Textural effect of chilling hot Longissimus dorsi muscle with solid CO2

This paper covers the work carried out on the textural effects of chilling hot boned meat using solid carbon dioxide (CO2). The purpose was to measure the texture of beef Longissimus dorsi (LD) chilled in boxes with solid CO2 and to compare this with conventionally chilled meat. The results showed that CO2 chilled meat were tougher than the controls. Shear force (SF) and work done (WD) results indicated that 63% of the CO2 chilled meat were above 50N compared to 32% of the controls, taste panel would judge this as slightly tough. 22% of the CO2 chilled meat was SF > 100N which overall would be judged as extremely tough as compared to 2% of the controls. The work also showed that the laser diffraction technique was unable to distinguish between active and passive shortening giving only an average or overall length for the area viewed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.