Precooked-cooked meat products

Definition

Precooked-cooked meat products contain mixes of lower-grade muscle trimmings, fatty tissues, head meat, animal feet, animal skin, blood, liver and other edible slaughter by-products. There are two heat treatment procedures involved in the manufacture of precooked-cooked products. The first heat treatment is the precooking of raw meat materialsand the second heat treatment the cooking of the finished product mix at the end of the processing stage. Precooked-cooked meat products are distinguished from the other categories of processed meat products by precooking the raw materials prior to grinding or chopping, but also by utilizing the greatest variety of meat, animal by-product and non-meat ingredients (Fig. 132, 133, 134).

Raw-fermented sausages

Definition

Raw-fermented sausages are uncooked meat products and consist of more or less coarse mixtures of lean meats and fatty tissuescombined with salts, nitrite (curing agent), sugars and spices and other non-meat ingredients filled into casings. They receive their characteristic properties (flavour, firm texture, red curing colour) through fermentation processes. Shorter or longer ripening phasescombined with moisture reduction (“drying”) are necessary to build-up the typical flavour and texture of the final product. The products are not subjected to any heat treatment during processing and are in most cases distributed and consumed raw (Fig. 135, 136).

Fig. 135: Raw-fermented sausages

Fig. 136: Naem, a fermented product from South-East Asia

Dried meat products

Definition

Dried meat products are the result of the simple dehydration or drying of lean meat in natural conditions or in an artificially created environment (Fig. 137, 138). Their processing is based on the experience that dehydrated meat, from which a substantial part of the natural tissue fluid was evaporated, will not easily spoil. Pieces of lean meat without adherent fat are cut to a specific uniform shape that permits the gradual and equal drying of whole batches of meat. Dried meat is not comparable to fresh meat in terms of shape and sensory and processing properties, but has significantly longer shelf-life. Many of the nutritional properties of meat, in particular the protein content, remain unchanged through drying.

Fig. 137: Biltong from Southern Africa

Fig. 138: Meat floss (beef, chicken, pork) from East and SE-Asia