LAUSR

The objective was to determine the effect of ultimate pH or “quality grade” (combination of color and marbling) on consumer eating experience of pork chops cooked to different final internal temperatures. The hypothesis was that consumers would rate a greater percentage of pork chops as acceptable with a greater pH, when graded “choice”, or when cooked to 63°C compared with 71°C or 82°C. Consumers (264 total) were served chops in 1 of 2 experiments. Experiment 1 assessed chops as high pH (6.23–5.88) or low pH (5.36–5.56) and cooked to 63°C, 71°C or 82°C. Experiment 2 classified chops as “choice” when NPPC color score ≥ 3 and marbling score was ≥ 2 or “standard” when NPPC scores were below “choice” and cooked to 63°C or 71°C. Chops were cooked with an immersion heater (ANOVA Precision Cooker, Anova Applied Electronics, San Francisco, CA) in a water bath. Consumers used a 9-point Likert-type score system where 1 was extremely tough, dry, bland, or unacceptable and 9 was extremely tender, juicy, flavorful, or acceptable. Data were organized as a percentage of responses and analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS for both experiments with models including treatment (pH or quality grade category, temperature and all interactions). More (P < 0.01) consumers scored chops at 7, 8, or 9 for juiciness with a high pH (36.07%) compared with chops with a low pH (24.29%), but pH category did not alter other traits (P ≥ 0.13). Quality grade did not affect (P ≥ 0.30) consumer ratings of any sensory trait. In both studies, a greater (P < 0.001) percentage of consumers rated chops cooked to 63°C as acceptable compared with chops cooked to 71°C. Therefore, internal cooking temperature has a greater impact on consumer eating experience than ultimate pH or “quality grade.”