The shear force of very-rapidly chilled lamb - 1: The effect of carcass splitting

The effect on tenderness of splitting lamb carcasses longitudinally under v ery rapid chilling conditions was investigated. Whole (unsplit) and split c arcasses were chilled in very-rapid chilling conditions (-20C for 3.5 h fol lowed by chilling at 4C for 20.5 h) and conventional chilling conditions (4 C for 24 h), giving a total of four treatments. Loin (M. longissimus thorac is et lumborum) shear force was measured at I and 5 days postmortem by Warn er-Bratzler shear force measurement. By 5 days postmortem, split carcasses were not different (P>0.05) in shear force to unsplit carcasses when conven tionally chilled but differences (P<0.05) were present between unsplit and split carcasses when very-rapidly chilled (57.7 N vs 41.5 N, respectively).