[Factors affecting the cooking of longissimus muscle beef from Venezuela cattle]

A survey was conducted to study variation in cookery traits of beef longissimus in Venezuela. Cattle originated from the main beef producing regions of the country (n = 274) provided steaks to study the effects of cattle type (Zebu-dairy, Zebu), Sex (bull, steer, heifer), age by dentition (estimated chronological age of 2, 3 and 4 yr), maturity levels (A, B,C) and marbling scores (none, traces, slight). Cookery traits were affected (P > .05) by marbling and maturity. Steaks with "traces" of marbling cooked faster and had more cooking losses (P < 0.05) than steaks with marbling amounts described as "slight" or "none". Steaks derived from the more mature, "C" cattle, required lesser time (i.e., 14 min) and retained 3 g/100 g more weight during cooking than those from younger ("A" and "B") maturity groups. Beef from bulls and steers typified as Zebu-dairy, lasted more in reaching the cooking endpoint (70 degrees C) than that from Zebu counterparts Regardless of age or cattle type, steaks from heifers cooked more rapidly than those from bulls and steers. These results call attention to some of the important sources of variation of cookery traits of beef and afford guidelines for meal planning.