Meat
One of the costliest item, but also
most profitable food items
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
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
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)
• 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
Making cutlets
1. Trim meat to remove visible fat, tendons, gristle,
silverskin.
2. Cut pieces same thickness & weight.
3. Place meat between 2 layers of plastic wrap.
4. Pound meat using a pounding, pushing motion to
pound cutlets to an even thickness all over. Do not
tear or overstretch meat.
5. Arrange the pounded cutlets on a parchment-lined
sheet pan. Keep cold until ready to cook.
Types of Meat
• Flavor, color and texture of meat is
influenced by:
– Amount of exercise the muscle receivees
– Animal’s age
– Type of feed it received
– The animal breed
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
– 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
– Prime, choice, select, standard, commercial,
utility, cutter, canner
– Grades lower than select used for processed
meat
– Most tender, juicy, and flavorful
– Has abundant marbling which enhances flavor
and juiciness
– Sold to hotels, restaurants, butcher shops
– Excellent for dry cooking methods
– Most popular quality
– Sold in retail stores
– Tender, juicy and flavorful
– Less marbling than Prime
– 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
Forequarter = 4 primal cuts
• Chuck(shoulder)
– Use moist heat or combination cooking
methods
– Includes roasts, steaks, stew meat, ground
beef
– Roast, grill, broil, saute
– Sold whole, in small roasts, rib eye steaks
• 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
– Includes short ribs and skirt steak
– Ribs are often braised
– Skirt steak is cooked by dry heat
Hindquarter = 4 primal cuts
– Includes roast and steaks
• T-bone, strip, filet mignon, tournedos, & tenderloin tips
Contains portion of the tenderloin
Less tender than loin
Sirloin butt is moderately tough
Roasting, grilling, broiling, sauteing common
cooking methods
– Flank steak us usually sold whole
– Can be grilled, but often braised and can be
stuffed
– 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
for more information about this topic,please follow the link:
http://cherokee.k12.ia.us/Staff/Breyfogl...s/Meat.ppt
