The Tenderness of Beef in Relation to Different Muscles and Age in the Animal

Abstract

Tenderness is the characteristic of beef most eagerly sought by consumers. They seek more specially tenderness in beef when cooked as steak or roasts. To utilize our beef more satisfactoritly than is done at present, it is desirable that we have knowledge of the differences in tendernessbetween certain representative cuts. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative tenderness of beef samples from 9 different locattions of the carcass, and to compare samples from the same location in the carcasses of animals differing widely in age. Many studies have been reported on differences in the tenderness of meat and the apparent reason. Mitchell, Hamilton, and Haines (1928) and Mackintosh, Hall, and Vail (I936) report a high correlation between connective tissue content and tenderness. Paul, Lowe, and MacClurg (I944) found that certain physical changes take place during refrigerated storage. Muscle fibers were well defined and wavy Copyright © . .