BACKGROUND 

In an effort to meet consumer’s expectations for high quality beef products and great eating experiences, aging of beef for foodservice and retail is a common practice. The industry is always looking for new ways to decrease aging times and still see improvement in meat tenderness. There is potential to manipulate storage temperatures during the post‐mortem aging period and still establish an increase in tenderness. By subjecting subprimals to elevated temperatures during aging, we can offer a new alternative to aging of subprimals that results in an increase in tenderness and beef palatability, without negatively impacting shelf‐life or consumer acceptance. The objective of the study was to determine if elevated aging temperatures increase the tenderness of beef steaks without negatively impacting shelf life and consumer acceptance. 

METHODOLOGY

No differences were seen between treatment groups (control versus elevated) for tenderness or consumer panelist evaluations. This indicates that the elevated aging treatment did not negatively impact tenderness or consumer acceptability when compared to aging under conventional temperature parameters. After the five‐day retail shelf‐life study, Strip Loin Steaks showed the least surface discoloration of all steaks types. However, elevated aging temperatures did result in significant discoloration of T‐bone/Porterhouse and Ribeye Steaks (Table 1). Additionally, some off‐odors were more apparent for T‐bone/Porterhouse Steaks aged at elevated temperatures.

FINDINGS

Post-mortem aging times for retail establishments ranged from 1 to 358 days with a mean of 20.5 days, and foodservice establishments ranged from 9 to 67 days with an average of 15.9 days. For retail, non-enhanced and enhanced top blade had the lowest (< 0.05) WBS values while non-enhanced cuts from the round – top round and bottom round – had the highest (< 0.05) WBS values. Top Loin steaks had the lowest (< 0.05) WBS value compared to ribeye and top sirloin foodservice steaks. Retail Top Blade steaks received the highest (< 0.05) ratings by consumers for most palatability attributes, and foodservice top loin steaks received the highest (< 0.05) ratings. USDA quality grade did have an effect on foodservice ribeye and top sirloin steaks for sensory panels. Data collected at each university laboratory have been sent to NCBA for further dissemination. Participating retail and foodservice chains have been sent the data collected for their respective establishments. 

IMPLICATIONS

Findings from this study indicate that aging subprimals at an elevated temperature does not have a negative impact on common palatability attributes (tenderness, juiciness, flavor) of beef steaks. While these data may offer added flexibility to conventional aging temperatures, special considerations should be given to the subprimal types selected for use in an elevated aging temperature environment in an effort to manage undesirable color and odor shelf‐life characteristics.