SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS AND MICROBIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF STORED MECHANICALLY TENDERIZED BEEF SEMIMEMBRANOSUS MUSCLE

One pass through a mechanical tenderizer improves the tenderness of Good grade beef semimembranosus roast. When comparing roast that had been tenderized four times with untenderized roast, cooking drip was increased (P < 0.01), cooking evaporation was decreased (P < 0.01) and cooking rate was faster (P < 0.01). Both aerobic and anaerobic microbial numbers were higher (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively) for samples tenderized four times than untenderized controls or those tenderized one or two times. Taste panel acceptability at 4 wk was decreased (P < 0.05) compared to acceptability at the initial period or following 2 wk of storage.