Quality and Palatability of Beef Subprimals Subjected to Various Frozen/Refrigerated Storage Conditions
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abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of various combinations of refrigerated and frozen storage on quality and palatability attributes in ribeye roll and top sirloin butt subprimals and steaks. USDA Choice boneless ribeye rolls (n=40) and top sirloin butts (n=40) were aged under refrigeration for 21 d before being assigned to 1 of 4 treatments. Treatments included (1) Frozen subprimals/Frozen steaks, in which subprimals were frozen for 30 d, thawed for 7 d, and portioned into steaks that were frozen for 30 d, then thawed for 2 d before evaluation; (2) Frozen subprimals/Refrigerated steaks, in which subprimals were frozen for 30 d, thawed for 7 d, and portioned into steaks for evaluation; (3) Refrigerated subprimals/Frozen steaks, in which subprimals were portioned into steaks that were frozen for 30 d, then thawed for 2 d before evaluation; and (4) Refrigerated subprimals/Refrigerated steaks, in which subprimals were portioned into steaks for evaluation within 7 d of portioning. Beef steaks from the ribeye rolls and top sirloin butts were evaluated to determine the impact of storage treatments on purge, color, cooking yield, tenderness, and consumer acceptability. For both subprimals, purge varied (P>0.0001) among steak treatments, with Refrigerated/Refrigerated being the lowest for both subprimals. For both steak types, cook yield was highest (P>0.05) for Refrigerated/Refrigerated treatment. Refrigerated/Refrigerated ribeye steaks had among the lowest Warner-Bratzler shear force values, and similar (P<0.05) consumer ratings were observed for ribeye steaks. Frozen/Frozen top sirloin steaks had the lowest (P>0.05) consumer ratings for overall liking, flavor liking, and juiciness liking. Storage conditions played a greater role in quality and consumer acceptability for top sirloin steaks than ribeye steaks. Overall, freezing both subprimals and steaks posed the greatest challenge in quality and palatability.
