Chilled storage life of hot-boned, pre-rigor, salted minced beef.

Pre-rigor beef mince with 2% added salt was stored under CO(2) at -1.5 °C (A). The same mince with 100 ppm sodium nitrite was stored under CO(2) at 5 °C (B) and -1.5 °C (C), and under vacuum at -1.5 °C (D). Microbiological and sensory analyses were carried out for up to 21 weeks. Indicative storage life was taken as the time for microbial numbers to reach 10(7) colony forming units per g. Mince stored under regimes B or D attained these numbers by 6 and 14 weeks, respectively; mince stored under regimes A and C had not attained these numbers by the end of the storage trial. Mince stored at 5 °C developed storage flavours of sufficient intensity to be detectable by consumers by 9 weeks storage. In general, the other minces did not develop unacceptable levels of storage or off flavours. Over 90% of the added sodium nitrite had disappeared after 10 weeks of storage, partly through conversion to sodium nitrate. Mince pH was not affected by the storage conditions and remained at about 6.0. The water holding capacity of the pre-rigor mince deteriorated during prolonged storage.

Effect of NaCl, polydextrose, and storage conditions on the functional characteristics and microbial quality of pre- and post-rigor salted beef.

The functionality and microbial storage life of pre-rigor beef mince stored at -1.5 °C under vacuum or a saturated carbon dioxide atmosphere, or at -18 °C in polyethylene bags, was investigated. Salt (2% w w ) or salt plus the cryoprotectant Polydextrose(®) (2%/2.6% w w ) was added pre-rigor to some samples. Chilled storage decreased salt soluble protein (SSP) by 13-18% (P < 0.01); frozen storage decreased SSP content by 20%. Pre-rigor salted mince in saturated carbon dioxide packs had a satisfactory microbial quality after 12 weeks storage. The cook yield of finely comminuted sausage batters made from that mince and from fresh pre-rigor mince were similar, although batter stress and strain decreased with chilled storage. Adding Polydextrose(®) to salted mince improved batter strain compared with the non-additive and salt-only samples and improved batter stress compared with the salt-only samples. The microbial storage life of chilled vacuumpacked unsalted mince was less than 6 weeks; pre-rigor salting increased its storage life.