Learning Outcome 1:
Types of Knives and their Uses
1. French knife or chef’s knife – for general purpose chopping,
slicing, and dicing.
2. Utility knife – used for carving roast chicken and duck.
3. Boning knife – used for boning raw meats and poultry.
4. Slicer – used for carving and slicing cooked meats.
5. Butcher knife – used for cutting, sectioning, and trimming raw
meats in the butcher shop.
6. Scimitar or steak knife - used for accurate cutting of steaks.
7. Cleaver – used for cutting through bones.
Composition of Meat
1. Water – 70% of muscle tissue.
Water Content of Meat and Poultry
Product Name Percentage Water
Raw Cooked
Chicken fryer, whole 66% 60%
White meat chicken, with skin 69% 61%
Dark meat chicken, with skin 66% 59%
Ground beef, 85% lean 64% 60%
Ground beef, 73% lean 56% 55%
Beef, eye of round 73% 65%
Beef, whole brisket 71% 56%
2. Protein – 20% of muscle tissue. Protein coagulates when it is
heated. It becomes firmer and loses moisture. When protein has
coagulated to the desired degree, the meat is said to be done.
3. Fat – 5% of the muscle tissue. The fat in meat contributes to:
A. Juiciness
Marbling is fat that is deposited within the muscle tissue. Surface
fats protect the meat from drying out during cooking. Adding surface
fat is called barding.
B. Tenderness
Marbling separates muscle fibers, making meat easier to chew.
C. Flavor
Fat is the main source of flavor in meat.
4. Carbohydrates – it plays a necessary part in the complex
reaction, called the maillard reaction, which takes place when meats
are browned by roasting, broiling or sautéing.
Without carbohydrates, desirable flavor appearance of browned
meats would not be achieved.
Structure of Meat
1. Muscle fibers
Lean meat is composed of long, thin muscle fibers bound together in
bundles. These determine the texture or
grain of a piece of meat.
• Fine – grained meat is composed of small fibers bound in small
fibers.
• Course – textured meat has large fibers.
2. Connective tissue
These are network of proteins that bind the muscle fibers together.
Connective tissue is tough. Meats are high in connective tissue if the
muscles are more exercised like meat from legs and the meat
comes from older animals.
Two Kinds of Connective Tissue
1. Collagen
• white connective tissue that dissolves or breaks down by long,
slow cooking with liquid. Moist-heat cooking methods at low
temperature are not effective for turning a meat high in connective
tissue into a tender, juicy finished product. Acid helps dissolve
collagen.
2. Elastin
• yellow connective tissue and is not broken down in cooking.
Tenderizing can be accomplished only by removing the elastin, by
pounding and by slicing and grinding.
Basic Preparation Methods of Meat
Washing
Generally, the only occasion in which you will have to wash meat is
when it comes into contact with blood during preparation. After
washing, dry the food thoroughly with absorbent kitchen paper.
1. Skinning
Most of the meat you dealt with has been already skinned by the
supplier.
2. Dicing
Meat are diced when it is cut into cubes for various types of
casseroles, stems, curries, and dishes such as steak, kidney pie and
pudding.
3. Trimming
Reasons for trimming:
a. Improve the appearance of the cut or joint
b. Leave as much of the meat intact as possible.
c. Leave an even thickness of fat (where fat is to be left). How much
fat you trim off will depend on the type of meat, preference, and the
cooking process to be used.
d. Remove as much gristles and sinews as possible.
4. Slicing
It is the cutting of meat by determining the direction of the grain (the
muscle fibers), and cut across the grain. This is particularly important
with tougher cuts such as steak, in which the grain is also quite
obvious. You slice meat with―instead of against―the grain.
5. Seasoning
It is the addition of salt and white or black pepper to improve the
flavor of food.
a. Use white pepper or cayenne pepper on food which you want to
keep attractive with white color.
b. Add salt to roast and grill after the meat has browned. Adding salt
before cooking will extract the juices of the meat to the surface, and
slows down the browning reactions (which need high temperature
and dry heat).
6. Coating
The two basic coatings are:
a. Flour – coat the meat before cooking, otherwise the flour
becomes sticky and unpleasant.
b. Bread crumbs – coat the meat in flour, then egg wash (egg wash
is made of lightly beaten whole egg with a little water/milk) and
finally with the bread crumbs.
Different kinds of meat and its source
1. Pork – meat from domesticated pigs, typically high in fat,
commonly slaughtered one year or less of age to ensure tender
cuts.
2. Beef -meat from cattle over one year old.
3. Lamb – meats of domesticated sheep. Its texture is a direct result
of what it consumes and the age at which it is slaughtered.
Learning Outcome 2
Cook Meat Cuts
Meat Dishes and Entrees
Four kinds of doneness in meat:
1. Rare – when pressed with a finger, the meat is very soft with jelly
like texture.
2. Medium Rare – when pressed with a finger, meat feels springy
and resistant
3. Medium – when pressed with a finger, meat feels firm and there is
a definiteresistance.
4. Well Done – when pressed with a finger the meat feels hard and
rough.
Nutrient Content of Meat
Meat consists of water protein and fat, with a few minerals and some
B vitamins.
1. Protein – High-quality protein is the major constituent of meat
after water, accounting for about 20 percent of its weight. Meat
contains 7 grams of protein per ounce.
2. Fat – content can vary widely, according to the grade of meat and
its cut.
3. Carbohydrates – Meat contains very little carbohydrates.
Glycogen, found in
liver and muscle tissue, is present when the animal is alive, but the
glucose that makes up the glycogen is broken down to lactic acid
during and after
slaughter.
4. Vitamins – Meat is an excellent source of certain B vitamins –
thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6), cobalamin (B12), niacin
(B3) and some folate. Niacin is obtained from tryptophan, an amino
acid plentiful in meats and milk.
5. Minerals – Meat is an excellent source of iron, zinc, copper,
phosphorous, and a few other trace minerals.