Solubility Characteristics of Residual Collagen as Related to Tenderness of Beef Semimembranosus Roasted at 200^o and at 300^oF

The effects of two heat treatments on cooking time, total cooking losses, energy consumption, meat tenderness, and collagen-solubility in 0.1 N NaOH and Ringer's solution were studied using five pairs of top round roasts obtained from three Hereford steers. One roast from each pair was cooked at 200⁰F and the other at 300⁰F to an end point of 158⁰F in the center of the semimembranosus muscle.

Semimembranosus muscles roasted at 200⁰F required longer cooking times per pound, had higher total cooking losses, consumed more energy, and were more tender than pair mates roasted at 300⁰F. All correlations between collagen solubility measurements and tenderness measures were nonsignificant. No explanation for the increased tenderness of meat obtained with the long slow heating was revealed by studying the relationship of meat tenderness and collagen solubility in 0.1 N NaOH or Ringer's solution.