The Relationship of Animal Leanness to Meat Tenderness

In addressing the topic of “The Relationship of Animal Leanness to Meat Tenderness,” I think it is extremely important to establish how much variability in tenderness exists and the extent to which the lack of tenderness is a problem. In addition, it is important to establish a definition or description of “animal leanness.” Carcasses may be lean because animals were fed beta-agonists, injected with somatotropin, not castrated, selected for muscular hypertrophy, selected for low subcutaneous fat, slaughtered relatively early in their growth curve and(or) fed a relatively low-energy diet, or any combination(s) of these variables. Or meat may be lean because it has low marbling or has been closely trimmed prior to chilling or cooking. Primarily, I will focus my discussion on carcasses that have low marbling and(or) low subcutaneous fat prior to chilling, either because fat was removed before chilling or animals were slaughtered with little subcutaneous fat.