fresh meat.

Pairs of short loins from four 900-pound Shorthorn steers were used in the study on tenderness in relation to freezing temperature reported here. From each pair of loins 8 pairs of steaks of uniform thickness (1.5 inches) were cut. Temperatures studied were +34°, +20°, –10°, and –40° F. The 16 steaks from each carcass were assigned to the 4 temperatures according to a modified random plan. Five days after slaughter the four + 34° steaks were tested for tenderness and the other 12 steaks placed in the freezers. In testing, the steaks were first heated electrically, under uniform oven conditions, to an internal tern-perature of 140° F. (60° C.) and then measured for tenderness by means of the mechanical or shearing-strength device developed by the Bureau of Animal Industry.

^* Abstract. Complete paper offered for publication in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry.