Effects of cooking beef muscles from frozen or thawed states on cooking traits and palatability

Biceps femoris and longissimus lumborum steaks were cooked from either a frozen or thawed state on an electric belt grill (TBG-60 MagiKitch'n Inc., Quakertown, PA) at 93 degreesC to the endpoint temperature of 70 degreesC. Cooking loss, cooking time, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and color (Illuminant A, L*, a*, b*) were evaluated. Trained panelists (n = 6) evaluated palatability attributes on an eight-point scale for myofibrillar tenderness, juiciness, flavor, overall tenderness, and connective tissue amount (I = extremely tough, dry, bland, tough, and abundant; 8 = extremely tender, juicy, intense, tender, and none). L*, a*, WBSF, juiciness, flavor, connective tissue amount, and overall tenderness did not differ (P>0.05) between steaks cooked from frozen and thawed states. However, thawed steaks cooked faster and had lower cooking losses than frozen steaks. The biceps femoris had higher WBSF values than the longissimus lumborum and was rated less tender by trained panelists. L*, a*, or b* values did not differ (P>0.05) between muscles. The biceps femoris needed more time to cook and had greater cooking losses than longissimus lumborum. Dimensional changes of steaks cooked to either 60 or 70 degreesC were studied. The width of biceps femoris steaks decreased 112%, and width of longissimus lumborum decreased 6.3%. Longissimus lumborum steaks became shorter,(P<0.6 1) than biceps femoris steaks. Thickness of biceps femoris steaks decreased 25.6%, and thickness of longissimus lumborum steaks decreased 23.3%. Muscle type had a more pronounced effect on dimensional changes of steaks than endpoint temperature. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.