Length of time required for ripening. The length of time required for
ripening varies according to the degree of ripened flavor desired, and the
temperature at which the meat is stored. As the temperature is elevated the
time for ripening is shortened. At temperatures a little above the freezing
point of meat, 20 to 40 days seems to give the optimum flavor. Longer
than 40 days gives too high a flavor for most persons. Helser says, "When
ripened meat is properly trimmed and prepared there will be no mold flavor
at all, but you will have a rich, juicy, tender, and w^ell-flavored piece of
meat. One trial will convince anyone."
Finished carcasses are best for ripening. Helser states that well-finished
carcasses are best suited for ripening purposes. Meat from carcasses of
animals that contain little fat "will get sticky, mold, and will have to be
trimmed heavily to avoid the moldy flavor." The layer of fat on the outside
of the prime beef and the greater quantity of fat in the muscle fibers pre-
vent the putrefactive bacteria from developing. Ripened meat develops a
growth of mold on the surface of the meat that must be removed before
cooking. Helser states: "The degree of ripeness is judged largely by the
length of the 'whiskers,' as the mold is sometimes called."
Changes in cooked beef due to ripening. Helser, Nelson, and Lowe have
found that roasts from the same animal, refrigerated under the same con-
ditions, show several distinct changes in cooking from that of fresh beef.
All the roasts were cooked at the same oven temperature and to the same
interior temperature. Roasts cooked after 10, 20, 40, and 60 days of storage
show a progressively gray color in the interior of the cooked roasts. Roasts
cooked to an inner temperature of 57°C. and cooked on the fifth, seventh,
and tenth days of storage were a bright red color ; w^hereas those ripened
60 days have only a little red or rose color. Roasts from calves are less red
and more gray in color than roasts from older animals.
Roasts from ripened beef brown more readily — and this is true for both
the fat and lean — than unripened roasts from the same animal, cooked
under the same conditions. In these experiments the results of scores for
palatability indicate that "in order to produce beef for roasts having the
most desirable beef flavor, steers should be at least 20 months old, and
preferably 30."
After the passing of rigor the roasts are more tender and become in-
creasingly tender with length of storage. Although the tenderness of the
meat increases with storage, the increase after 20 days of storage is prob-
ably not great enough to pay for the increased cost and trouble of storing.
With longer storage the roasts are more juicy. Also with ripening the
quantity of juice collecting in the platter when the roast is carved is de-
cidedly greater than for roasts cooked after 10 days or less than 10 days
of storage.
The flavor of the beef improved with ripening, and the maximum
CHANGES OCCURRING IN MEAT 217
development of flavor, under the refrigeration conditions used, came with
20 to 40 days of storage. For the connoisseur of flavor, this improved flavor
is decidedly worth the cost of storage.
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Length of time required for ripening. The length of time required for
ripening varies according to the degree of ripened flavor desired, and the
temperature at which the meat is stored. As the temperature is elevated the
time for ripening is shortened. At temperatures a little above the freezing
point of meat, 20 to 40 days seems to give the optimum flavor. Longer
than 40 days gives too high a flavor for most persons. Helser says, "When
ripened meat is properly trimmed and prepared there will be no mold flavor
at all, but you will have a rich, juicy, tender, and w^ell-flavored piece of
meat. One trial will convince anyone."
Finished carcasses are best for ripening. Helser states that well-finished
carcasses are best suited for ripening purposes. Meat from carcasses of
animals that contain little fat "will get sticky, mold, and will have to be
trimmed heavily to avoid the moldy flavor." The layer of fat on the outside
of the prime beef and the greater quantity of fat in the muscle fibers pre-
vent the putrefactive bacteria from developing. Ripened meat develops a
growth of mold on the surface of the meat that must be removed before
cooking. Helser states: "The degree of ripeness is judged largely by the
length of the 'whiskers,' as the mold is sometimes called."
Changes in cooked beef due to ripening. Helser, Nelson, and Lowe have
found that roasts from the same animal, refrigerated under the same con-
ditions, show several distinct changes in cooking from that of fresh beef.
All the roasts were cooked at the same oven temperature and to the same
interior temperature. Roasts cooked after 10, 20, 40, and 60 days of storage
show a progressively gray color in the interior of the cooked roasts. Roasts
cooked to an inner temperature of 57°C. and cooked on the fifth, seventh,
and tenth days of storage were a bright red color ; w^hereas those ripened
60 days have only a little red or rose color. Roasts from calves are less red
and more gray in color than roasts from older animals.
Roasts from ripened beef brown more readily — and this is true for both
the fat and lean — than unripened roasts from the same animal, cooked
under the same conditions. In these experiments the results of scores for
palatability indicate that "in order to produce beef for roasts having the
most desirable beef flavor, steers should be at least 20 months old, and
preferably 30."
After the passing of rigor the roasts are more tender and become in-
creasingly tender with length of storage. Although the tenderness of the
meat increases with storage, the increase after 20 days of storage is prob-
ably not great enough to pay for the increased cost and trouble of storing.
With longer storage the roasts are more juicy. Also with ripening the
quantity of juice collecting in the platter when the roast is carved is de-
cidedly greater than for roasts cooked after 10 days or less than 10 days
of storage.
The flavor of the beef improved with ripening, and the maximum
CHANGES OCCURRING IN MEAT 217
development of flavor, under the refrigeration conditions used, came with
20 to 40 days of storage. For the connoisseur of flavor, this improved flavor
is decidedly worth the cost of storage.