Meat - Introduction, and Cuts

1. Meat is the term used to describe edible portion of animal tissues from the carcass.
We often feel when we meat, some parts from same carcass are vey tough & some parts are very tender.
We must understand, why some parts are tough & why some parts are tender; how to handle tough meat to
make tender.
To answer all these questions we will start at the very basic level, i.e. composition of meat.
INTRODUCTION

2. COMPOSITION OF MEAT
Meat is mainly composed of WATER, PROTEIN & FAT, meat also includes vitamins,
minerals & carbohydrates.
WATER
Water quantity is the highest i.e. 75%; that’s why meat feels soft when raw & starts shrinking
when heated as water evaporates.
PROTEIN
Meat is composed of 20% protein; the protein constitutes: muscle tissue, connective
tissue & blood.
FAT
Meat is composed of 5 % fat.


3. MUSCLE & CONNECTIVE TISSUE
Muscle is a bundle of many connective tissues bound together,
they are called flesh when raw, when cooked they are called meat.
An animal has many muscles, around shoulders, legs & back
portion; some muscles are very tough & some are very tender.
It is because, muscles e.g. shoulders & legs which do much
hard work have more connective tissue produce tough meat.
Those muscles in the back which are mainly for support e.g.
loin, they move less; hence they produce tender meat.
Muscles also become tough as the animal becomes old e.g. ox

4. Connective tissue are those tissues which connect & bind
muscle tissues; they are distributed throughout the body.
Every part do not have same amount of tissue, that depends on
location of muscles in the body.
Body parts which do much hard work, they have more connective
tissue & yield tough meat, e.g. leg.
Body parts which do less work, they have less connective tissue
& yield soft meat, e.g. loin.
There are two kinds of connective tissue: COLLAGEN &
ELASTIN

5. CREATION OF GELATIN
When we make stocks or stews, we prefer to use tougher cuts,
(e.g. shanks) because they can’t be cooked by dry heat methods.
As we know, harder muscles have more connective tissues, they
convert into GELATIN when cooked by long moist heat method.
Thus, after the stock is ready, strained & chilled, it produces a thick
jelly like consistency.
Meats cuts which have less connective tissue, they are more
tender, they are cooked by dry heat & do not produce gelatin.
But, in India, the gelatin what we use in every home & hotels, they
are artificially made & do not require animal bones & tougher cuts.

6. FAT
Fat remains naturally present in the animal’s body situated around
internal organs or under the skin or within the muscles.
Fat situated
around the kidney
Marbled meat
lean meat

7. Following are the reasons that make meat tougher:
1.MUSCLE LOCATION / AMOUNT OF CONNECTIVE
TISSUE
2.INFLUENCE OF PRE-SLAUGHTERING STEPS e.g.
 Long transportation
 Fights in lairage area
 Avoiding stunning methods, etc
3.RIGOR-MORTIS & GREEN MEAT
4.LACK OF AGING PERIOD
FACTORS THAT TOUGHENS MEAT

8. PRE-SLAUGHTERING STEPS
EXAMINATION OF ANIMALS BEFORE SLAUGHTERING
All animals must be physically checked by veterinary doctor
before they are taken for slaughtering.
RESTING OF ANIMALS
Then they are rested for 24 hours, during this period, they are
given plenty of water for first 12 hours & starved for next 12 hours
This removes any waste material (feces) left in intestine.
CLEANING & SANITIZING
The animals are then showered, thoroughly cleaned & sanitized for
the next procedure.

9. STUNNING
It is mainly done to make the animal unconscious, it helps to
avoid the pain to the animal while slaughtering.
If the animal is conscious when slaughtered, it will quake so
much that blood will spread all around.
There are 3 different ways how the stunning method is carried
out:
1.BY HEATING WITH A HAMMER ON THE ANIMAL’S HEAD
2.BY SHOOTING THE ANIMAL WITH CAPTIVE BOLT
3.BY RELEASING CARBON DIOXIDE GAS IN SLAUGHTERING
ROOM

10. SLAUGHTERING
When the animal is unconscious, immediately it is taken for
slaughtering.
Slaughtering is done by cutting the jugular vein (i.e. blood
vessel in the neck) it will release maximum amount of blood).
Jugular vein
Esophagus
Spinal cord
Slaughtering Procedure

11. AGING ?
WHY AGING IS DONE ?
After a few hours of an animal’s death, the body joints harden &
become locked in places, that stage is known as Rigor Mortis.
Rigor mortis usually occurs 6-10 hours after death, It automatically
disappears after 48-72 hours during aging period.
So aging is done to remove Rigor mortis & improve tenderness.
It is a process of keeping the animal
after slaughtering in cold temperature
(18-20ºC) to tenderize meat.
The aging period can be for 2-3 days.

12. This softening happens when ‘protease’ (natural enzymes present
in meat) breaks apart muscle fibers & finish Rigor Mortis effects.
Meats which have not been aged is known as “GREEN MEAT”.
In India, we do get aged meat, unlike foreign countries, quality of
meat are not judged, hence we often get tougher meat.
That’s why it has been a common practice to add extra enzymes
found in plant products to soften tough meat, they are as follows:
1.PAPAIN ENZYME – found in papaya
2.BROMELIN ENZYME – found in pineapple
3.FICIN – found in figs

13. LAMB & MUTTON
 To define, we can say, lamb is the meat from sheep under 1 year
old; whereas, mutton is the meat from sheep over 1 year old.
WHAT IS SHEEP ?
Sheep are domesticated animal belong to
ovis species; they are tubby in shape.
They have wool on their body & mostly
eaten in western countries.
WHAT IS GOAT ?
Goat are domesticated animal belong to
capra species; they are thinner in shape.
They have hairs on the body & mostly
eaten in Middle East & Indian subcontinent.

14. An adult male sheep aged over 1 year
called ‘Ram’.
An adult female sheep aged over 1 year
called ‘Ewe’.
An adult male goat aged over 1 year
called ‘Billy goat’; in India we call it ‘khassi’
An adult female goat aged over 1 year
called ‘Nanny goat’.

15. CUTS OF LAMB
As we already know, that lamb is slaughtered at very young age
(within 6 months -1 year), hence they are naturally very tender.
That’s why, lamb carcass do not require aging & also can be
cooked by any method; they are expensive than mutton.
After a sheep is slaughtered, it is then cut into 5 primal or whole
sale cuts: shoulder, rib/rack, loin, leg & breast & fore leg
Lamb

17. SHOULDER
It is the toughest part of lamb; it has first 5 ribs, usually cut into
small cubes to make stews, curry or ground to make burger & kebab
RIBS / RACK
It is located between the shoulder & loin, it contains 7 ribs; it is
tender than shoulder; it is usually split in half.
When split in half & kept whole, it is called rack; when each rib is
separated with meat attached & bone exposed, it is called lamb chop
Whole rack is usually roasted, but lamb chop is grilled.
As a whole, it can also be used to make Crown Roast Of Lamb (a
traditional lamb dish) & Guard Of Honor.

18. Lamb Chop Grilled Lamb chop
Step -1 Step -2 Step -3 Step -4 (RACK)
CUTTING OF LAMB CHOPS FROM A WHOLE RACK

19. Crown Roast Of Lamb
Step -1 Step -2 Step -3
Step -1 Step -2 Guard Of Honor
GUARD OF HONOR & CROWN ROAST OF LAMB

20. LOIN
Loin is located between primal rib & leg; it has last 13th rib, it is
the most tender part of lamb.
It can be kept whole with bones 2 sides attached & roasted
whole; as a whole it is called “saddle of lamb”.
It can also be completely deboned, rolled, roasted & carved or
rolled & cut into “lamb noisette” (nwa zet) i.e. lamb loin chops.
As we know, it is the most tender cuts form the lamb body, it can
be cooked by dry heat method e.g. grilling, shallow frying etc.

21. Whole loin – step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Rolled loin – step 4 Noisette – Step 4 Grilled noisette
PREPARING LAMB NOISETTE FROM LOIN

22. LAMB HIND LEG
It is the last portion of the carcass, which we get after removing
the loin.
It has no ribs but contain 2 long shanks, which can be removed to
make deboned leg, then it can be roasted whole or cut into cubes.
LAMB BREAST & FORE SHANK
It is located just under lamb rack, it has no bones but contains
extended part of ribs, they are removed, cut into cubes or minced.
lamb fore shank has less meat & very tough, it produces good
gelatin, hence they are good for broth & soups.