Developing a cuts-based system to improve consumer acceptability of pork: Impact of gender, ageing period, endpoint temperature and cooking method

•Pork from entire males was drier and less liked than from castrates.•Ageing for 7 days compared with 2 days did not improve eating quality of pork cuts.•Large effects due to cut type x cooking methods were observed for all sensory traits.•Further work needed to reduce fail rates of loin and silverside cuts.

The effect of gender (entire male, female and castrate), ageing period (2 or 7 days) and endpoint temperature (70 or 75 °C) on consumer perceptions of cuts from the loin (Musculus longissimus thoracis et lumborum), silverside (Musculus biceps femoris) and shoulder (Musculus triceps brachii (roast) and Musculus supraspinatus (stir fry)) when roasted or stir fried (all primals) or grilled as steaks (loin only) was investigated. Higher scores for juiciness (P = 0.035), flavour (P = 0.017), overall liking (P = 0.018), quality grade (P = 0.026) were obtained from castrates than entire males, with females intermediate. Neither ageing period nor endpoint temperature, as main effects, influenced sensory scores. Loin steaks and silverside roasts obtained lower (P < 0.001) scores for all sensory traits except aroma; scores for shoulder cuts were highest (P < 0.001). Cooking to 70 °C improved (P < 0.05) juiciness, flavor and overall liking scores of loin steaks compared with 75 °C. Different pathway interventions are required to optimize eating quality of different pork cuts and the cooking methods used to prepare them.