Meat

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Meat

• One of the costliest item, but also most
  profitable food items

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Meat Inspection

• Inspection is required at several stages of meat
  processing to ensure
• Animals are free from disease
• Farms are operated according to appropriate
  standards for safety, cleanliness, and health
• Meat is wholesome and fit for human consumption

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Grading

• Quality is based on
• Overall shape of the carcass
• Ration of fat to lean meat
• Ration of meat to bone
• Color of the meat
• Amount of fat present in the lean flesh
• Known as marbling in beef

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Butchering

• A carcass need to cut into manageable pieces
• Sides - carcass split in 2 halves by cutting down
  the length of the backbone
• Quarters - the side is cut into 2 pieces called
  the forequarter and the hindquarter
• Saddles - alternative way to cut a carcass into 2
  portions (foresaddle hindsaddle) by cutting
  across the belly (usually used for veal)

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• Quarters or saddles are then cut into primal cuts
• Primal cuts are broken down in subprimal cuts
• These are trimmed, packed, and sold to
  restaurants or butcher shops
• Subprimals are broken down to
• Fabrication - breaking down the subprimals into
  portion-sized cuts by the store or restaurant
• Retail cuts -breaking down the subprimals into
  smaller pieces at the packing plant
• Boxed Meat meat that is fabricated to a
  specific point and then packed and boxed

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Making cutlets

• Trim meat to remove visible fat, tendons,
  gristle, silverskin.
• Cut pieces same thickness weight.
• Place meat between 2 layers of plastic wrap.
• Pound meat using a pounding, pushing motion to
  pound cutlets to an even thickness all over. Do
  not tear or overstretch meat.
• Arrange the pounded cutlets on a parchment-lined
  sheet pan. Keep cold until ready to cook.

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Types of Meat

• Flavor, color and texture of meat is influenced
  by
• Amount of exercise the muscle receivees
• Animals age
• Type of feed it received
• The animal breed

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Beef

• Typically young males (steers) or females
  (heifers) as older animals will be less tender
• Specialty beef
• Kobe from Japan
• Limousin from France
• Certified Angus, natural beef, organic beef from
  the US

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• Aged beef
• Process that gives meat a darker color, more
  tender texture, and fuller flavor
• Wet aging is when boneless cuts are vacuum-packed
  and stored under refrigeration for several weeks
• Dry aging use for side, forequarter or
  hindquarter that are hung in a climate-controlled
  area
• Aged beef is more expensive due to the additional
  processing

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• 8 grades of beef
• Prime, choice, select, standard, commercial,
  utility, cutter, canner
• Grades lower than select used for processed meat
• USDA Prime
• Most tender, juicy, and flavorful
• Has abundant marbling which enhances flavor and
  juiciness
• Sold to hotels, restaurants, butcher shops
• Excellent for dry cooking methods

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• USDA Choice
• Most popular quality
• Sold in retail stores
• Tender, juicy and flavorful
• Less marbling than Prime
• USDA Select
• Uniform in quality
• Becoming more popular because it is leaner
• Not as juicy or flavorful
• Often marinated before cooking
• More often cooked by moist heat methods

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Forequarter 4 primal cuts

• Chuck(shoulder)
• Use moist heat or combination cooking methods
• Includes roasts, steaks, stew meat, ground beef
• Rib
• Roast, grill, broil, saute
• Sold whole, in small roasts, rib eye steaks

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• Brisket and Foreshank
• Brisket is braised or made into corned beef
• When cured and smoked it is used for pastrami
• Typically braised or used in stews
• Short Plate
• Includes short ribs and skirt steak
• Ribs are often braised
• Skirt steak is cooked by dry heat

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Hindquarter 4 primal cuts

• Loin (short loin)
• Includes roast and steaks
• T-bone, strip, filet mignon, tournedos,
  tenderloin tips
• Sirloin
• Contains portion of the tenderloin
• Less tender than loin
• Sirloin butt is moderately tough
• Roasting, grilling, broiling, sauteing common
  cooking methods

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• Flank
• Flank steak us usually sold whole
• Can be grilled, but often braised and can be
  stuffed
• Round
• Includes the knuckle and the eye of the round
  that can be roasted
• Most commonly cooked by braising or stewing
• Often cubed for stew meat or kebabs
• Meat from the bootom round is often ground

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Variety Meats

• Those cut other than primal cuts
• Also called offal
• Includes liver, tripe (stomach lining), kidneys,
  tongue, oxtail, intestines, heart

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Veal

• Comes from a young calf 2-3 months old
• Has delicate, tender flesh that is pale pink
• Milk-fed veal is no more than 12 weeks old
• Formla fed veal can be up to 4 months
• 6 grades Prime, Choice, Good, Standard,
  Utility, Cull

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Veal Cuts

• Cut into saddles cuts
• Foresaddle has 4 primal cuts
• Hindsaddles has 2 primal cuts
• Primal cuts include shoulder, shank, rack,
  breast, loin, and leg
• Variety meats include sweetbreads (pancreas or
  thymus gland), liver, calfs head, and brains

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Cooking Veal

• Shoulder
• Use moist heat or combination
• Stew meat ground meat made from less desirable
  cuts
• Rib (back)
• Roast whole or as chops
• Use dry heat methods
• Crown roast made by tying a rib roast into a
  crown shape

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• Shank
• Often braised
• Prepared osso bucco which is an Italian method of
  braising veal shanks with aromatic vegetables
• Breast
• Stuffed and rolled
• Braised or slowly roasted
• Loin
• Tender meat with even texture
• Use dry heat techniques
• Include whole roasts, chops, boneless
  portion-sized cuts
• Frenching scraping the bones clean before
  cooking
• Leg
• Can be whole, in smaller pieces, or as top round

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Pork - domesticated pigs

• Breed to be leaner than in earlier generations
• Most tender under age of 12 months
• 2 grades acceptable and utility
• Acceptable broken down in 4 grades (1-4)
• The higher the grade the more meat compared to
  fat or bone
• A bigger animal has more lean meat
• Stores sell only Grade 1 and 2
• Grade 3 4 and Utility used in processed products

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Pork Carcass

• Split into 2 halves along the backbone
• Cut into 5 primal cuts
• Boston Butt also called daisy ham, cottage butt
• Used for specialty ham called tasso
• Cook by roasting, sauteing, stewing
• May cure or smoke
• Smoked version is called English bacon

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• Shoulder
• Cook by stewing or braising
• Used for ground pork, in sausages
• Also called picnic ham
• Has relatively high fat content
• Loin
• Tender cuts
• Use dry cooking methods
• Sold as whole roasts, chops, cutlets, baby back
  ribs
• May be cured or smoked (Canadian-style bacon)

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• Belly
• Cured or smoked to make bacon
• Cook by dry heat
• Includes spareribs, either whole or in portions
• Ham (leg)
• Include whole roasts, steaks, portion cuts
• Top round is thin boneless cuts that are sauteed
  or pan fried.
• Ham is typically roasted, baked (with glaze) or
  boiled.
• Shank is simmered, stewed, or braised
• Can be fresh, cured, or smoked
• Prosciutto dry cured ham (rubbed with salt and
  seasonings
• Smithfield ham dried and smoked

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Lamb and Mutton

• Lamb tender meat from young domesticated sheep
• Texture determined by food consumed and age
• Milk-fed is more delicate than grass-fed
• Most lamb finished on grain and butchered at 6-7
  mos.
• Mutton sheep over 16 months old
• Tougher and has stronger, gamey taste
• Graded Prim or Choice for restaurant or retail
• Good, Utility Cull grades used commercially

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Lamb Cuts

• Can be cut in foresaddle and hindsaddle or into
  sides
• Consists of 5 primal cuts
• Shoulder cook by simmering, braising, stewing
• Includes roasts, chops, cubed and ground meat
• Some boneless cuts can be roasted or grilled
• Foreshank and Breast
• Cook foreshank by braising or simmering
• Cook breast by braising, simmering, broiling or
  grilling

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• Rib
• Roasted as rack, crown roast, or bone-in roast
• Chops are sauteed, broiled, or grilled
• Can be single or double boned
• Loin
• Tender and suited to quick-cooking dry heat
  methods
• Includes whole cuts, English chops, Saratoga
  chops and boneless cuts
• Boneless cuts are cutlets, emince, medallions,
  noisettes
• Leg
• Some tender cuts may use dry heat
• Sirloin, top round, bottom round, eye round can
  be roasted or braised
• Top round can be made into steaks or cutlets
• Lam shank heel are typically braised, stewed or
  simmered
• Leg may be butterflied (split down the middle and
  spred open) to be grilled or stuffed and braised

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• Game - general term used for meat of wild mammals
  and birds
• Vension - meat from deer family which includes
• Antelope, caribou, elk, moose, reindeer,
  red-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, and mule deer
• Meat from buffalo or wild boar is usually
  identified as such
• Rabbit
• Mild flavor, lean, tender, fine texture
• Hare large wild rabbit weighing 6-12 lbs.
• Commercial rabbit 3-5 lbs.
• Young rabbit 2.5 lbs.

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• Most game is not commercially raised.
• The flavor, color, and texture of the flesh are a
  direct result of its age and diet as well as the
  season
• When cooking, less exercised meat portions can be
  cooked using dry heat methods.
• Well-exercised need moist heat methods.

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Buying and Storing Meat

• Meat is perishable and should be kept below 41 F
• Packaging should be clean and intact.
• Meat will hold for several days in the proper
  temperature.
• Place meat in frig so that it will not drip on
  other food.
• Keep different kinds of meat separate.

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• Store vacuum-packed meat in its packaging.
• Once packaging is removed, rewrap in
  air-permeable paper such as butchers paper.
• Storing meat in an air-tight container will
  promote bacterial growth that can cause spoilage
  and contamination.

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Preparing Meat

• Grain - the direction that the fibers in the meat
  are running.
• Some prep requires the meat to be cut across the
  grain or across the fibers.
• Other prep requires the meat to be cut with the
  grain, or in the same direction as the fibers.

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• Seams - the membranes that join the muscles
• Cutting along a seam helps separate a large cut
  into smaller pieces
• Visible or surface is usually cut away before
  cooking.
• Silverskin - a tough membrane that surrounds some
  cuts of meat. If not removed, it will shrink
  during cooking and cause the meat to buckle and
  cook unevenly.

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• To make a cutlet
• trim the meat
• cut pieces of equal thickness
• Place meat between 2 layers of plastic wrap
• Pound meat to an even thickness
• Chill until ready to cook
• To make stew meat
• Trim meat
• Cut into same sized cubes
• To make meat more tender, cut against the grain.
• Cubed meat may then be ground