Impact of Sous-vide Cooking on Quality Attributes of High-Fat and Low-Fat Cuts of Beef, Pork, and Chicken

Low-fat cuts have gained popularity due to rising consumer interest in health-conscious diets. However, their tough texture and low juiciness necessitate quality improvement through optimized cooking methods. Sous-vide, a cooking method that can enhance tenderness and juiciness, can be a viable solution to address these challenges. This study aimed to compare quality characteristics of high-fat and low-fat cuts of beef (sirloin, BHF; top round, BLF), pork (belly, PHF; ham, PLF), and chicken (thigh, CHF; breast, CLF) before and after sous-vide cooking. All samples were vacuum-sealed and cooked at 70℃ for 40 min. Proximate composition, pH, water-holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss, shear force, and color characteristics were analyzed. Results showed that low-fat cuts of raw beef and pork had higher moisture contents than high-fat cuts (p < 0.05), although their moisture contents showed no significant differences from those of chicken cuts. BLF exhibited lower pH but higher WHC, cooking loss, and shear force than BHF (p < 0.05), while PLF showed higher pH and WHC but lower cooking loss than PHF (p < 0.05), although they showed no significant differences in shear force (p > 0.05). For chicken, CLF had lower pH and cooking loss but higher shear force than CHF (p < 0.05). Results of this study demonstrate that sous-vide cooking can improve the quality of PLF and CLF by reducing cooking loss and shear force. However, further research is needed to optimize sous-vide conditions for BLF to address its high cooking loss and shear force.