2. Meats Usually the most expensive of all food items 30-70% of food cost
20-40% of operating cost

3. Make-up: 75% water, 20% protein, 5% fat Shrinkage and deterioration
Humidity
Temperature

4. Animal Fat 5% of animal tissue 30% of carcass? Bred and raised leaner
Some fat is desirable . . .

5. Fat is not all bad! Juiciness Tenderness Surface Fat Flavor Marbling
“Juiciness” when eating
Tenderness
Muscle fibers separated by fat
Surface Fat
Protects during cooking
Flavor
The “Beefy” flavor is fat soluble

6. Connective Tissue is Tough to Eat!
Meats 3
Connective Tissue is Tough to Eat!
Collagen and elastin
Old versus young
Use of muscle
Marbling

7. ROT for Cooking Much collagen? Much elastin?
Long, slow, moist cooking.
Collagen dissolves into gelatin and water
Much elastin?
Remove
Mechanically tenderize
Grind, cube, slice very thin, pound,
Break up the fibers!

8. Meats: Inspections and Grading
Authorized by Agricultural Marketing Act
The Wholesome Meat Act
All meat must be inspected
Grading is voluntary
Quality
Yield

9. The Seal of Approval? The Circular Inspection Stamp
Wholesome and Fit for Human Consumption
The Shield shaped Grading stamp
A Quality Designation
Clearly specified

10. Quality Beef Veal and Lamb Prime Choice Select Standard Commercial
Utility
Cutter Canner
Veal and Lamb
Prime
Choice
Good
and more

11. Quality Proprietary Quality Grade? Caveat Emptor!
Know your supplier
You can none-the-less specify USDA grade

12. Yield Ratio of fat to meat 1 is highest yield Beef 1-5 Pork 1-4
Lamb/Mutton 1-5
Veal is not yield graded
Naturally lean

13. Aged Meat?
Green Meat
Myosin and Actin
Stiff and inelastic

14. Aged Meat? Tenderize: Tenderize: Natural High temperature Enzymatic
Vacuum aging
Electrical stimulation
Tenderize:
Dry aging
May lose up to 20% of moisture content
Wet aging
Less initial moisture loss
Greater cooking loss

15. Aged Meat Slightly changed flavor profile
If meat smells (or tastes) spoiled, it probably is

16. Meat Cuts7 Four forms: Carcass Partial carcass Primal cut
Fabricated cuts (pre-fabs)
IMPS or NAMPS

17. Bone Structure Important to know: Help identify a cut of meat
Help minimize loss when de-boning
Help you avoid messy carving/carving loss

18. Know the carcasses

19. Cooking Meats8 Low temp if possible ID-the connective tissue/cut
ROT for cooking methods:
Moist heat
Larger or tougher cuts
Dry heat
Smaller or tender cuts

20. Rib and Loin Cuts The most tender (on any animal) Beef and Lamb
Often served rare to medium: roast, broil or grill.
Veal and Pork
Generally eaten (more) well done: as above, but also braised on occasion.

21. Leg or Round Beef (round) Typically less tender braise
Roasting OK for Prime or Choice
Marbling
Long cooking time - beef’s own moisture helps tenderize

22. Leg or Round Veal, Lamb or Pork (leg) More tender than beef
Younger!! Excellent for roasting

23. Chuck or Shoulder Beef Braise Veal, Lamb and Pork Braise or Roast
NB: The shoulder may be tender, but will have multidirectional muscle tissue

24. Shanks, Breasts, Briskets and Flank
Usually not tender even on young animals
Shanks are high in collagen: excellent for braising
Beef flank, if carefully cut across the grain, can be broiled: London Broil

25. Mechanically tenderized meats, such as cubed or ground, can be cooked by dry or moist heat
Searing and blanching? does not seal in the juices !

26. Do not cook meats when frozen
Does not retain or increase moisture
Same or slightly increased (delayed)
Complicates the cooking process
Timing
Surface dry and done - center frozen
Waste of energy and time

27. Doneness? Dry heat vs. Moist heat Carry-over cooking
Critical for product quality

28. Doneness? Color Change Red Meats “Blue” “Rare” “Medium” “Well Done”
Barely seen the heat, cold and “blue” center
“Rare”
Browned surface, thin grey layer, red interior, slightly warm.
“Medium”
Browned surface, more grey, pink center.
“Well Done”
Grey throughout

29. Doneness? Interior temperature the best approach: Beef: Rare: Medium
Well done
160 F

30. Doneness for White Meats?
Pork:
Cooked well done: F
Must pass 137 F throughout for minimum 10 seconds to avoid trichinosis!
Play it safe and hit F (FDA)
Veal
Generally cooked well done
Hues of pink increasingly accepted in the most tender cuts

31. Doneness by Touch? Takes much experience! Small steaks/chops
Touch the raw product first!
Rare: Firmer, but still soft and pliable
Medium: Firmer, springs back
Well done: Firm, does not yield to pressure

32. Dry Heat Meat Cookery Seasoning If you season just prior to roasting
Only fractions of an inch will be seasoned
Browning will be retarded
3 choices:
Season several hours/days in advance
Season after roasting
Do not season, but have a well seasoned sauce

33. Basting only needed for lean meats
Roast fat side up
Basting only needed for lean meats
Baste with fat, not stock
Bard (cover with fat) or lard
Broil, grill, pan broil
browning and internal doneness
ROT: the shorter the cook time (the rarer the interior), the higher the temperature
brush with oil if necessary, avoid the “oil dip”

34. Sauté and Pan Fry Only tender cuts!
The smaller or thinner the piece the higher the heat
ROT for sauté:
Hot pan
Do not overcrowd
Flip only as needed
Deglazing

35. Moist Heat Cookery Simmering Braising Stewing
Fresh meats, start with boiling liquid
Cured or smoked meats, start with cold liquid
Braising
Stewing

36. Meats “elsewhere” Grain fed versus “double duty cow” Horsemeat Goat
Increasingly found in US

37. Veal Formula (milk) fed Free-range Color of flesh is indicator
Farming conditions?
Free-range
Color of flesh is indicator
Milk fed
White (pork-like)
Grain fed
Reddish flesh

38. Veal Two general types: Special Fed (a.k.a. milk- or formula-fed):
“Special Fed” (85% of market)
“Bob Veal” (15% of market)
Special Fed (a.k.a. milk- or formula-fed):
Removed from the cow within 3 days
Fed a nutritionally balanced soy or milk based diet until weeks
Sent to market upwards of 450 lbs.

39. Veal Bob Veal Very young calves No more than three weeks old
Usually no more than 150 lbs.

40. Lamb and Mutton Lamb Lamb versus Mutton Most 6 (3) months to 1 year
Less than 3 months: Milk lamb
I year: yearling
Thereafter it is mutton
Lamb versus Mutton
Tenderness, cooking methods, doneness, flavor

41. Variety meats (offal) Two categories Glandular meats Muscle meats
Liver, kidney, sweetbread, brains
Muscle meats
Heart, tongue, oxtails, and tripe

42. Glandular Liver Easy to prepare Calf liver the most tender and prized
Remove outer skin and tough membranes
Cut on the bias
Cook carefully and to order
Slightly pink or it will be dry
Calf liver the most tender and prized
Beef also OK
Pork mostly used in pate and sausage

43. Glandular Kidneys Lamb and Veal best Beef OK
Dry heat
Beef OK
Moist heat
May need blanching or milk marinades
Split in half
Remove any white fatty tissue and veins

44. Glandular Sweetbreads Soak Blanch and refresh in ice water
(Thymus glands of young cattle)
Soak
Blanch and refresh in ice water
Remove membrane
Press?
Braise or Sauté

45. Glandular Brains Low priority in the US Delicacy elsewhere
“Mad Cow Disease”

46. Muscular Heart (Veal or Beef) Beef (veal) Tongue Oxtail Tough
Casseroles and forcemeat preparations
Beef (veal) Tongue
Fresh, cured or smoked
Braised: Entrée or as “deli meat”
Oxtail
Very high gelatin and good flavor
Excellent for soups and stews
Cut between joints

47. Receiving and Storing Meats
Fresh
Check upon arrival
If not vacuum packed do not wrap tightly
Molds and “off” flavors may develop
Store at F
Separate by type
Fresh below cooked
Unless you have proper facilities, use quickly (2-4 days)

48. Receiving and Storing Meats
Frozen
Check upon arrival: Receive frozen!
Store at 0 F or colder
Lean meats max 6 months
Fattier meats (pork) max 4 months
Never refreeze