Relationship between Inherent Cooking Rate and Warner-Bratzler Shear Force of Pork Chops Cooked to Two Degrees of Doneness.

Taylor N Nethery,Bailey N Harsh,Dustin D Boler,Anna C Dilger

doi:10.3390/foods11010131

Taylor N Nethery, Bailey N Harsh + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11010131

Copy DOI

Abstract

The objective was to test inherent cooking rate differences on tenderness values of boneless pork chops when exogenous factors known to influence cooking rate were controlled. Temperature and elapsed time were monitored during cooking for all chops. Cooking rate was calculated as the change in °C per minute of cooking time. Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) was measured on chops cooked to either 63 °C or 71 °C. Slopes of regression lines and coefficients of determination between cooking rate and tenderness values for both degrees of doneness (DoD) were calculated. Shear force values decreased as cooking rate increased regardless of DoD (p ≤ 0.05), however changes in tenderness due to increased cooking rate were limited (β1 = −0.201 for 63 °C; β1 = −0.217 for 71 °C). Cooking rate only explained 3.2% and 5.4% of variability in WBSF of chops cooked to 63 °C and 71 °C, respectively. Cooking loss explained the most variability in WBSF regardless of DoD (partial R2 = 0.09–0.12). When all factors were considered, a stepwise regression model explained 20% of WBSF variability of chops cooked to 63 °C and was moderately predictive of WBSF (model R2 = 0.34) for chops cooked to 71 °C. Overall, cooking rate had minimal effect on pork chop tenderness.

Highlights

Lack of consistency in tenderness values of boneless pork chops detrimentally affects consumers’ confidence in pork [1] and could be blamed for the lack of enthusiasm by US consumers for pork chops as a premium item
While using different cooking methods suggests that cooking rate may alter tenderness in pork, these differences in rates are confounded with differences in cooking method
While average pork loin color was slightly darker than average US retail pork, the ranges of quality measures in this study were representative of US pork observed in the retail situation

Summary

Introduction

Lack of consistency in tenderness values of boneless pork chops detrimentally affects consumers’ confidence in pork [1] and could be blamed for the lack of enthusiasm by US consumers for pork chops as a premium item. Some studies have suggested that faster cooking methods resulted in more cooking loss and yielded tougher cooked products. The drawback of extrapolating cooking rate information from studies that use different cooking methods is that methods vary in the temperature of the heat source, distance from the heat source, air movement, and contact with the heat source. These factors may affect tenderness independently of inherent differences in cooking rate. To isolate the effect of differences in cooking rate on pork chop tenderness, it would be critical to control all possible factors other than cooking rate and use a single cooking method

Methods

Results

Conclusion