A Critical Comparison of Beef Semitendinosus Muscle Heated in an Oven and in a Water Bath

A comparison between characteristics of oven-roasted beef semitendinosus muscle and muscle heated as cylindrical cores in glass tubes in a water bath was conducted. Samples were heated to endpoint temperatures of 60 and 70°C at rates equivalent to heating at oven temperatures of 93 and 149°C. Oven-roasted samples had higher evaporative losses and lower drip losses than water bath samples. The effects of heating system and endpoint temperature on cooking losses and on nonfat dry weight were strongly influenced by heating rate. Expressible moisture index and fiber diameter measurements were not affected by endpoint temperature, heating system, or heating rate. Tenderness, as measured by both penetration and shear tests, was not affected by heating system; however, endpoint temperature resulted in differences in penetration chewiness with fast heating and in penetration hardness and shear firmness when samples were heated at the slow rate. With slow heating dominant wavelength and L-values of the samples were affected by both heating system and endpoint temperature. A sensory panel detected endpoint temperature and heating system differences in samples heated at both rates, but the panel was not able to detect any differences in the tenderness parameters. It was concluded that some characteristics of meat are affected by the heating system, and these effects must be considered when applying results from research involving water bath heating to oven roasting.