2.1.6. Consumer sensory evaluation
The steaks (2.54 cm thick; two steaks per treatment) for consumer
sensory evaluation were vacuum packaged and stored at −20 °C until
required for sensory evaluation. The frozen steaks were thawed at 3 °C
overnight and cooked on an MV16 electric hotplate (Henry Berry Ltd.,
New Zealand). The internal cooking temperature of steaks was monitored
using a Digi-Sense scanning temperature logger (Eutech Instruments
Pte. Ltd., Singapore) to reach the targeted centre temperature
at 71 °C. Immediately after cooking, the steaks were wrapped with aluminium
foil and placed in a BOV550 Toast & Roast mini oven (Breville,
Australia) set at 120 °C (less than 10 min) to maintain warm temperature
before being served for the sensory analysis. Each steak was cut
into 1.27 × 1.27 × 2.54 cm pieces (cut across the grain avoiding fat
and any visible connective tissues) and placed in a plastic cup closed
with a lid. Randomly identified three-digit-codes for each aging treatment
were labeled on the side of the cup and served to consumer