Cured meats Flashcards
Provide a definition for processed meats
fresh meat modified by grinding/mincing, the addition of non-meat ingredients and the use of heat processing
Define and provide example of intact meat cuts, restructured meat cuts and comminuted meat cuts
intact: 1 piece of meat, such as bacon or Parma ham. Restructured: deli ham, it is reformed from several pieces bound together, comminuted: sausages or frankfurters, usually cannot distinguish the meat from the fat as an emulsion is created
Describe what a brine is, what is it used for and the ingredients it usually contains
a brine is a curing liquid made of water with salts dissolved in it. It is injected into meat pieces to accelerate the curing process in ham or bacon. it usually contains salt, nitrates and adjuncts such as ascorbate, phosphates and sugar
What are the differences between the traditional, Wiltshire and fast curing methods?
Traditional: sides of pork are covered in salt, Wiltshire takes 4-6 days, sides of pork are injected, then covered with brine. Fast cure (24-48 h) does not use whole sides, just chunks of meat, they are injected, tumbled and cooked together.
How does a multi-needle injector works?
it injects brine into pork, there is a conveyor belt, the meat moves on and the needles inject the brine, brine is recycled
Why is tumbling used in ham manufacturing?
to increase brine penetration, develop colour faster, reabsorp brine, dissolve salt soluble proteins to increase binding of meat pieces when cooking.
When does water need to be declared on a ham’s label?
when it is injected during manufacturing and not fully cooked out, at least 5% stays in
What is the difference between a high quality and low quality ham in terms of pork content, water and other additives?
High quality ham would have a high pork content, little or no water added and minimal non-meat ingredients adde such as only salt and nitrates
Why are phosphates added in ham manufacture?
to hold injected water and increase WHC and yield
What is the average fat content in ham and how does that differ from bacon?
in ham we only use the lean, there is no added fat, so on average we only have about 3% fat. In bacon we use a whole meat cut that comes with the subcutaneous and inter muscular fat so fat content is higher (about 14%)
Which molecule is the cured meat colour in meat due to?
nitrosylmyoglobin
What is the role of ascorbate in curing?
it improves the efficiency of curing by increasing the rate of NO production from HNO2 (cure acceleration)
