WEEK 12
Introduction
Cookery Topic:
Meat Fabrication- Meat Lab
Cookery Method:
Based on the protein and cut of meat, moist heat, dry heat, or a combination of the cooking methods would be used. For example, the most common moist cooking methods for tougher cuts of meat is braising. The most common dry heat cooking methods for tender cuts is grilling, sautéing, and oven roasting.
Dishes:
There are no recipes for this week, as we went to the meat lab.
Inspiration
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). Pig. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/animal/pig-mammal-group.
Prior Knowledge:
I don't have much experience cooking with meat. I am most familiar with cooking such as poaching, shredding, and baking it. I am familiar with eating beef, lamb, pork, chicken and duck, but I have not had much exposure to game meats. The only game meat I have eaten is bison, which has a very distinct aftertaste. I would be open to try other game meats.
Learning Objectives:
"Describe the structure and composition of meats. Explain meat inspection and grading practices. Purchase appropriate meats. Store meats properly. Prepare meats for cooking. Apply various dry-heat, moist-heat and combination cooking methods to meats." ( Plana, 2021)
Plana, A. (2021, November). Week 12: Overview. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://auburn.instructure.com/courses/1385357/pages/week-12-overview-2?module_item_id=19965292.
Background
Scientific principles behind the method of cooking:
There are five basic principles that apply to the vast majority of meat." 1) High heat deepens flavor. The browning creates a lot of flavor , and is key step in cooking meat. The Maillard reaction occurs when the amino acids and sugar in food are subjected to heat. 2) Low heat preserves moisture. Large cuts of meat or poultry retain more moisture on lower heats compared to higher heat. 3) Match the cut to the cutting method. Tough are usually the heavily exercised areas of the animal such as the the shoulder, respond best to slow-cooking methods, such as pot roasting, stewing, or barbecuing. These cuts are always served well done. Tender cuts with less connective tissue generally come from parts of the animal that receive little to no exercise, like the loin along the back of the cow or pig. These cuts respond best to quicker, dry- heat cooking methods, such as grilling or roasting. These cuts are cooked to a specific doneness. 4) Don't forget about carryover cooking. The temperature will continue to rise as it rests, an effect called carryover cooking, meat should be removed from the oven , grill or pan when it's 5 to 10 degrees below the desired serving temperature. However, carryover cooking does not apply to poultry and fish ( they don't retain heat as well as dense muscle structure in meat.) 5) Why resting meat is essential. The purpose of resting meat is to allow juices, which are driven to the center during cooking, to redistribute themselves throughout the meat. This results in keeping as much of the meat's natural juices before slicing the meat. " ( Cook's Illustrator, 2014)
I
Origin:
"Between 2.6 and 2.5 million years ago, the Earth got significantly hotter and drier. Before, the climate shift ,our distant human ancestors were herbivores and were just gatherers. However, there is evidence of cut marks from crude stone tool on large herbivore bones. They were not skilled hunters yet, but more likely to have scavenged meat from carcasses. By 2 million years, meat became a staple to human's diet. When humans began cooking meat, it became even easier to digest. There is clear evidence of humans cooking meat that go back around 800,00 years ago, although it could have occurred at an earlier time. Humans continue to eat meat because we like it, not just for necessity. Meat is still has a large presence at the table." ( Roos, 2019)
Methods used:
Variations of the dishes:
There are countless variations on how to prepare meat, especially pork. Each country and state have their own style of making sausages, barbecue, and ribs. Depending on the cut of pork, the cooking method will vary from dry to moist cooking. Grilling, sautéing, smoking, broiling, and baking are popular methods of cooking sausages.
Cook's Illustrated. (2014, August 19). Principles of Meat Cookery. The Cook's Illustrated Meat Book. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://cimeatbook.com/principles-of-meat-cookery/.
Roos, D. (2019, May 8). The juicy history of humans eating meat. History.com. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://www.history.com/news/why-humans-eat-meat.
Recipes
There are no recipes this week, but we made Italian Sausage and Breakfast Sausage from the left side of a pig from the meat lab.
Plan of Work
Reflection
Results:
We were unable to test the texture and flavor of the sausages, due to time constraints. We were able to all the processes except for the smoking and cooking portion of the sausages. Each sausage had their own distinct seasoning. The texture of the casings where not as delicate as the previous sheep casings from a previous week.
Evaluation:
The thicker casings were packaged better than the previous sausage lab. It was packaged more individually than a knot of casings. It took less time to prepare the casings during the meat lab visit, which allowed us more time to do other steps. The industrial sausage stuffer made the process faster, but it did cause a few of the sausages to bust. It is common for every now and then that a sausage casing can break. It just take more patience and experience to not overfill the casing. As a class, we worked well in working together as a team. We were able to fill 8 trays of sausage. The Z-linker Cub Sausage Linker machine was efficient in creating a faster procedure than hand twisting each sausage.
Conclusion:
The visit to the meat lab gave me a deeper insight on the meat processors' perspective. The walkthrough of the entire process from the butchering to linking sausages showed just how much work and time it takes to process. Before meat even reaches a chef, there were so many moving parts and factors that I did not really know about until the visit. For example, the Boston shoulder and picnic shoulder are around the same area , their cooking process and application is slightly different. I learned that a pig is often unconscious ,then it must be hit by cutting at a large artery that would cause a lot of blood loss and circulation. If it is not in the right place, it can cause large clots to form that would later need to be removed during the butchering process. This information of specific cuts and the best cooking practices can translate outside of a commercial kitchen. The information would also be beneficial in a home kitchen. Learning more about meat processing has given me more appreciation to quality meats and the people who make it happen. One skill that I can constantly work on is to move forward even if things do not go right the first time.
Stages of the Lab
