Cooking beef joints from the frozen or thawed state

A comparative experimental study of cooking 2.25 kg beef joints from the frozen state with and without preliminary thawing has been made with respect to cooking times and losses, energy requirements and sensory differences. The cooking times and energy requirements of the joints cooked directly from − 20°C were greater than those first thawed to 20°C by a factor of up to 2.3. No significant difference in cooking losses or juiciness was detected between the treatments; however, a statistically significant difference was found in the texture of samples cooked directly from frozen (mean −0.8) and those previously thawed (mean +0.2). Samples cooked inside a roasting bag (moist heat) were also found to be significantly tougher than those cooked in an open tray (dry heat) the means being −0.7 and +0.1 respectively, the texture being assessed on an eight point scale (+7 extremely tender to −7 extremely tough) in each case.