Marbling Meat Tenderness

Marbling fat has no direct effect on meat tenderness renand et al 2003.

Marbling meat tenderness. Beef quality grades a quality grade is a composite evaluation of factors that affect palatability of meat tenderness juiciness and flavor. Prime has more marbling than choice and choice has more than select. These factors include carcass maturity firmness texture and color of lean and the amount and distribution of marbling within the lean. So this is why marbled beef meat will taste and be much tender juicier and softer rather than an ordinary beef steak.

Meat with the fat deposited within the steak to create a marbled appearance has always been regarded as more tender than steaks where the fat is in a layer around the outside. Marbling is the white flecks of intramuscular fat in meat most notably red meat. At the point of purchase consumers visually assess meat products for size shape color fat to lean and lean to bone ratio texture and cost perserving mcgill 1981. Although marbling or the intermingling of fat with lean has been equated with palatability and tenderness for years increasing concerns regarding animal fat in the diet has caused the perceived health benefit from fat reduction to receive greater importance than assurances of tenderness or palatability.

In fact marbling leads to greater palatability in panel scores mcpeake 2001 and lower shear force values dolezal et al 1982. Consumers ideally desire attractive economically priced products with desirable color which are nutritious and healthy tender juicy and flavorful with no fat or additives. Marbling affects meat s juiciness tenderness texture and flavor attributes that determine eating experience in this case more of all the above is better. While cooking marbling adds flavour and much juiciness as the fat melts into the steak.

Marbling adds a lot of flavor and can be one indicator of how good the beef is. The marbling process keeps the meat moist juicy and has a natural taste. As meat is cooked to more advanced degrees of doneness the tougher it will get. But there is a view that both stress before slaughter in particular and lack of aging of the meat has more to do with toughness than most other factors including.

However it plays an important role in meat juiciness and overall eating satisfaction. Hence the practice of wrapping tenderloin steaks with strips of bacon without it the steak would lack flavor and moisture. Marbling helps to insure acceptable tenderness at higher levels of doneness. It impacts the tenderness moistness and overall flavor and has become one of the most well known elements of steak evaluation.

Tenderness and marbling don t necessarily go hand in hand so while the beef tenderloin is possibly the most tender cut of beef it doesn t usually have much marbling.