MEAT COOKERY

It is important to know how the animals are slaughtered in hygienic conditions. Meat bought must be from a slaughter house that has professional working.

In Europe, slaughter houses are called abbatoirs. The slaughter houses have space for meat storage and deal with large amounts of offals. A slaughter house is functional, compact in space, has satisfactory working conditions, proper equipment and has provision for the highest sanitary standards.

The different types of meat are: Lamb, Mutton, Beef, Veal, Pork and Game meat.

PRE-SLAUGHTER STEPS:

INSPECTION: animals are inspected by medical inspectors to assess whether the animals are fit for human consumption, then only, they are deemed fit for slaughtering.

RESTING OF ANIMAL: the animals are kept in clean dry enclosures (pens) to rest for 24 hours. The animals are given plenty of water during resting.

• It helps to maintain normal heartbeat of the animals
• It helps in the drainage of blood.
• It helps to have normal body temperature as it increases the keeping quality of the carcass and minimize the bacterial growth.
• It speeds up the glycogen stored in the muscle to turn to lactic acid, which will lower the pH of the muscles and reduce the growth of bacteria and act as a natural preservative.
• It shortens the rigor mortis (ripening or ageing) period (the carcass is hung in cool temperature during the period, the muscles become stiff. Certain enzymes/acids are produced that soften the meat).

FASTING: animals are fasted for at least 8 to 12 hours.

• It helps to reduce the amount of undigested food and clean the intestinal tract
• Bacterial infection will be minimized
• It improves the quality of the meat
• The blood left in the tissues will thus be free from absorbed nutrients.

WASHING: after resting and fasting, the animals are passed through a tunnel containing showers from top and bottom with lukewarm water and the animal is kept on a sliding platform and is washed from all sides and superficial dirt is removed.

STUNNING: it is to render the animal unconscious so that it may bleed freely and it may easily be killed. It is also done to avoid pain to the animal, while it is being killed.

Various ways of stunning:

• Knocking: the animal is hit with a heavy hammer (4lbs) on the head to make it unconscious. Not a very popular method in current scenario.
• Carbon dioxide chamber: the animals are made unconscious by putting them in these chambers, but not popular as the weak animals may die.
• Cartridge pistols/captive bolts: this is done by damaging the brain by placing the pistol between the eyes, this renders the animal unconscious.
• Electric tongs: this is the most popular method. The ends of tongs are placed behind the ears and a current (60-70 volts) is passed. This renders the animal unconscious for about 15-20 minutes.

STICKING: This is done with a knife, 6 inches long blade. It is done very soon after stunning when the heartbeat rate and blood pressure of animal is high. This helps to bleed freely. In India, there are two processes: HALAL: Muslims and some of the other communities prefer this meat, throat is quickly cut with a sharp knife with short strokes and bled). JHATKA: the head is severed from the body by a single blow from a long, heavy, butcher’s knife.

BLEEDING: The animals are hung on hooks with their heads downwards, as neither the animal nor the slaughterer comes into contact with the blood. Drains for the blood lead outside the building, either to a blood collecting tank or to a processing room.

FLAYING AND CLEANING: in this step, the air is blown between the flesh and skin to create space and the skin is pulled off. The stomach and intestines are removed, inspected and sent to the tripery section. Offals are removed and sent to the offal section. Now the carcass is ready to dissection.

  FACTORS THAT GIVE MEAT A GOOD QUALITY:

• FAT
• COLOR OF THE MEAT
• TENDERNESS

FAT:

Fat in animal is found around the muscle fibers or between muscle fibers. It is interspersed between the muscle fibers. The fat seen as small flecks of fat within the muscle is known as marbling and enhances the flavor of meat. Fat contributes moistness to the meat, makes it tender, enhances flavor. It must has a pleasant smell.

COLOR OF THE MEAT:

The young animals have a lighter colored meat with a firm, dry, creamy white fat whereas the older animals have darker colored meat and a yellowish fat.

 TENDERNESS:

The tenderness depends upon the food, the animal is fed on. The finer the grains, the more tender the meat. The amount of connective tissue is directly related to the tenderness of meat.

FACTORS THAT MAKES MEAT TENDER

• MOIST HEAT
• TENDERIZERS
• RIPENING OR AGEING OF MEAT
• MARINADING
• MECHANICAL POUNDING AND GRINING

APPROXIMATE ROASTING TIME FOR MEAT

BEEF: 15 to 20 minutes per 455 gms and 20 mins over

MUTTON: 25 mins. Per 455 gms and 20 mins.over

LAMB: 20 mins. Per 455 gms and 20 mins.over

VEAL: 25 mins. Per 455 gms and 20 mins.over

PORK: 25 mins. Per 455 gms and 25 mins.over

INTERNAL TEMPERATURE RECOMMENDED FOR ROASTING MEAT