As a girl on the farm, Phyllis Shand recalled her family fattening up young cattle to provide tasty meals for the supper table.
Her research at the University of Saskatchewan is now showing that beef from animals older than 30 months can be just as juicy and tender.
Shand, an associate professor of food science, shared the results of different tenderizing techniques on a host of cuts during the Saskatchewan Beef Symposium that was held in Saskatoon on Feb. 8-9.
“Some cuts may not be useful as grilled steak, but with further cooking and other processing techniques, most cuts can be utilized very effectively from mature cattle,” she said.
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While meat from mature cattle is generally tougher, Shand’s research found little or no difference in some individual muscle cuts.
She said the higher value and more tender loins benefited from tenderizing, while juiciness and tenderness were also enhanced in intermediate cuts such as sirloins. Bottom round showed the least improvement, she added.
Shand said her research was prompted by BSE, and the resulting increase in older animals, and initiatives by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.
She expects to see beef from older animals entering the retail market as steak cuts and branded products, as well as into special niche markets. The remainder will be further processed through marinating or sold as fully cooked products.
“In the past, we just weren’t exposed to that product in Canada,” she said.
“Now we see the story is pretty good.”
Looking overseas, she said 60 percent of beef sold at the retail level in France is identified as mature meat.
Beef is generally expensive there and mature beef provides consumers with price choices.
French cooking techniques also improve the tenderness of mature beef, which the French believe has an improved taste.
“They like the flavour and are not caught up in the need for really tender meat,” she said. That parallels their similar tastes for older chickens, which they also believe have more flavour.
In Shand’s research, tenderizing techniques ranged from mechanical tumbling of meat and marinades to adding enzymes and moisture enhancement.
The last technique, now used in the pork industry, injects salt and water into meat.
Another method is blade tenderization or needling, which pokes holes in connective tissue.
Researchers looked at four muscle cuts from 12 Saskatchewan-raised D1, D2 and Y1 animals, ranging in age from 11/2 to 11 years old.
The research yielded precise muscle specific results, Shand said.
“You’re not going to make a tender cut more tender and if there’s lots of connective tissue, you will not overcome that.”
She said learning more about meat at a structural level will produce data that can be used by processors and others who market mature beef, helping them tap into new markets and create a more consistent product.
The next stage of the meat research will involve consumer taste tests, Shand said.
