This study aimed to determine the effect of wet ageing time (4, 14 and 21 days) on the quality of sous-vide cooked beef products.The research material consisted of longissimus lumborum muscles obtained from the carcasses of Polish Holstein-Friesian bulls (n = 9, average age at slaughter 22 months).The meat was wet-aged at 4 ± 1 °C for 4, 14 and 21 days post-mortem.
The analyses were conducted on uncooked samples (colour and pH) and after the sous-vide cooking (60 Milk Thistle °C, 4 h) (colour, cooking loss, Warner–Bratzler shear force, texture profile analysis and sensory assessment).It was found that ageing decreased redness, yellowness and chroma (p < 0.05) in the cross-section area Eyebrow Enhancers of sous-vide cooked beef.
The values of shear force, hardness, springiness and chewiness decreased during ageing (p < 0.05).The samples were scored similarly in sensory assessment, except for tenderness which was scored higher (p < 0.
01) in the products obtained from 14 and 21 d aged beef compared to 4 d aged samples.Overall, the findings highlighted that, also in the production of sous-vide cooked beef, longissimus lumborum muscles should be aged for at least 14 days.