In-home consumer evaluations of individual muscles from beef rounds subjected to tenderization treatments

In-home evaluations of the M. vastus lateralis, M. rectus femoris, M. semimembranosus, and M. adductor (n = 266) muscles that were either blade tenderized, enhanced with a salt and phosphate solution, or served as a control (no tenderization or enhancement treatment) were conducted. Consumers (n = 261) cooked these steaks and were asked to document cooking method and degree of doneness, and provide palatability ratings for each steak. Enhancing round muscles with a salt and phosphate solution improved most palatability traits compared to blade tenderized or control steaks. For M. semimembranosus and M. vastus lateralis, the enhanced steaks received higher (P < 0.05) ratings for all palatability traits. Cooking method and degree of doneness had little influence on consumer palatability ratings, and where differences occurred, they were muscle specific. This may allow limited recommendations for the most appropriate cooking method and degree of doneness for specific beef round muscles.