Preparing and Cooking Meat

• This lesson covers the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to prepare and cook meat
• At the end of the lesson you are expected to perform mise'n place, cook meat cuts, present and evaluate meat dishes and store meat.

Introduction to Meat

• Meat is the flesh of cattle (beef and veal), sheep (lamb), and pigs (pork) and is composed of water, protein, fat, minerals, and vitamins
• Beef is divided into primal cuts, which are broken down into individual steak and retail cuts
• A "side" of beef is one side of the beef carcass split through the backbone, then halved between the 12th and 13th ribs into the forequarter and hindquarter
• Pork is divided into primal cuts, which are broken down into individual retail cuts
• Pork is derived from pigs, classified as red meat, and is less fatty than beef
• Beef is obtained from cows and is a sought-after type of red meat worldwide
• Sheep meat, known as mutton (mature sheep) or lamb (immature sheep), is a staple in many regions and classified as red meat

Types of Knives and their Uses

• French knife or chef's knife is for general purpose chopping, slicing, and dicing
• Utility knife use for carving roast chicken and duck
• Boning knife use for boning raw meats and poultry
• Slicer use for carving and slicing cooked meats
• Butcher knife use for cutting, sectioning, and trimming raw meats in the butcher shop
• Scimitar or steak knife use for accurate cutting of steaks
• Cleaver use for cutting through bones

Composition of Meat

• Meat is composed of 70% water in muscle tissue

Water Content of Meat and Poultry

• Chicken fryer, whole raw has 66% water

• While cooked has 60%

• White meat chicken, with skin raw has 69% water

• While cooked has 61%

• Dark meat chicken, with skin raw has 66% water

• While cooked has 59%

• Ground beef, 85% lean raw has 64% water

• While cooked has 60%

• Ground beef, 73% lean raw has 56% water

• While cooked has 55%

• Beef, eye of round raw has 73% water

• While cooked has 65%

• Beef, whole brisket raw has 71% water

• While cooked has 56%

• Meat is composed of 20% protein in muscle tissue

• Protein coagulates when heated, becoming firmer and losing moisture, indicating when the meat is done

• Meat is composed of 5% Fat in muscle tissue

• The fat in meat contributes to the juiciness and tenderness of meat

• Marbling is fat deposited within the muscle tissue

• Surface fats protect meat from drying during cooking

• Adding surface fat is called barding

• Marbling separates muscle fibers, making meat easier to chew

• Fat is the main source of flavor in meat

• Carbohydrates are a necessary part of the Maillard reaction when meats are browned, contributing to desirable flavor and appearance

Structure of Meat

• Lean meat is composed of long, thin muscle fibers bound together in bundles, determining the texture or grain of the meat
• Fine-grained meat has small fibers bound in small bundles
• Coarse-textured meat has large fibers
• Connective tissue is a network of proteins that bind muscle fibers together and is considered tough
• Meats high in connective tissue come from muscles that are more exercised or from older animals

Two Kinds of Connective Tissue

• Collagen is a white connective tissue that dissolves or breaks down by long, slow cooking with liquid, aided by acid
• Moist-heat cooking at low temperatures is ineffective for tenderizing meat high in collagen
• Elastin is a yellow connective tissue that is not broken down in cooking
• Tenderizing elastin can only be done by removing it, pounding, slicing, or grinding

Basic Preparation Methods of Meat

• Washing is necessary when meat comes into contact with blood during preparation, followed by drying with absorbent kitchen paper
• Most meat has already been skinned by the supplier
• Dicing is cutting meat into cubes for casseroles, stews, curries, and dishes like steak, kidney pie, and pudding
• Trimming is done to improve appearance, keep meat intact, maintain even fat thickness and remove gristle and sinews

Reasons for trimming

• Improve the appearance of the cut or joint
• Leave as much of the meat intact as possible
• Leave an even thickness of fat (where fat is to be left) depend on the type of meat
• Preference, and the cooking process to be used
• Remove as much gristles and sinews as possible
• Slicing involves cutting meat across the grain (muscle fibers) determining the grain
• It's important with tougher cuts like steak
• Seasoning: Adding salt, white, or black pepper to improve flavor
• White or cayenne pepper is for foods needing to stay white
• Adding salt after browning to avoid extracting juices and slowing browning
• Coating: The two basic coatings are flour and bread crumbs

Different kinds of meat and its source

• Pork is from domesticated pigs, high in fat, slaughtered at one year or less
• Beef is from cattle over one year old
• Lamb is from domesticated sheep, with texture depending on diet and slaughter age
• Carabeef is from carabao
• Chevon is from deer/goat
• Veal is from young calf (4-5 months old) and considered a fine meat

Meat Dishes and Entrees

• In classical menus, entrée refers to the course after the Grosse piece, divided into cold and hot entrees
• Today entrees are usually served as the main dish with vegetables and salad
• The main difference between main grosses piece is that the entries are cut up before being cooked

Four kinds of doneness in meat

• Rare meat is very soft with jelly like texture
• Medium Rare meat feels springy and resistant
• Medium meat feels firm and there is a definite resistance
• Well Done meat feels hard and rough

Nutrient Content of Meat

• Meat consists of water protein and fat, with minerals and some B vitamins
• High-quality protein is the major constituent of meat after water, making up about 20% of its weight, with 7 grams of protein per ounce
• Fat content varies by grade and cut

Other Nutrient content of meat

• Meat contains very little carbohydrates, glycogen, found in liver and muscle tissue
• Glucose that makes up the glycogen is broken down to lactic acid during and after slaughter
• Meat is an excellent source of certain B vitamins, including thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6), vitamin (B12), niacin, and some folate
• Niacin comes from tryptophan, an amino acid plentiful in meats and milk
• Meat is an excellent source of iron, zinc, copper, phosphorous, and trace minerals

Safe Cooking Temperatures for Various Meat

• Rare beef should be 52°C (125°F)
• Medium beef should be 57°C (135°F)
• Medium well beef should be 68°C (155°F)
• Well done beef should be 71°C (160°F)
• Ground beef should be 74°C (165°F)
• Pork should be 71°C (160°F)

Market forms of meat include

• Fresh meat: Recently slaughtered, not preserved or frozen
• Chilled meat: Placed in a chiller or slightly cold
• Cured meat: Preserved by salting, smoking, or aging
• Processed meat: Preserved by chemical process

Meat Cuts

• Primary cuts of meat include beef, veal, lamb and pork
• Good marinade adds flavor, tenderizes, and makes meat juicy, requiring three components
• Acid such as lemon juice, vinegar, yogurt, or wine to break down the meat
• Oil to protect food during marination and cooking
• Herbs and/or spices for unique flavor and zest

General guidelines for marinating

• Meat and poultry should be marinated for 2 hours up to 2 days
• Seafood and fish should be marinated for no longer than one hour
• Use a non-reactive container (no aluminum, copper, or cast iron)
• Marinade should be cool before pouring
• Always refrigerate meat while marinating
• Never reuse marinades

Effects of Heat to Meat

• Tenderizes connective tissue if moisture is present and cooking is slow
• It coagulates protein, so even meats low in connective tissue can be tough and dry if cooked at excessively high heats for too long.
• High heat toughens and shrinks protein and results in excessive moisture lost
• Roasts cooked at low temperature shrink less and loss less moisture

Methods of Cooking Meat

• Dry heat cooking involves roasting, broiling, or sautéing
• Moist heat cooking involves braising, steaming, or poaching

Choosing the Right Cooking Technique

• Appropriate cooking methods is vital for culinary arts
• Tough cuts like brisket or lamb shank need slow cooking, at low heat, and with moisture
• Dry-heat methods involve high temperatures and short cooking times
• A beef tenderloin steak cooked using a slow, moist-heat method such as braising turns out tough, chewy, and inedible

Dry heat cooking

• Dry heat cooking transfers heat to the food item without using any moisture, typically involving high heat of 300°F or hotter
• Baking or roasting in an oven uses hot air
• Pan-searing a steak transfers heat through the hot metal of the pan
• Browning of food, including the Maillard reaction, is achieved only through dry-heat cooking

Dry-heat cooking methods

• Rely on heat being conducted through the air from an open flame

Sautéing

• Uses a very hot pan and a small amount of fat to cook the food very quickly

• It requires a very hot pan and is important to heat the pan for a minute, then add a small amount of fat as well

• The surface of the flood should be browning by the hot fat

• It is important to prevent overloading by overcrowding the pan to get golden brown

• Moist heat cooking includes any technique that involves cooking with moisture (steam, water, stock, wine, or some other liquid)

• Cooking temperatures are much lower, anywhere from 140°F to a maximum of 212°F

• Simmering uses cooking liquid a bit hotter than poaching from 180°F to 205°F. Here wee see bubbles forming and gently rising to the surface

• A constant temperature cooks food very evenly, used in stocks, soups, starchy items such as potatoes or pastas, and many others.

• In boiling the water reaches its highest possible temperature of 212°F

• The agitation caused can be too rough on food

• Water at a full boil would be a bad choice for cooking an egg outside its shell, as we do when preparing poached eggs, because the agitation would cause the egg to fall apart

• Steaming is a moist-heat cooking technique that employs hot steam to conduct the heat to the food item

• It can be done on a stovetop, with a pot containing a small amount of liquid that is brought to a simmer

• The item to be cooked is then placed in a basket suspended above the liquid and the pot covered

• Braising is a form of moist-heat cooking in which the item to be cooked is partially covered with liquid and then simmered slowly at a low temperature

• It is best done in the oven, because the heat fully surrounds the pot and causes the food to cook more evenly

• Because moist heat does not permit the various browning reactions that dry heat produces, it's customary to sear meat in a pan with a small amount of hot fat before braising it

• Braising is a good method for cuts of meat that are tougher or from older animals

• Factors Affecting Choice of Cooking Methods in Meat are cuts of meat and fat content

Cuts of meat

• Tender cuts ribs and loin cuts for roasting, broiling and grilling
• Less tender cuts from leg or round are used for braising
• Tougher cuts from chuck or shoulder are usually braced
• Least tender cuts from shanks, breast, brisket, and flank are cooked by moist heat
• Ground meat and cubed usually made from trimmings can be cooked by dry heat or moist heat

Fat content

• Meats high in fat are cooked without added fat, such as roasting or broiling
• Meats low in fat are often cooked with added fat to prevent dryness, like sautéing, pan frying or braising

Desired quality

• Tenderness is not the only goal of cooking. To develop flavor and appearance is also one of the objectives to get the desired quality
• Presentation must have three elements centerpiece, slices or serving portions, garnish
• The centerpiece may be an uncut portion of the main food item
• Slices or serving portions of the main food item should be arrange artistically
• Garnish should be arranged artistically in proportion to the cut slices
• There should be easy handling and serving, so one portion can be removed without ruining the arrangement

How to Present Food on a Plate

• To achieve restaurant-quality presentation, start with brightly-colored, well-cooked food Layer the food and play with contrasting colors and textures
• Garnish the plate with flavorful herbs or spices to take it to the next level.

Plating it with Care

• It's best to choose white plates, white plates don't compete visually with the food while offering contrast, making colors appear brighter and textures more interesting
• Only fill about two thirds of each plate with food
• There negative space will provide contrast with the food, making it look more appetizing.
• Half of the food on the plate should be vegetables, one fourth meat or another protein, and one fourth starch

Elements of Plating

• The 5 Basic Elements of Plating are create a framework, keep it simple, balance the dish, get the right portion size and highlight the key ingredient
• Good quality pork has less than 1 1/4 cm of golden brown fat and has a thoroughly cooked interior with a pinkish color
• Sausages of good quality are uniform in size and length, and the interior has a pinkish color when thoroughly cooked

Methods of Preserving Meat

• Many processed items prepared for future use may be stored in the freezer
• These should be wrapped in plastic or foil to prevent the occurrence of freezer burn and avoid having a pulpy texture
• Each item should be labeled with the name of the product, date of expiry, and quantity
• Refrigerating storing meat is a temperature range of 2 to 10ºC to retard mold and bacterial growth for a limited period.
• Freezing meat at a temperature of 10ºC and below can deactivated enzymes and bacteria and preserved for two months to one year
• Meat preserved by canning in sealed cans or jars are subjected to a high temperature kills the organism that causes spoilage to maintain the high quality of meat product and extends its life for about a year
• Freezing meat removes moisture from the meat tissues to transform the moisture content into ice and gas, with the texture, appearance, flavor, and nutritive value being comparable to frozen foods.
• There products require no refrigeration.

Other methods of preserving meat

• Drying can happen in the sun, dehydrator or artificial drying (oven) and reduces moisture content
• Smoking preserves meat is smoked to create a distinctive color and flavor
• Salting improves the keeping quality of meat and removes water from the tissue
• Curing methods can preserve meat
• Storage Procedures for Meat Products should be followed for Safe Storage
• At ambient temperatures, meat spoils so fast. It is therefore necessary to keep it in chilled storage Storing involves storing behind old ones and always use the old stock first, cereal products, sweeteners, oils and unopened cans and jars.

Hygiene Practices in Storing Meat products

• Sanitation and equipment need sanitary practices
• Food should be safe from contamination
• Dishes and equipment should always be washed and sanitized
• Floors, walls, ceilings, should be clean
• Pests and rodents should be killed
• Employees should practice high standards of personal hygiene

Food Storage Temperatures

• Canned Products should be at 21°C

• Frozen Products (beef poultry) should be -18 to -29°C

• Cured bacon should be 3 to 4°C

• Fresh Pork (not ground) should be -18 to 29°C

• Ham (tender cured) cold cuts sliced should be 3 to 4°C

• Sausage and ground meal should be18 to 29°C

• Bacteria are all around us, but they are so small that they cannot be seen by naked eye

• Sanitation means keeping bacteria out of food through personal hygiene and proper handling procedures, it also meaning keeping food at proper temperatures.

• Salmonella from raw meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products, are some of the common bacterias from food

• Staphylococcus bacterias can be found in food handlers transmitted through poor hygiene