Tensile properties of cooked beef in relation to rigor temperature and tenderness

A study of the tensile properties of cooked strips from beef sternomandibularis which had gone into rigor at various temperatures showed no clear relationships with earlier observed variations in shear force with rigor temperature. A consistent feature of the load extension curves was a sudden increase in extensibility at a ‘change point’ of about 1 kg/cm². Some curves, particularly those for strips cooked under restraint, showed a third intermediate extensibility. Evidence points to modification of a myofibrillar component as the reason for the sudden changes.