Variation in the tenderness of beef strip loins and improvement in tenderness by use of hydrodynamic pressure processing (HDP)

Shear force (SF) in 71C broiled steaks was compared along the length of bee f strip loins (LM) and between medial and lateral (M&L) portions of individ ual steaks. A high degree of variation in SF (mean range of 3 kg) existed w ithin individual steaks along the length of the LM. No difference in SF was observed between M&L sections of individual 2.54 cm steaks along the LM. H ydrodynamic pressure (HDP) treatment was employed on the LM to determine if variation in SF could be reduced. HDP treatment led to both a decrease in variation and an improvement in tenderness for both the M&L portions of the steak (within steak) and along the entire LM (within LM). These data show inconsistency in tenderness both along the LM and within each LM steak of c ontrol steaks. Furthermore, these data suggest that HDP can increase tender ness and reduce tenderness variation.