RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CHEMICAL, COOKING AND COLOR PROPERTIES OF BEEF PATTIES COOKED TO FOUR INTERNAL TEMPERATURES

A study involving five laboratories and nationwide sampling of ground beef was undertaken to determine cooking and color properties of patties cooked to 52.7, 65.6, 71.1 and 79.4C. The design of the study included purchase location (local, distant) and patty handling prior to cooking Pesh, thawed either as patties or bulk ground beef). Purchase location was not a statistically significant influence on cooking and color properties. Patties processed from bulk thawed product had a higher amount of brown cooked color. A strong relationship existed between visual and instrumental measures of red color in cooked patties. However, correlations among other cooking properties were low. Patties with higher fat content were associated with shorter cooking times, lower cooking yields and more brown cooked color. The low relationships between raw and cooked patty properties limits the use of raw ground beef properties as predictors of food safety in cooked beef patties. This further supports the use of instant read meat thermometers in cooking beef patties to at least 71C.