Meats and Offal

Chapter 13

Objectives

• Define the term meat, and identify the four basic animals from which meat is derived

• Explain the importance of The Meat Buyer’s Guide and IMPS system

• Summarize the USDA’s system for grading meat

Objectives (cont’d.)

• Identify the most commonly used grades of meat for beef, veal, lamb, and pork

• List the products classified as offal or variety meats

• Identify the four categories of sausages

Meats

• Meat is animal flesh prepared for eating– Includes muscles and fat as well as organ

meat and sausage– Sold and categorized by animal of origin

• Texture of muscle fibers determines the tenderness of the meat– Fat content, age, and size are also factors

Buying and Storing

• North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP) has created The Meat Buyer’s Guide– Divided into sections by animal– Includes pictures of the major cuts– Each cut has a unique identifying number

• Known as institutional meat purchase specifications (IMPS) codes

Buying and Storing (cont’d.)

• Considerations when buying meat– Available cuts and grades– Menu needs– Available storage

• Meat shipped across state lines must be inspected by the USDA

Buying and Storing (cont’d.)

• USDA meat grading program– Quality grades for beef, veal, and lamb

• Meats are available in many different forms– Primal cuts (approx. 1/8 of the animal)– Subprimal (smaller roasts, rounds, ribs)– Portion cuts (steaks) are most expensive

Beef

• Beef is meat from domesticated cows

• Two types of grades– Quality grade

• Level of flavor, fat, juiciness, and tenderness in the carcass

– Yield grade• The amount of usable meat in the carcass

Beef (cont’d.)

• Marbling– The amount of fat in the muscle

• USDA quality grades for beef– Prime

• Sold to upscale restaurants

– Choice• Available to most restaurants and grocery

stores

Beef (cont’d.)

• USDA quality grades for beef (cont’d.)– Select

• Leaner than choice or prime; less marbling

– Standard and Commercial• Lowest quality for restaurants and groceries

– Utility, Cutter and Canner• Used by food manufacturers to make ground

beef, hot dogs, and other processed meat food

Beef (cont’d.)

• Yield grades– Range from 1 to 5– Indicates percentage of usable meat– Only important if purchasing carcasses or

primal cuts

Veal and Calf

• Veal is meat from a young cow– 16 to 18 weeks of age– By-product of the dairy industry

• Forms of veal include calf, bob-veal, and special-diet veal

• One of five grades is assigned based on quality and proportion of the lean meat

Lamb

• Most lamb is from animals less than one year old

• Five grades available– Prime and Choice available for retail sale– Good, Utility and Cull are used for food

processing

• Mutton is meat from older lambs

Pork

• Pork is meat from young pigs

• In past 30 years, pork producers have modified pig feed– Producing meat that is leaner and sweeter

• Two grades: acceptable and unacceptable– No quality grades

Offal (Variety Meats)

• Edible, nonmuscular parts of slaughter animals– Red offal (heart, tongue, lungs, liver)– White offal (brains, marrow, testicles, feet)

• Includes meat mixtures such as sausage

Buying and Storing

• Variety meats are more perishable than other meats

• Sausages should be smooth and evenly colored, not sticky

• Dried sausage should have a pleasant odor and be covered with a bloom

Heart

• Very little importance in contemporary cuisine

• Stringy meat– Heart of calves, lambs, and chickens are

small and tender– Pigs heart is moderately tender– Beef heart is strongest tasting

13.10b Diagram showing where offal, or variety meats, come from on pork

13.10a Diagram showing where offal, or variety meats, come from on beef

Liver

• Red offal that comes from domesticated animals, poultry, game and certain fish– Liver from young animals is more tender – Calf’s liver is most sought after– Color should be pinkish to reddish brown– Should be shiny with a pleasant smell– Foie gras is fattened duck or goose liver

Tongue

• Tongue has a thick membrane– Should be removed after cooking

• Beef tongue has very strong taste

• Calf’s tongue is very tender

• Can be refrigerated for one or two days– Deteriorates rapidly

Sweetbreads

• Thymus gland from lambs and calves

• Gland has two parts– Central lobe called heart sweetbread– Two outer lobes known as throat

sweetbread

• Has a delicate taste

• Extremely perishable

Brains

• Brains of sheep and lambs are most delicate and sought-after

• Cow brains are firmer

• Pork brains are seldom eaten

• Purchase only from reputable dealers who had access to animals when they were alive, to verify origin

Calf Kidneys

• Kidney is a type of red offal

• Pork and sheep kidneys have one lobe– Those of calf and beef have several

• Kidney of young animals is tender and flavorful

• Choose plump, firm, shiny kidneys that do not smell of ammonia

Tripe

• Tripe is made from the stomachs of cows and lambs– Usually blanched before it is sold

• Choose white or cream colored tripe that has a pleasant odor

• Can be poached for one to two hours and then sautéed or fried

Sausages

• Hundreds of types of sausages are available on the market

• Germans make the most sausage

• Most made from lean and fatty cuts of pork, but some sausages are made from beef, lamb, veal, and other meats

Sausages (cont’d.)

• Natural and synthetic casings are used

• Types of sausages– Small fresh sausages– Small cooked sausages– Large cooked sausages– Dried sausages

• Raw, but salted, fermented, and then dried

Ham

• Originally referred to pork from the hind leg of a hog

• Turkey ham is turkey thigh meat

• Sold in fresh, cook-before-eating, fully cooked, picnic, and country varieties

• May be stored differently according to its method of curing and preservation

Summary

• Beef, veal, lamb, and pork are the most commonly available meats

• The Meat Buyer’s Guide includes specification codes for many cuts of meat

• There are eight USDA quality grades for beef; five for veal and lamb

Summary (cont’d.)

• Offal is the term for variety meats that include animal organs; many types exist

• Sausage is a meat mixture encased in natural or artificial casing

• Ham comes in a variety of forms