Assessing Physical Properties of Restructured Beef Products During Convective Heating

Abstract

Restructured beef roasts are useful alternatives for foodservice or home meal replacement and it is important that uniformity of preparation and quality can be achieved for key markets. Two sizes of restructured beef roasts were heated to various internal temperatures (35–65C) to determine effects on selected physical properties of a w pH, water‐holding capacity (WHC), water absorption (WAC) and moisture content. The a w was least affected (0.985–0.987), but all other properties were affected by endpoint temperature, slice position (section) and sample depth (location). Moisture content was greatly affected with outer layers having lower values. The pH increased 0.06 to 0.21 units depending on temperature and location. WHC decreased while WAC increased as endpoint temperature increased to 65C, but section and location also had an impact. Before denaturation of meat protein is complete, it appears the physical properties are highly influenced by the product temperature and therefore final quality can be modified by altering endpoint temperature.