14 DAY TRIAL // There are few things in life quite as heart-wrenching as looking forward to the perfect steak dinner and instead ending up chewing on a piece of meat that's more of a seasoned rubber boot than a delight of the senses.
The good news is that, according to researchers over at Norway-headquartered SINTEF, i.e. the largest independent research organisation in Scandinavia, there is one very simple way to guarantee steak tenderness forever and for always: X-rays.
How X-rays hold the key to tastier, more tender steaks
SINTEF scientists say that, in a series of experiments carried out in collaboration with other research centers and folks working in the meat industry, they found that X-rays can be used to determine meat tenderness with a high degree of accuracy.
The specialists explain that, when X-rays pass through an object, some of the radiations get absorbed and some are transmitted in very specific patterns, all depending on the molecular structure of the object they were made to interact with.
Hence, the researchers propose that X-rays be used to zoom in on connective tissues and muscle fibers in steaks, possibly other types of meat as well. The end goal would be to use the information obtained in this manner to determine just how tender the meat is.
“SINTEF has been involved for several years in projects involving X-ray methods and X-ray detectors. This time we’ve been using low-energy X-rays to measure tenderness and water bonding in meat,” said scientists Marion O’Farell and Gregory Bouquet.
Mind you, they even have a prototype device undergoing tests
Some might be tempted to think that it will surely be a while before the food industry starts using X-rays to assess meat tenderness and distinguish between average and positively heavenly steaks, but the fact of the matter is that this might happen sooner than imagined.
SINTEF specialists say that Tomra AS, a Norwegian multinational corporation all too familiar with X-rays, has already developed a prototype device that uses this form of electromagnetic radiation to measure meat tenderness, even search for unwanted objects in meat products.
It is understood that this prototype device is currently undergoing tests. Should it perform as expected, this emerging technology could soon be made available to the food industry.
