Relationship between cooking rate and Warner-Bratzler shear force from pork chops cooked to two degrees of doneness

Many factors can combine to affect the tenderness of pork chops, ranging from pre-slaughter factors (sire line, sex, animal handling), to inherent factors in both direct (sarcomere length, collagen content, postmortem proteolysis) and indirect (pH, WHC, color, marbling) ways. Other factors such as choice of cooking method and degree of doneness can be influenced by consumer preparation of pork. Being able to use cooking rate as a possible predictor of tenderness could impact cooking decisions in the industry. Consequently, knowing if pork chop cooking rate is related to tenderness could allow consumers to prepare chops accordingly in a way that maximizes tenderness for a good eating experience at home. As research is limited on cooking rates of pork chops, the objective was to determine the relationship between cook rate and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values of pork chops cooked to two degrees of doneness (DoD) (N=503 for 63⁰C and N=357 for 71⁰C). Ventral loin and chop quality traits were measured on loins after aging 14 d. Chops were cooked on Farberware open-hearth grills (temperature monitored with Omega data logging thermometer). Slopes of regression lines and coefficients of determination between cook rate and WBSF values for both DoD were determined using the REG procedure of SAS and considered significant at P≤0.05. Stepwise regression analysis of quality traits and cook rate with WBSF utilized the REG procedure of SAS. As cook rate increased, WBSF values decreased regardless of DoD (P≤0.05). Although slopes of the calculated regression lines for both sets of chops were significant, reported slopes indicate the change in tenderness due to increased cook rate is limited (β1=-0.18939 for 63⁰C; β1=-0.21668 for 71⁰C). Cook rate only explained 2.0% and 5.4% of variability in WBSF of chops cooked to 63⁰C and 71⁰C, respectively. Cook rate explained 7.8% and 25.6% of variability in cook loss of chops cooked to 63⁰C and 71⁰C. Cook loss explained 10.2% and 20.1% of variability in WBSF of chops cooked to 63⁰C and 71⁰C. In stepwise regression, cook loss was the most influential trait in both DoD, followed by pH in 63⁰C and marbling in 71⁰C. Prediction equations explained 17% of variability in WBSF for 63⁰C and 22% of variability in 71⁰C chops. Because cook rate represented such a small percentage of variation in this study, it is likely that variation in tenderness of chops cooked to the same DoD is due to other factors. The findings of this study indicate that cook rate had minimal effect on the tenderness of pork chops cooked to two DoD.U of I OnlyAuthor requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD syste