Performance during retail display of hot and cold boned beef striploins after chilled storage in vacuum or carbon dioxide packaging

Abstract

Striploins derived from hot and cold boned sides were halved, with one half being vacuum packed and the other carbon dioxide packed. Packaged striploins were stored at −1°C. After 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks storage, three packs of product from each of the four boning/packaging treatments were removed and subjected to tenderness and retail performance evaluation. For all storage periods, steaks derived from hot and cold boned striploins performed similarly in respect to pH, tenderness, microbiological quality and colour stability during retail display at 5°C. Effective retail display life was determined by appearance deterioration rather than microbial spoilage. For all steaks derived from striploins that had been in chilled storage for more than 4 weeks, the effective retail display life was approximately 24 h. It is, therefore, concluded that both hot and cold processing are capable of producing primal cuts of comparable tenderness and retail display performance. ©