Table 2.

Pearson correlation coefficients (r) between loin quality measurements (14d postmortem) or chop characteristics with cooking rate for chops cooked to 63 °C and 71 °C ^1.

	Cooking Rate 5 for Chops Cooked to 63 °C		Cooking Rate 5 for Chops Cooked to 71 °C
Variable	r	p-Value	r	p-Value
pH	0.01	0.91	0.09	0.09
NPPC color 2	0.01	0.83	0.05	0.37
NPPC marbling 2	0.09	0.04	0.12	0.02
NPPC firmness 2	0.03	0.53	0.03	0.59
Moisture, %	−0.16	<0.001	−0.02	0.78
Extractable lipid, %	−0.08	0.10	0.08	0.18
Lightness, L* 3	0.00	0.99	0.04	0.50
Redness, a* 3	0.02	0.64	−0.03	0.51
Yellowness, b* 3	0.02	0.62	−0.02	0.66
Initial chop temp., °C 4	−0.02	0.60	0.04	0.44
Off-grill temp., °C	0.17	<0.01	0.21	<0.0001
Initial chop weight, g 4	−0.37	<0.0001	−0.26	<0.0001

¹ Loin measures were on the ventral side of the whole boneless loin. ² National Pork Producers Council color, marbling, and firmness scores. Color is measured from light to dark (1–6), marbling is measured least to greatest (1–10), and firmness is measured soft to firm (1–5). ³ L* measures darkness to lightness (greater L* value indicates a lighter color). a* measures redness (greater a* value indicates a redder color). b* measures yellowness (greater b* value indicates a more yellow color). ⁴ Initial temperature and weights of chops were taken prior to cooking. ⁵ Cooking rate is measured as the change in degrees Celsius per minute of cooking.