Microbial Characteristics of Three Formulations of Precooked, Vacuum‐packaged Restructured Beef Steaks

Restructured steaks were manufactured with hot or cold boned beef using alginate, alginate + dried egg albumin, or salt/phosphate formulations. Raw steaks were sampled for aerobic (26° and 35°C), and gram‐negative enteric counts. Cooked vacuum‐packaged steaks were sampled for aerobic, gram‐negative enteric, lactobacilli and staphylococci and for the presence of Salmonella, Aeromonas, Yersinia, and Listeria during 7 wk storage (2°C). No differences in counts due to formulation were found for raw or cooked steaks. Higher aerobic counts (P<0.10) were observed for raw steaks manufactured from hot‐boned sides than from cold‐boned sides. Aerobic counts increased (P<0.01) with storage time. Staphylococcus aureus was the only pathogen isolated from cooked steaks.