Cooked color in high pH beef patties as related to fat content and cooking from the frozen or thawed state

Beef patties were processed from high pH (>6.0) beef to contain 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25% fat. Patties were cooked to 71 degrees C from the frozen or thawed state before evaluating color. Neither fat content nor state of patties when cooked exerted any major influence on color, but linear effects (P<0.01) in association with increased fat content included higher L* values and hue angles and lower a* values (15.2% reduction). Higher values for L*, b* (but not for 5% fat patties), and hue angles were observed for patties cooked thawed rather than frozen. The use of high pH beef lessened the effects of increased fat and cooking from the thawed state on increased brown color in cooked patties.