Effectiveness of oxygen barrier oven bags in low temperature cooking on reduction of warmed-over flavor in beef roasts

Highlights

• Roasts cooked, stored, and reheated in bags have higher brothy and fat flavors.

• Fresh and reheated large and reheated medium roasts have lowest lipid oxidation.

• Oven and vacuum bags show potential to decrease occurrence of warmed over flavor.

Abstract

A 3 × 3 × 2 factorial was utilized to determine if roast size (small, medium, large), cooking method (open-pan, oven bag, vacuum bag), and heating process (fresh, reheated) prevented warmed-over flavor (WOF) in beef clod roasts. Fresh vacuum bag and reheated open-pan roasts had higher cardboardy flavor scores compared with fresh open-pan roast scores. Reheated roasts in oven and vacuum bags did not differ from fresh roasts for cardboardy flavor. Brothy and fat intensity were increased in reheated roasts in oven and vacuum bags compared with fresh roasts in oven and vacuum bags. Differences in TBARS were found in the interaction of heating process and roast size with the fresh and reheated large, and reheated medium roasts having the lowest values. Based on TBARS data, to prevent WOF in reheated beef roasts, a larger size roast in a cooking bag is the most effective method.

Introduction

Consumer sensitivity to warmed-over flavor (WOF) in pre-cooked beef products is an important topic in the meat industry. Tims and Watts (1958) first recognized WOF as a flavor defect in cooked meat that had been refrigerated for 48 h or less before being reheated for consumption (Byrne et al., 2002, Kanner, 1994). This method of cooking is commonly seen in hospitals, cafeterias, and restaurants where large cuts of meat are cooked and held at a constant temperature for a period of time before serving (Robbins et al., 2003). In addition to the products in the foodservice industry, companies are concerned with the incidence of WOF in ready-to-eat products commonly found in the retail market. Consumer demand for a convenient meat product that has the same flavor profile as a product that is cooked fresh is increasing, but ready-to-eat meat products have been shown to be susceptible to WOF due to the product either being stored frozen or at a refrigerated temperature prior to purchasing (Johnston et al., 2005, Thongwong et al., 1999, Yang et al., 2002). The development of WOF in beef after cooking and storing has become a draw-back for the marketing of these ready-to-eat products (Hwang, Bowers, & Kropf, 1990).

Warmed-over flavor develops due to oxidation of the polyunsaturated fatty acids in the phospholipids (Byrne et al., 2002). Oxidation can be triggered or accelerated by numerous factors including temperature, oxygen exposure, light, addition of catalysts, hematin compounds, and lipoxygenase (Antony, Han, Rieck, & Dawson, 2002). The primary cause of oxidation in meat is heating because the process of cooking disrupts the cellular structure as well as inactivating enzymes allowing for the release of oxygen from oxymyoglobin (Kanner, 1994, Rojas and Brewer, 2007). Rhee, Anderson, and Sams (1996) found that beef is higher in total iron and heme iron than pork and chicken. As product is heated, it experiences an increase in lipid oxidation due to the heme iron facilitating the oxidation (Brewer, 2006, Han et al., 1995).

Warmed-over flavor is commonly found in slow-cooked beef due to prolonged exposure to heating. Cooking temperature and time affect the extent of lipid oxidation (Kingston, Monahan, Buckley, & Lynch, 1998). Some studies have shown that slow cooking is better for stability (Mielche & Bertelsen, 1994), while others have reported that cooking to temperatures above 100 °C inhibits oxidation (Bailey & Um, 1992). Maillard reaction products (MRP) work as antioxidants in meat once heating temperatures reach 90 °C or higher (Han et al., 1995). Byrne et al. (2002) cooked chicken patties in a convection oven at 4 different temperatures to see if MRP inhibited lipid oxidation once the products were stored and reheated. They found that MRP did not prevent lipid oxidation and attribute this to the product being ground instead of a whole muscle roast.

Panelists have described meat samples to have “stale,” “wet,” “cardboardy,” “painty,” “grassy,” or “rancid” flavors and aromas when testing for WOF development (Campo et al., 2006, Rojas and Brewer, 2007). These off-flavors are not desirable for the consumer and will prevent them from repeat buying of a product. Consumers prefer a convenient product that tastes fresh from the oven. Most research on minimizing WOF has utilized additives to ground product, but consumers have started to show a demand for a product that has minimal additives (Johnston et al., 2005, Stapelfeldt et al., 1993). Nitrites, sodium tripolyphosphate, honey, vitamin E, and rosemary are a few examples of additives that have been shown to inhibit the development of WOF in ground product (Johnston et al., 2005, Trout and Dale, 1990). Few projects have focused on whole muscle roasts and how different cooking procedures and roast size might prevent lipid oxidation and development of WOF. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate fresh cooked and reheated beef roasts of various sizes that were cooked by 3 different methods to determine the most effective combination to prevent WOF.