1. Understanding Meats and Game
Chapter 15

2. The Definition of Meat Meat Muscle tissue
The flesh of domestic animals and of wild game animals.
The largest expense item of a food-service operation.

3. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Water: 75%
Protein (essential nutrient): 20%
Fat: 5% of muscle tissue, and as much as 30% of the beef carcass
Carbohydrate: very small amount

4. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Composition (cont’d)
Water
A high percentage of water in muscle tissue explains the challenge of shrinkage during cooking
Excessive moisture loss during cooking:
Dry meat
Loss of product weight
Loss of product profit

5. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Composition (cont’d)
Protein
Muscle tissue becomes firmer and loses moisture as it coagulates.
Doneness is related to the desired degree of muscle protein coagulation.
Excessive coagulation results in toughening of the proteins and moisture loss.

6. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Composition (cont’d)
Fat
Deposited throughout tissue as marbling, which separates muscle fibers and makes them easier to chew.
Surface fat retains moisture during cooking.
A certain amount of fat is therefore desirable for:
Juiciness
Tenderness
Flavor

7. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Composition (cont’d)
Carbohydrate
Meat contains almost insignificant amount of carbohydrates.
The small amount that is present is necessary for the Maillard Reaction to occur, resulting in flavor and browning in meats.

8. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Muscle Fibers
Determine the meat’s texture or grain.
Fine-grained meat: small muscle fibers bound in small bundles
Coarse-textured meat: large muscle fibers
Connective Tissue
Binds muscle fibers together in bundles.
Collagen: broken down by heat, acids, enzymes, and tenderizers
Elastin: must be physically removed or broken down mechanically
Meat from exercised muscles are high in connective tissue.

9. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Inspection and Grading
Inspection
Guarantee of wholesomeness indicated by a round stamp.
All meat produced for public consumption must be inspected by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
Inspections ensure:
Products are processed under strict sanitary guidelines.
Products are wholesome and fit for human consumption.

10. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Inspection and Grading (cont’d)
Quality Grading
Quality designation indicated by a shield stamp.
Based on:
Texture
Firmness
Color of lean meat
Age or maturity
Marbling
Not required by Canadian law; some packers use private grading system.

11. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Inspection and Grading (cont’d)
Quality Grading
Beef
Veal
Canada Prime
Canada AAA
Canada AA
Canada A
Canada B1 to B4
Canada D1 to D4
A 1 to A 4
B 1 to B 4
C 1 to C 2

12. Composition, Structure, and Basic Quality Factors
Aging
Wet Aging
Dry Aging
Smaller cuts of meat are enclosed in Cryovac® air and moisture proof packaging.
Protects from bacteria and mold
Prevents weight loss from drying
Larger cuts of meat are exposed to air in controlled conditions.
Can lose up to 20% of weight
More expensive than wet aging

13. Understanding the Basic Cuts
Available Forms
Carcasses
The whole animal except head, feet, entrails, and hide
Exception: Pork, for which only entrails and head are removed
Breaking down a carcass
Sides
Quarters
Foresaddles
Hindsaddles

14. Understanding the Basic Cuts
Available Forms (cont’d)
Primal or Wholesale Cuts
Primary divisions of quarters, foresaddles, hindsaddles, and carcasses:
Small enough to manage in food-service kitchens
Large enough to allow variety of cuts for different uses or needs
Easier to utilize completely than quarters or halves

15. Understanding the Basic Cuts
Available Forms (cont’d)
Fabricated Cuts
Primal cuts fabricated into smaller cuts.
Roasts, steaks, chops, cutlets, stewing meat, and ground meat (or to customer specification)
Portion-controlled cuts
Cuts ready-to-cook; processed according to customer specifications
Organ meats (offal)
Tripe, oxtail, heart, tongue, and kidney

16. Understanding the Basic Cuts
Available Forms (cont’d)
Basic Cuts for Beef
Forequarter
Hindquarter
Chuck
Brisket
Shank
Rib
Short Plate
Full Loin
Short loin
Sirloin
Flank
Round

17. Understanding the Basic Cuts
Available Forms (cont’d)
Basic Cuts for Beef
Understanding bone structure is essential to:
Identifying meat cuts.
Boning and cutting.
Carving cooked meats

18. Understanding the Basic Cuts
Selecting Meats for Your Operation
Specifications
Indicate the following specifications when ordering meat
Item name
Grade
Weight range
State of refrigeration
Fat limitations, or average thickness of surface fat

19. Understanding the Basic Cuts
Fabricating Meat
The illustrations in this chapter demonstrate important procedures for fabricating meat.
Silverskin: a thin layer or membrane of connective tissue that often covers the surface of a muscle.
Not always necessary to remove for braised meats
Should be removed from roasts, sautés, and grills of tender meats

20. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods
Principles of Low-Heat Cooking
High heat toughens and shrinks proteins, resulting in excessive moisture loss.
Roasts cooked at lower temperatures have better yields.
Moist heat penetrates quickly because liquid and steam are better conductors than air.

21. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Breaking Down Connective Tissue
Rib and loin cuts
Always the most tender cuts
Used mostly for steaks and chops

22. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Breaking Down Connective Tissue (cont’d)
Leg or round
Beef: Most suitable for braising.
Veal, lamb, and pork: These meats are from younger animals and are therefore tender enough to roast.

23. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Breaking Down Connective Tissue (cont’d)
Chuck or shoulder
Beef: Most suitable for braising.
Veal, lamb, and pork: These meats are most often braised but are young enough to roast or cut into chops for broiling.

24. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Breaking Down Connective Tissue (cont’d)
Shanks, breast, brisket, and flank
Beef: Can be broiled if cooked rare and sliced thin (London broil)

25. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Breaking Down Connective Tissue (cont’d)
Shanks, breast, brisket, and flank (cont’d)
Veal, lamb, and pork: These meats are most often braised.
Shanks are especially suitable for braising due to their high collagen content that is converted to gelatin, giving body to braising liquids and good eating qualities to the meat.

26. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Other Factors Influencing Choice of Cooking Method
Fat content
Barding: Tying slices of fat over the surface of meat to protect them while roasting
Larding: Inserting strips of fat with a larding needle into meets low in marbling

27. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Other Factors Influencing Choice of Cooking Method (cont’d)
Tenderness is not the only goal of cooking
Other goals:
Develop flavor
Prevent excessive shrinkage
Develop appearance

28. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Searing and “Sealing”
Searing meats at high heat creates:
Desirable flavor
Color by browning all sides
Blanching meats in boiling water leads to:
Some protein coagulation
Not as much protein is carried out of meat with lost moisture
“Sealing” does not seal in juices, as meat has no pores to seal. Rather, it is has an open network of fibers.

29. Cooking and Handling Meats
Tenderness and Appropriate Cooking Methods (cont’d)
Cooking Frozen Meats
Meats cooked from the frozen state lose no moisture through defrosting, but lose more moisture during cooking.
Cooking frozen meats complicates the cooking process; adjustments in procedure are required.
Cooking frozen meats requires more energy.
… Therefore, most meats are thawed first and then prepared.

30. Cooking and Handling Meats
Doneness
Dry-Heat Cooking
Rare: Brown surface, thin layer of gray, red interior
Medium: Thick layer of gray, pink interior
Well done: Gray throughout
White meat (veal and pork)
From pink to gray-pink to off-white
Touch
Rare: Feels soft; gives to pressure
Medium: Feels moderately firm; springs back readily when pressed
Well done: Feels firm; does not give to pressure

31. Cooking and Handling Meats
Doneness
Moist-Heat Cooking
Doneness is indicated by tenderness, not by temperature.
Most of the time the meat is well done.
Low temperatures, no higher than simmering, are essential to avoid toughening protein in moist-cooked meat

32. Cooking and Handling Meats
Doneness (cont’d)
Juiciness
Three main factors determine the perception of juiciness:
Internal fat
Gelatin
Protein coagulation
Carryover Cooking
Internal temperature continues rising after meat is removed from oven
Internal temperature can raise by:
Small cuts: 5°F (3°C)
Large roasts: 25°F (14°C)
Average roasts: 10° to 15°F (6° to 8°C)

33. Cooking and Handling Meats
Cooking Variety Meats
Variety meats include the organs, glands, and other meats that don’t form a part of the dressed carcass of the animal.
Liver
Kidneys
Sweetbreads
Brains
Heart
Tongue
Oxtails
Tripe
Other variety meats include intestines, caul, and feet.

34. Cooking and Handling Meats
Game and Specialty Meats
Game is used to refer to poultry and meat animals normally found in the wild.
Venison
Marinating widely used for flavor and tenderness
Low in fat
Boar
Buffalo or American bison
Rabbit
Hare

35. Cooking and Handling Meats
Storage of Meats
Fresh Meats
Should be stored at 32ºF (0ºC) to 36ºF (2ºC).
Allow for proper air circulation.
Do not open vacuum packaged meats until ready to use.
Keep meats separate in the cooler and avoid cross-contamination.
Use as quickly as possible; fresh meats keep well for only two to four days.

36. Cooking and Handling Meats
Storage Methods (cont’d)
Frozen Meats
Should be stored at 0ºF (–18ºC) or colder.
Wrap frozen meats well to prevent freezer burn.
Recommended shelf life for meats at 0ºF (–18ºC).
Beef, veal and lamb: 6 months
Pork: 4 months (pork fat turns rancid easily in the freezer)
Defrost carefully in the refrigerator.
Do not refreeze thawed meats.