Background  

Juiciness plays a critical role in beef palatability perception. Steaks that fail to meet consumer expectations for juiciness have more than a 66% chance of failing to meet overall eating expectations. Recent work has developed an instrumental measure of juiciness, the Pressed Juice Percentage (PJP), which has been demonstrated to accurately and repeatedly sort beef into categories of juiciness. This measurement offers the opportunity for beef processors and retailers to provide beef to consumers that will meet their juiciness expectations.

Recent Beef Checkoff‐funded projects evaluating the juiciness of beef have primarily focused on the strip loin. However, an understanding of the differences in juiciness among different muscles and cuts is needed. A significant amount of previous work has evaluated the tenderness characteristics of the majority of the muscles in the beef carcass, with many of these previously identified muscles shown to offer a similar or greater tenderness than the strip loin. However, few studies have extensively characterized the juiciness traits of many of these muscles. It was therefore the objective of the current study to evaluate the juiciness traits of nine different beef cuts both by subjective (sensory panel) and objective (PJP) measures.

Methodology  

Beef subprimals representing 3 USDA quality grades (Prime, Choice, and Select) were fabricated into 8 Innovation Cuts (San Antonio, Western Griller, Tucson, Flat Iron, Denver, Delmonico, Shoulder Petite Tender, and Ranch cuts) as well as Strip Loin steaks. Steaks from each cut were used for: objective juiciness (PJP) and tenderness (Slice Shear Force and Warner‐Bratzler) testing, consumer sensory testing, and trained sensory testing. Methods for evaluating the PJP for each cut were developed following similar procedures as the original strip loin protocol. For each muscle, PJP sampling was complimentary to SSF sampling to allow for an instrumental measure of both juiciness and tenderness from the same steak. Beef consumers (n = 210) evaluated samples for juiciness as well as other palatability traits. Trained sensory panelists evaluated samples for both initial and sustained juiciness.

Findings

Results indicated that significant differences in juiciness existed between muscles. Many of the cuts from the chuck (Flat Iron, Denver, and Delmonico) were the juiciest cuts evaluated by both consumer and trained sensory panelists. Conversely, the cuts from the round (San Antonio, Western Griller, and Tucson) were among the driest cuts evaluated by sensory panelists. Instrumentally, Flat Iron, Strip Loin, Ranch, and Western Griller steaks had higher PJP values than the other cuts evaluated.  There were no cut by quality grade interactions for all but one (trained sensory panel overall tenderness) of the sensory traits evaluated, indicating that the impact of quality grade was similar for all muscles, with Prime rating higher than Choice, which was higher than Select. Though relationships among instrumental and sensory measures of juiciness were present, the relationships were weak, with PJP accounting for only a low (< 26%) amount of variation in sensory scores for most of the muscles evaluated.

Implications

Juiciness remains an important part of overall beef eating satisfaction. Beef must meet consumers’ expectations for not only tenderness, but juiciness and flavor as well in order to provide a satisfactory eating experience. Results of the current study indicate that significant differences in juiciness exist among a variety of cuts, and revealed cuts that should be targeted by consumers who place a premium on juiciness. Moreover, these results showed that 5 of the 8 Beef Innovation Cuts evaluated provided a similar or better eating experience than strip loin steaks, further indicating an opportunity for value creation with these cuts. Also, the positive impact of increased marbling level and USDA quality grade was consistent across cuts, indicating that quality grade premiums for these non‐middle meats are also correlated with improved eating quality.