Meeting your customers’ flavour needs

The flavour of meat develops during the cooking process through the effects of heat on the many compounds present and the reactions between them.

These include water-soluble compounds and fatty acids which are characteristic of the species’ flavours. These elements may vary due to a number of factors, for example:

• Animal and breed
• ‘Fatness’
• Diet
• Handling and processing
• Ageing and packaging

These factors will be looked at in more detail in other parts of this section but the chart below delivers a snapshot of their impact:

Relative effects of production and processing factors on beef flavour

Factors	Size of effect
Production
Age
Breed
Gender
Fat Content
Diet
Pre-slaughter handling
Processing
Electrical Stimulation
Ageing/conditioning
Marinades
Retail display conditions
Cooking

Source: Consumer Decision Tree, Meat and Livestock Commission 2004

What are my customers looking for?

Tenderness, flavour and juiciness are generally considered to be the three key requirements that customers crave in meat eating, the former being of primary importance.

Flavour is, however, very difficult to evaluate as it combines the senses of taste and smell (aroma).

Each meat has its own characteristic flavour and this will vary within a species as well as varying in the cooking procedure itself. During cooking, numerous chemical reactions occur and thousands of compounds are formed. Important compound activities occur with amino acids, lipids (fat), sugars and carbohydrates and amongst themselves. Such reactions give either pleasant or unpleasant flavour. Factors during animal production which could affect beef flavour are age, breed, gender, fatness, diet and production system.

Age

There are clear differences between veal and beef. Veal has a lower overall flavour intensity, a higher acidic taste and lower ‘gamey’ qualities

Breed

Significant speculation surrounds the role of breed in determining meat-eating quality and it is an area of research that is being looked at globally. It is generally felt that the differences in breed flavour are small and where they do exist, it is correlated to differences in fatness, with fatter animals tending to have higher intensity scores.

A review of scientific literature on beef tenderness, juiciness and flavour shows that there is little effect from breed and what effect there is would be deemed inconsistent. It is more important to ensure a correct and assured pathway of production that gives excellent quality rather than specify breeds which give inconsistent results. Rare breeds generally have a higher flavour portfolio which can possibly be attributed to slaughter at an older age and thereby a higher fatness to body ratio.

Gender

In the past, gender was a significant aspect of beef and lamb flavour. Gender remains a factor but modern production methods have reduced the variability. Bull beef from entire male cattle will give a more defined flavour.

Marbling and fatness

Another area of much speculation is the phenomenon of marbling. Juiciness and flavour desirability scores tend to increase with an increase in marbling intensity. The difference of composition between muscles explains the difference of eating quality such as flavour and texture.

A more marked result can be seen in ground beef patties/burgers. In general, patties and burgers contain more fat than lean muscle, which has an effect on their tenderness, juiciness and beef flavours.

Animal diet

Animal diet certainly has a significant – some would say the most significant – effect on flavourand this is discussed more in the Farm section. It is generally agreed that animal diet is an important factor in fat type which in turn affects flavour. Animal diet can bring positive and negative traits to meat.

Production system

Stressed cattle, be it at the farm, in transit or abattoir release stress hormones. If this is just preslaughter, Dark, Firm and Dry (DFD) meat can be produced due to an abnormal change in the muscle’s pH. This has an affect on desirable flavours released in the cooking process and therefore delivers an ultimately inferior final product to the consumer. Occurances of DFD however are very rare in the Scotch Assurance Scheme.

Post-slaughter, some abattoirs use Electrical Stimulation (ES) which can offer some improvement in tenderness and eating quality. Carcases can be chilled rapidly after ES, rather than waiting for the internal muscle temperature to cool naturally.

Ageing

After slaughter, ageing and packaging of meat also play an important part in the final eating qualities. This is dealt with further in the Kitchen section. However the following bullet-points summarise these effects.

• ageing improves beef flavour and dry ageing (although balanced by significant weight loss) is preferable to wet ageing. Ageing affects tenderness
• Ageing improves beef flavour (pooled results for all ageing treatments), particularly bone-in vacuum packing

Wet ageing occurs when meat is aged in a vacuum packed environment.

Dry ageing occurs when meat is exposed to the air.

Keep your customers informed and give them what they want

The retail sector is leading the way with meat labelling to show country of origin. Research by Quality Meat Scotland has shown that the consumer is increasingly demanding this when eating out of home:

Perception 71% of consumers believe that the meat they are eating in the out-of-home market is of UK origin
Reality But in fact UK-produced meat in the total foodservice market is only around 40%

• 61% of diners wanted to know where meat eaten outside the home came from: an increase from 55% just two years ago
• 84% of respondents said they would like an easily recognised symbol on the menu
• 80% reported they would be happy to see the country of origin included in the menu description

As a caterer, you have an excellent opportunity therefore to satisfy consumer demand – make your menus proclaim your meats’ origins and note that the same Assurance Schemes apply to all Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb, including more economical cuts, minced and re-formed products.

At the time of printing, the Scottish Executive has announced that in the months to come information on beef origin will need to be made available on menus. In the meantime, Quality Meat Scotland’s Best Practice Guidelines for labelling the origin of meat on menus provides caterers with advice on how to notify consumers of their buying policy in the simplest possible terms, assisting both the supplier and the chef.

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