Cookery method and endpoint temperature can affect the Warner-Bratzler shear force, cooking loss, and internal cooked color of beef semimembranosus and infraspinatus steaks.

Abstract

Steaks from USDA Select inside rounds (Exp. 1) and shoulder clods (Exp. 2) were used to test the interactive effect of cookery method and endpoint temperature on Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) and internal cooked color. Pairs of 2.5-cm-thick semimembranosus (SM) or infraspinatus (INF) steaks ( = 360/muscle) were cut from each subprimal, labeled, vacuum packaged, and frozen at -30°C in the dark for approximately 60 d before being cooked to 65.5, 71.1, or 76.6°C using 1) a forced-air convection oven (FAC); 2) a forced-air impingement oven (IMP); 3) a gas-fired, open-hearth charbroiler (CHAR); 4) an electric countertop griddle (GRID); or 5) a clam-shell grill (CLAM). Thawed steaks were cooked to their assigned endpoint temperature × cookery method combination, and, after a 5-min cooling period, steaks were weighed to calculate cooking loss percentage and subsequently sliced perpendicular to the cut surface to measure instrumental cooked color. Then, 6 cores were removed for measurement of WBSF. Cooking losses of SM steaks increased ( < 0.05) with each increase in endpoint temperature, whereas INF steaks cooked on a CHAR had the greatest ( < 0.05) cooking losses and cooking INF steaks with the GRID and the CLAM resulted in lesser ( < 0.05) cooking losses than cooking with the FAC and the IMP. Cooking SM steaks on the CHAR resulted in greater ( < 0.05) WBSF values than all other cookery methods when cooked to 65.5 and 76.6°C and greater ( < 0.05) WBSF values than those cooked on the FAC, GRID, and CLAM when cooked to 71.1°C. Shear force values were greater ( < 0.05) for INF steaks cooked to 71.1 and 76.6°C than those cooked to 65.5°C, but INF WBSF values were similar ( = 0.55) among cookery methods. At 65.5°C, FAC-cooked SM steaks were redder ( < 0.05) than those cooked with the GRID and the IMP and, at 71.1°C, CLAM-cooked SM steaks were redder ( < 0.05) than FAC- and IMP-cooked SM steaks; however, a* values were similar ( > 0.05) among cookery methods when cooked to 76.6°C. Redness did not ( > 0.05) differ among INF steaks cooked to 65.5 and 71.1°C with the FAC and the CHAR, whereas internal color of INF steaks cooked in the IMP and the FAC was redder ( < 0.05) than that of INF steaks cooked with the CLAM and the GRID to 76.6°C. Results suggest that endpoint temperature has a greater impact on cooking properties of SM and INF steaks than cookery method, yet it is apparent that internal cooked color of INF and SM steaks react differently to some cookery method-endpoint temperature combinations.