Lamb customer satisfaction in two Texas cities - - Dallas and Houston

Abstract

An in-home lamb study evaluated consumer ratings from users of lamb (at least once per month) as influenced by cut (blade chop, rib chop, loin chop, and leg steak), demographics, preparation method, and degree of doneness. Consumers in Dallas and Houston (n = 51) evaluated each cut for overall like (OLIKE), tenderness (TEND), juiciness (JUIC), flavor intensity (IFLAV), and flavor desirability (DFLAV) using 10- point scales (10 = extreme like, extremely tender, extremely juicy, extremely intense, and extremely desirable; 1 = extreme dislike, extremely tough, extremely dry, extremely bland, and extremely undesirable). Income had a slight effect on consumer OLIKE ratings (P = 0.047). Consumers earning more than $50,000 rated lamb lower than those earning $40-50,000. Differences (P < 0.05) in retail cut were found for OLIKE, TEND, JUIC, and DFLAV. Loin and rib cuts were rated higher (P < 0.05) than leg and shoulder cuts for those palatability factors. IFLAV was not affected by retail cut (P > 0.10). A preparation method effect existed for TEND in the blade chop (P < 0.05). Consumers rated grilling higher than other methods. A preparation method x degree of doneness interaction existed for OLIKE (P = 0.019) and TEND (P = 0.014) ratings of leg steaks. Cuts prepared by grilling x medium or higher were rated lower than those prepared by other methods x medium or higher. Preparation method was related to IFLAV (P < 0.05). Leg steaks that were grilled had lower IFLAV ratings than steaks prepared with other methods. TEND and DFLAV were important and contributed to overall like (r = 0.84 and r = 0.83, respectively). IFLAV had a lower correlation (r = 0.32) with OLIKE, which suggests that it did not influence consumer ratings of lamb. Rib and loin cuts were rated higher than shoulder and leg cuts and are subject to less variation from dependent factors of palatability, including preparation method and degree of doneness. Leg steaks were influenced more by tenderness than flavor desirability, which suggests that tenderness may be a more important factor in tougher cuts.