Functional properties of pre-rigor, pre-salted ground beef chilled with solid carbon dioxide

Ground, pre-salted, pre-rigor semimembranosus muscles of beef were subjected to three treatments A = rapid carbon dioxide (CO2) chilling, B = slow CO2 chilling and C = air chilling, and compared to a control D = slow air chilling of muscles, which were subsequently ground and salted post-rigor. Meat of the pre-rigor treatments A, B and C had higher pH values during processing, lower cooking loss, firmer texture and a lighter yellowish external colour of cooked patties than the post-rigor control D (p < 0.05). The two CO2 chilling regimes A and B had no detrimental effects on the functional properties of the pre-rigor meat. Sarcomere lengths did not differ in meat of the four treatments (p > 0.05), indicating that early pre-salting protected the meat from cold shortening during rapid temperature decline. A process combination of grinding, followed by immediate pre-salting and CO2 chilling within 312h post-mortem of non-stimulated beef muscles is likely to yield superior binding properties of cooked patties and similar ground beef products.