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Know your meat

Lesson Objectives

To identify the main sources of red meat in the UK.

To explain the structure of red meat.

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Type of meat

In Northern Ireland, there is high quality production of beef and lamb which is produced to the Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured mark.

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Type of meat

Red meat eaten in the United Kingdom (UK), comes mainly from:

• Cattle (beef)• Sheep (lamb)• Pigs (pork)

In Northern Ireland, there is high quality production of beef and lamb which is produced to the Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured mark.

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The structure of meat

Meat comprises of muscle tissue or fibres, connective tissue and fatty tissue.

Lean meat is the muscle tissue of animals.

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Muscle fibresMuscle fibres are very small – and can only be seen under a microscope. The length of muscle fibres varies.

Thick muscle fibresThese tend to be from older animals and also muscles which do the most ‘work’ – such as neck and shin.

They have more connective tissue to prevent muscle damage.

This type of meat is tougher and needs long, slow cooking with moisture to make it tender, e.g. casserole.

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Muscle fibres

Fine muscle fibres These tend to come from the muscles of young animals, or in older animals from the muscles which do least work.

They contain little collagen and are tender even when cooking times short, e.g. grilling.

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Fat – visible and invisible

Fat is found in meat underneath the skin (subcutaneous fat) and between the muscles (intermuscular fat) and is a creamy-white colour.

This type of fat is called visible fat.

Visible fat (called suet) is also found around the animal’s organs, such as the kidneys.

A small amount of fat is also found in connective tissue surrounding the bundles of muscle fibres.

This is usually not obvious to the eye, so it is known as invisible fat. Sometimes these lines of fat can be seen and give meat a ‘marbled’ look.

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The colour of meat

The colour of meat is largely due to the red protein called myoglobin and some haemoglobin (blood) left in the muscle. Some muscles contain more of these red pigments than others.

Colour differences can be due to age and exercise.

Meat from muscles which have been used a lot and are from older animals is usually a darker colour.

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Cuts of meat and their uses - beefCuts that come from part of the animal that do most of the work such as neck, shin, chuck and rump require longer, slower cooking.

Cuts that come from parts that do the least work along with steaks and products made from beef mince (beef burgers) can be cooked quickly.

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Cuts of meat and their uses - lambCuts that come from young animals, such as lamb cutlets and loin chops, can be cooked quickly.

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Cooking methods

Hob – these are usually quick methods such as frying, stir frying or cooking in a saucepan. Cuts such as mince, thin steaks and stir fry strips would be most suitable for this method.

Grill – steaks, cutlets and burgers can be cooked using the radiant heat of the grill. This can be a healthier cooking method as little or no fat is used.

Oven – cuts such as joints of meat (either with the bone in or boned and rolled) and diced steak benefit from long, slow, moist cooking to produce tender meat. Oven cooking methods include roasting, casseroling, braising and using tagines.

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Cuts of meat and cooking methods

Can you identify the cooking methods?Why would the meat/recipe have been cooked this way?

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Extension information - what’s the connection?Meat muscle is made up of bundles of muscle fibres held together by creamy white connective tissue.

Connective tissue is made up of two proteins called collagen and elastin.

CollagenThe connective tissue in and around the muscle fibres and tendons is mostly collagen. When meat is cooked, the collagen becomes soft and soluble, and forms gelatine.

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Extension information - what’s the connection?Elastin This is much more elastic connective tissue.

It is yellow in colour and remains tough, even when cooked. The ligaments which join two bones together are mostly made up of elastin.

Tendons join the muscle (made up of bundles of muscle fibres, surrounded by connective tissue) to the bones of animals.

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Acknowledgement

For further information, go to: www.food4life.org.uk © LMC 2015

© Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland 2015