The measurement of subcutaneous fat depth on hot beef carcasses with the Hennessy grading probe

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Abstract
The left sides of 1118 hot beef carcasses were measured with the Hennessy Grading Probe (HGP) at a site on the rump. Two experienced technicians then measured fat depth at the same site using the cut-and-measure (CM) technique. Only measurements from carcasses where the 2 CM readings were within I mm were used in subsequent analyses (n = 828). Relative to CM, the HGP overestimated and underestimated the fat depth of lean and fat carcasses respectively. A significant (P < 0.001) linear relationship between the HGP and CM readings on the same carcass was demonstrated (r2 = 0.94, r.s.d. = 1.76 mm). The best prediction of CM was obtained when a quadratic HGP term was included (r2=0.94, r.s.d. = 1.72 mm). The HGP, using the regression equation CM = -2.53 + 1.56 (HGP) - 0.008 (HGP)2 is recommended as an alternative to CM for measuring subcutaneous fat depths of beef carcasses.