WHY IS THE STEAK ON MY PLATE SO TASTY?
The growing interest shown by Romanian consumers in the consumption of high-quality beef requires a serious and well-founded approach to the subject for explanatory purposes. What is the actual definition of exceptional quality beef?
Beef with a high degree of marbling, firm texture, excellent taste and texture, versatile in preparation, can be considered of exceptional quality. To achieve such quality, it must be known that there are numerous factors that contribute to obtaining that so much talked about and coveted quality/tasty beef steak. The main factors we will refer to are both biological, technological, and environmental in nature.
Biological factors that definitively influence the quality of the meat are the breed and genetics of the animal from which the meat comes. There are between 400 and 500 breeds of cattle in the world. Very few, however, ensure, through an appropriate exploitation system, exceptional meat quality. The breed influences the definition of muscle mass, intra and intermuscular fat content, and the size of valuable pieces in the carcass. One of the most beloved among consumers and breeders is the Aberdeen Angus breed, one of the few breeds genetically created for exceptional meat quality.
The age of the animals is crucial. Between 18 and 24 months, animals reach the optimal natural slaughter age. At this age, animals are fully developed and have the optimal weight for slaughter. This means that the ratio of lean meat to intra and intermuscular fat is optimal. In recent years, the consumption trend tends towards meat from mature animals that presents a fuller, more defined, and characteristic taste, giving this meat the qualification of a delicacy compared to the taste of meat from younger animals.
Technological factors that influence meat quality are the breeding or exploitation system and conditioning, respectively, its preparation. An alternative to the intensive exploitation of beef cattle is their exploitation in an extensive system on pasture for most of the year and feeding only with green mass. In this type of exploitation, animals will be fed exclusively with fresh grass, hay, and silage from grass. In this system, animals grow more slowly, their maintenance period is longer, but the effort is rewarded by obtaining exceptional meat quality!
Animals maintained on pasture develop meat with a markedly superior taste. Maintaining animals in an intensive system with concentrated feed, sometimes with the addition of hormones, induces the more rapid achievement of slaughter weight at the expense of meat quality. Research has shown, however, that this intensive exploitation system induces stress in animals, negatively affecting meat quality by hindering the formation of lactic acids in meat with consequences in the subsequent activity of enzymes in the meat maturation process. It has become increasingly important, therefore, to raise stress-free animals under as natural conditions of maintenance and feeding as possible. As a result of these consequences, the utility of exploiting beef cattle from the Angus breed extensively on pasture and feeding exclusively with grass while respecting animal welfare principles has become more and more outlined. Another important technological factor with a major effect on the quality of the steak on our plate is the slaughter of animals. Reducing stress before slaughter plays an important role in obtaining superior meat quality. Desired procedures are thus those that minimize the effects of this factor starting with transportation, animal accommodation before slaughter, and of course, the slaughter method used.
Maturation and meat storage are extremely important aspects in obtaining that quality meat with a taste that is so sought after. Regarding maturation, there are two main “currents” of opinion that differ fundamentally, namely the ‘Wet-Aging’ system (wet maturation) and the ‘Dry-Aging’ system (dry maturation). In the ‘Wet-Aging’ system, pieces will be vacuum-packed immediately after slicing, packaged, and subjected to the maturation process at a temperature of +/- 0 °C. The low temperature slows down the maturation process, a beneficial effect for the transportation of meat. Supporters of this maturation method promise to preserve the original (unaltered) taste of the meat matured by this method.
The 2nd method of beef maturation, namely the ‘Dry-Aging’ method (dry maturation), is a classic maturation method used for hundreds of years. The meat will mature unpackaged at a temperature of about 1-3 °C and at a relative air humidity of 75 – 85%. A typical characteristic of this maturation method is the loss or decrease of liquids in the meat. The taste is thus shaped, among other things, by the evaporation of water. For this maturation method, ensuring constant conditions of humidity and temperature is very important. In both methods, enzymes act after slaughter to transform proteins into amino acids, thus ensuring the future taste of the meat.
Environmental factors are the pedoclimatic conditions and relief of the area where specialized cattle breeds for meat production are exploited. Areas with a climate where pasture vegetation can develop optimally provide a very valuable forage base for cattle maintained in an extensive system, exclusively fed with grass, thus ensuring the obtaining of exceptional meat quality. The pastures in Transylvania provide all the conditions for the exploitation of beef cattle in the described system, thus being a guarantee of obtaining exceptional quality meat from this breed. All these factors definitively contribute to the quality of the steak on our plate. In conclusion… these are the reasons why the steak on my plate tastes so good!
