2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14
Not all people know what fresh meat means. Some believe that this concept is a characteristic of the best and freshest product, and try to purchase it first. But is it true?
Characteristics of Fresh Meat
The main property of such meat is the highest freshness. In accordance with GOST, it is paired within the first hour and a half after the slaughter of the animal. In practice, the time interval during which the product is attributed to this thermal stage is slightly longer - up to four hours.
Meat is characterized by an inhomogeneous condition of the fibers, with excessive tension in some places, wateriness is observed. There is no characteristic odor. Boiling it will make the broth cloudy.
Meat needs some time to "ripen" and move into the chilled category. The period required for this depends on which animal it is fresh meat. Pork, for example, will reach the desired state in about a week. The chicken will only need a couple of days. And the beef will ripen in a month.
Mature meat is different from fresh meat. Its color and muscle structure change, the fibers become softer. Dried up is seen on top.crust.
Where fresh meat is used
Steamed meat is not recommended to be fried or boiled, it is not suitable for barbecue. Regardless of the time spent on heat treatment, it will remain tough and tasteless. Even a long stay in the marinade will not improve the taste properties. And it is unlikely that you will be able to find the meat of only a killed animal for sale.
But there are some products that only use meat from slaughtered animals. These are sausages and sausages, sausages.
Single-stage cooling
In order for fresh meat to ripen, but not spoil, it should be subjected to a cooling procedure. There are several ways. One of the most used is single-stage refrigeration.
The procedure involves placing fresh meat in a refrigerator chamber with an air temperature equal to zero. Because of this, it takes more time to cool the meat to the desired temperature (at least a day), which leads to an increased percentage of shrinkage. It is not surprising that the weight of fresh meat is greater than that of chilled meat, since excess water comes out of it during ripening. Weight loss when using this technology can reach 2% (norm). In practice, it may be higher. With large volumes, it is a significant loss.
With a large production volume, it is necessary to have a sufficient number of cold rooms, which requires additional investment and space for their placement.
Refrigeration of fresh meat is connectedwith a uniform coverage of the carcass with a fairly dense crust. In high humidity, it may become thicker, which damages the product and reduces its shelf life.
This method has not only disadvantages, but also a significant advantage. Since cooling occurs gradually over a long time, the muscle mass is in a relaxed state without the risk of contractions.
Two-stage cooling
It is also called blast chilling technology. Cooling of fresh meat at the first stage occurs with air at a negative temperature. If the flow of meat carcasses, which are fixed to the overhead conveyor, is constant, then the temperature inside the chamber does not change. To cool the carcasses of different livestock, individual temperature conditions are necessary. So for pork, they should be between -6 and -12 degrees. The procedure time is about 2 hours. The beef is cooled at a higher temperature - from -3 to -5, for about 5 hours.
Quick cooling minimizes weight loss. Usually they are in the range of 1-1.5%.
At the second stage, the well-cooled meat is placed in the refrigerator for about a day with the temperature inside the chamber near zero.
As a result of this technology, the meat acquires a beautiful appearance and a longer shelf life. This is also due to the formation of a very thin crust, which is able to pass oxygen.
If in the market or in the store the seller claims that he is selling exactlysteamy meat, do not trust him. This is nothing more than a publicity stunt.
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