Meat Selection and Storage

1. Meat Selection and Storage FACS Standards 8.5.1, 8.5.2, 8.5.3, 8.5.4, 8.5.5, 8.5.6, 8.5.7 Kowtaluk, Helen and Orphanos Kopan, Alice. Food For Today. McGraw Hill-Glencoe. 2004.

2. Types of Meat • 4 basic types of meat; each with distinct flavor and appearance • Beef – cattle more than 1 year old; hearty flavor; bright red color; firm fat, with a white, creamy white, or yellowish color • Veal – cattle 1 – 3 months old; mild flavor; light pink color with very little fat

3. “Special Fed Veal” – fed special milk-based diet; flesh more tender; grayish-pink color and white fat • Lamb – young sheep; mild, but unique flavor; bright pink-red color with white, brittle fat; fat sometimes covered with a fell, colorless connective tissue

4. Pork – hogs; mild flavor; grayish-pink with white, soft fat

5. Cuts of Meat • Wholesale cuts • Primal cuts • Large cuts for marketing • Further cut into retail cuts • Retail cuts • Found in supermarket

10. Meat Price Label RETAIL CUT ANIMAL WHOLESALE CUT

11. Bone Shape • Each wholesale cut has a distinct bone to identify the meat and is a clue to the tenderness

12. Which Cuts are Lean? • Lean – less than 10 g of fat, less than 4 g of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholesterol in a 3 ½ ounce serving • Round, loin, sirloin, chuck arm beef roasts and steaks • Tenderloin, center loin, ham pork roasts and chops • All veal cuts by ground • Leg, loin, foreshank lamb roasts and chops

13. Appearance best indicator of lean meat • Fat around a cut of meat should be trimmed to less than ¼ inch

14. Ground Meat • Ground beef is beef trimmings • By law, cannot have more than 30% fat by weight • Lean ground beef is available, but will cost more • May find ground lamb, pork, and veal; if not, ask for it

15. Organ Meats • Often called variety meats • Liver – highly nutritious and tender, pronounced flavor • Lamb and veal kidneys – tender, mild flavor; beef and pork kidneys – strong-flavored and less tender

16. Chitterlings – pig intestines; may come from calves; thoroughly cleaned and sold whole in containers • Other: brains, heart, tongue, tripe (stomach lining of cattle), sweetbreads (thymus gland)

17. Inspection and Grading • Meat must be graded to be sold; graded by USDA for wholesomeness • Round inspection mark stamped on meat • Must also be graded; voluntary program; graded according to standards including amount of marbling, age of animal, and texture and appearance of the meat

18. 3 most common grades for beef • Prime – highest and most expensive; well marbled meat, very tender and flavorful • Choice – most common grade sold in supermarkets; less marbling than prime, but still tender and flavorful • Select – last amount of marbling; least expensive; sold as store brand

19. Lamb and veal also graded; same grades as for beef except “Good” replaces “Select” • Pork not graded because meat is more uniform in quality

20. Processed Meats • 35% of meat produced in the U.S. is processed • Meat processed to impart distinct flavors • Ham, bacon, sausage, cold cuts • Curing – most common processing method • Meat injected with or placed in mixture of salt, sugar, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, ascorbic acid, and water – function as preservatives; nitrates prevent growth of botulin bacteria

21. Drying and salting – preserve meat • Smoking – to enhance flavor and preserve food • Often more than one processing method used on a single meat

22. Using Processed Meats • Ham – some precooked; some not; read label for serving instructions • Sausages – ready-to-eat or must cook; check the label • Cold cuts – ready-to-eat, sliced, and packaged meat

23. Storing Meat • Meat requires cold storage • Use ground meat and variety meats within 1-2 days after storing in the refrigerator • Other fresh meat will store 3-5 days in the refrigerator • For longer storage, freeze meat