Beef customer satisfaction: USDA quality grade and marination effects on consumer evaluations of top round steaks1

Abstract

An in-home beef study evaluated consumer ratings of top round steaks (semimembranosus) as influenced by USDA quality grade (top Choice or high Select), city (Chicago or Philadelphia), consumer segment (beef loyalists = heavy consumers of beef; budget rotators = cost-driven and split meat consumption between beef and chicken; and variety rotators = higher incomes and education and split meat consumption among beef, poultry, and other foods), degree of doneness, cooking method, and marination. Consumers evaluated each steak for overall like, tenderness, juiciness, flavor like, and flavor amount using 10-point scales (1 = dislike extremely, not at all tender, not at all juicy, dislike extremely, and none at all to 10 = like extremely, extremely tender, extremely juicy, like extremely, and an extreme amount of flavor, respectively). Quality grade affected several consumer sensory traits, with top Choice receiving higher (P < or = 0.004) tenderness, juiciness, and flavor like scores than high Select. Consumers in Chicago rated steaks cooked "medium and less" higher for overall like, tenderness, juiciness, flavor like, and flavor amount than those in Philadelphia (city x degree of doneness; P < or = 0.020). Steaks braised by customers in Philadelphia received among the highest scores for overall like, tenderness, juiciness, flavor like, and flavor amount compared with any cooking method used by customers in Chicago (cooking method x city; P < or = 0.026). Overall like and flavor amount ratings were least (P < 0.05) for steaks that were marinated and cooked to "medium and less" degree of doneness (marination x degree of doneness; P < or = 0.014). Braised steaks received among the highest values for overall like, tenderness, juiciness, flavor like, and flavor amount when cooked to "medium and less" or "medium well and more" (cooking method x degree of doneness; P < or = 0.008). Correlation and stepwise regression analysis indicated that flavor like was pivotal in customers' satisfaction with top round steaks, and was the sensory trait most highly correlated to overall like, followed by tenderness, flavor amount, and juiciness. Preparation of top round steaks was crucial in consumers' likes and dislikes, and by improving flavor, higher consumer satisfaction may be achieved.

Consumer Assessment of Beef Tenderloin Steaks from Various USDA Quality Grades at 3 Degrees of Doneness

“…The majority of these studies have concluded increasing marbling level has a positive effect on beef palatability; however, the effect differs among muscles. The effect of marbling and USDA quality grade on palatability has been reported on top loin steaks (O'Quinn and others ; Emerson and others ; Corbin and others ), top sirloin steaks (Neely and others ; Savell and others ; Hunt and others ), rib steaks (Parrish and others ; Tatum and others ; Guelker and others ), top round steaks (Neely and others ; Lorenzen and others ; Behrends and others ), eye of round steaks (Smith and others ; Luchak and others ), bottom round steaks (Smith and others ), and the muscles of the chuck (Kukowski and others ; Hunt and others ). However, published reports detailing the effect of USDA quality grade on the palatability of beef tenderloin steaks are lacking.…”

Functional Genomic Analysis of Variation on Beef Tenderness Induced by Acute Stress in Angus Cattle

“…Of these factors, beef consumers usually consider tenderness as the most important palatability trait leading to a good eating experience [1–3]. Inconsistency in tenderness has been reported as the most important factor in determining consumer satisfaction with beef quality [4–9]. It is well known that beef tenderness is influenced not only by genetic factors but also environmental aspects.…”

Effects of low protein diet and low protein diet supplemented with synthetic essential amino acids on meat quality of broiler chickens

“…For example, consumers prefer tender beef (Miller et al 2001;Platter et al 2005) and a sensory evaluation of beef steak indicated that meat tenderness was positively correlated with consumer satisfaction (Behrends et al 2005). For example, consumers prefer tender beef (Miller et al 2001;Platter et al 2005) and a sensory evaluation of beef steak indicated that meat tenderness was positively correlated with consumer satisfaction (Behrends et al 2005).…”