Quarter 4

Preparing and
Cooking Meat
Objectives:
• At the end of the quarter, you are expected to:
1. perform mise ‘en place;
2. cook meat cuts;
3. present and evaluate meat dishes; and
4. store meat.
Lesson 1: Prepare and Cook Meat

Meat is a term for the flesh of cattle (beef and

veal), sheep (lamb) and pigs (pork). Meat
comprises water, protein, fat, and various
amounts of minerals and vitamins.

Primal Cuts- any of various wholesale cuts (as

a quarter, side, or ham) into which the carcass
Learning Outcome 1:
Perform Mise’en Place
Types of Knives and their
Uses
 1. French
Knives/Chefs
Knives
•for general purpose like
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.

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
• Comprises the 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- comprises 5% of muscle tissue.
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
• A. 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.

• B. Elastin – yellow connective tissue and

Basic Preparation Methods of Meat
1.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.
2. Skinning
• Most of the meat you dealt with has been already skinned by the supplier.
3.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.
4.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.
5.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.
6. 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).
7. 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
• Meat of domesticated
sheep. Its texture is a
direct result of what it
consumes and the age at
which it is slaughtered.
4. Carabeef
• Meat from
carabao.
5. Chevon
• Meat from
deer/goat.
6. Veal
• Flesh of a young calf, 4-5
months old. Because of
its age, it is considered by
some to be the finest meat.