How thick do consumers’ want their meat and how thick do they get it? The case of deep-fried breaded beef

Abstract

The main objective was to estimate the optimum thickness of meat from a consumers' perspective. Breaded beef (known as "milanesa" in Spanish speaking countries and as "schnitzels" in Austria) is a food product prepared with a slice of meat that is dipped in beaten egg to then be covered in bread crumbs; thus prepared it is fried. This product was used as a case study. Breaded beef was evaluated in three different stages: raw slice of meat, appearance of meat after frying, and during mastication. Breaded beef prepared with meat of varying thicknesses were presented to consumers who evaluated if the thicknesses were too thin, ok or too thick. Survival analysis statistics were used to estimate the optimum thicknesses. Results for each stage were: raw slice of meat = 6.7 ± 0.2 mm, appearance of the cut fried breaded beef = 8.4 ± 0.3 mm and during mastication = 7.6 ± 0.3 mm. The average thickness of the meat cut by butchers for breaded beef was 5.9 mm, not too far from the optimum. However, the average thickness of the meat in the breaded beef ready for frying sold by the same butchers 3.7 mm, clearly thinner than the optimum.

The Profiling of DNA Methylation and Its Regulation on Divergent Tenderness in Angus Beef Cattle

“…Traditionally, beef quality has been influenced and evaluated by three general criteria: tenderness, juiciness, and flavor ( Boleman et al, 1997 ), of which, juiciness and flavor are subjective and influenced by several factors, such as cooking style, consumer preferences, and ethnic, cultural habits. However, tenderness is one of the most important factors influencing the quality and can be quantitatively and objectively measured by the Warner–Bratzler shear forces (WBSF) ( Huffman et al, 1996 ; Ferraris et al, 2013 ; Hocquette et al, 2013 ; Morales et al, 2013 ; Nogalski et al, 2018 ). Tenderness is a complex trait influenced by different structural components, such as the myofibrillar mass, sarcoplasmic proteins, intramuscular fat, and connective tissue, etc .…”