Restructuring meat: the McRib and friends

For the most part, store-bought sandwiches don’t carry much meaning for me, except the McRib. I don’t really like it (the sauce is too sweet), but the McRib makes me think of my mother. She loved it, and when it would ‘come back’ we had to go to McDonalds and get one. Now, every time it resurfaces, I smile and think of my mom and the joy she got out of a sweet BBQ pork sandwich.

Mom with Wyn at a
Meat Conference
 in Nebraska

The McRib is actually a fun, meat science success story. In the 1970’s, a meat scientist at the University of Nebraska named Dr. Roger Mandigo worked with the National Pork Board to develop a product that could be sold in McDonalds. He developed what we call a restructured product. It’s really a simple sausage made with pork, water, and salt, but rather than being shaped in a cylinder by a sausage casing, it’s formed into a shape that looks like ribs.

Sausages are made by using salt to extract the proteins in the meat. Salt literally reshapes the proteins at a molecular level, turning them inside out, and causing them to stick together. When the sausages are cooked, the texture of the final product changes. Think about how the texture of a hamburger patty is different from a sausage or hotdog. How much the proteins are extracted affects the texture changes and that will differ based on how much salt or other ingredients are used and how much they are mixed.

Dr. Mandigo is a giant in
meat science. Working with
 him at Nebraska would be
the equivalent to being
coached by Lou Holtz or
learning Physics from
Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

When salt is mixed with ground meat, the result is actually called a batter and can be poured or injected into trays or casings that will create any shape. It’s like the way cakes take the shape of the pan when you cook them.  It was actually the folks at McDonalds that settled on the rib shape.

If you look at the ingredients of the McRib on McDonald’s website, you’ll see the ingredients are pork, water, salt, dextrose and rosemary extract. Pork is trimmings only from skeletal muscles, like the ones that move bones around. When salt is added to the pork, the extracted proteins will absorb water, making the patty juicier.  The dextrose is just sugar that’s added to counter-act the saltiness, and rosemary extract is an antioxidant that helps prevent rancidity and improve flavor.

Slather the patty in sweet sauce, add onion, pickle and a sesame seed bun and… BOOM! Iconic Sandwich!

Poultry scientists have used similar methods to develop chicken nuggets in all sorts of fun shapes. We had Dino-nuggets for lunch just the other day. The McChicken sandwich is another restructured product. So are chicken fries, fish sticks, Salisbury steak, and some chicken-fried steaks.

Chill... it's just freezing.

 

It seems so simple to just freeze something. You get meat really cold, it lasts a long time. But, we all know it is not that simple. Lots of questions arise with freezing. Questions about packaging, timing, size of cuts, type of freezer, how to thaw it and what it does to quality, all come up when freezing meat. So, let’s talk about them.

Packaging

Air is the enemy when you are freezing foods. Air allows for oxidation and freezer burn. You want to keep air away from the surface of the cuts in any way you can. For meat, the best packaging method when freezing is vacuum. Some butchers use vacuum packaging, and you can buy vacuum packaged cuts in the store. At home, you can buy a small vacuum packager and package cuts yourself. If you freeze lots of meat cuts at home, that may be a good investment for you.

Ground cuts that are packaged in chubs are essentially in vacuum, but you may get a little spoilage in the edges, near the opening, but most of the meat is protected from air.

The wax paper wrap that butchers use also works well in the freezer. It keeps the air away from the cuts pretty well, but those packages don’t last as long as vacuum. If you are buying a whole or half beef, it will take a long time to go through it all. The packages will likely be in your freezer for several months.

At home, you may want to try those freezer bags that zip closed. Make sure that you squeeze as much air out of those as you can before you close them. I try to fold them over and create a kind of seal around my cuts. Packaging like that won’t last as long as vacuum or wax paper.

The worst way to package meat for the freezer is the foam tray and overwrap like you see in the grocery store. That wrap is designed to allow oxygen through (that’s what makes the meat red), so freezing meat in those packages is just asking for freezer burn. 

Timing

The USDA guidelines state that you should consume frozen steaks, chops, and roasts within 4 to 12 months of freezing. After that, it’s not as much a safety issue, but eating quality. Juiciness, flavor, tenderness may suffer some if you wait longer than a year. In vacuum packaging in a chest or stand up freezer, whole muscle cuts last months and months.

Sausage, ground beef, and cooked meats don’t fare as well. Grinding, cooking, and adding ingredients like salt are all things that make meat oxidize more quickly and that can even happen in the freezer. USDA suggests ground beef only be stored frozen for 4 months. Cooked meats, even less than that (2-3 months).

Sizing

When you are putting fresh meats in the freezer for the first time, you want them to freeze as quickly as possible. So, smaller cuts and packages work better than large ones. If you like to buy things in bulk, its best to repackage meats into portion-sized packages and freeze it in smaller packages. Then, you can just take them out as you need them, rather than having everything frozen together. I like to flatten ground beef packages out so they will stack, and they will freeze faster.

Placement

Keeping with the concept of freezing meat as quickly as possible, you want to make sure that you spread non-frozen things out in the freezer when you first put them in there. Don’t put it all together in one place. It will take a long time to freeze, and I’ve even seen things spoil in the middle when they don’t get frozen completely.

Hopefully if you buy a large quantity of meat, it will come frozen and you can put it all in the freezer at the same time, but if you need to freeze a large quantity all at once, you may consider freezing it over several days.  Put some cuts in the freezer and spread them out, let them freeze, and put in a few more cuts the next day. Whole muscle cuts are ok for a few weeks in the fridge, so just be aware of how long they’ve been stored. If you have to freeze cuts over a few days like this, freeze the ground cuts first.

Which freezer is best?

If you are planning to store frozen meat for several months, its best to do so in a chest freezer or an upright freezer that is only a freezer. The freezer in your fridge is ok for short term freezer storage, but think about how often it is opened and every time the door opens, it loses cold air. It’s best to have your meat stored in a specified freezer, even if it’s a small one.

Thawing

A few years ago, I wrote a whole post about thawing frozen meat, and in short, it’s best to thaw meat in cold water or in the refrigerator. Cold running water works best. The microwave is ok, too. You shouldn’t set meat on the counter to thaw. You don’t want it to spend too much time in the danger zone of temperature where pathogens have a chance to grow.  Also, you can always just cook your meat from frozen.

Can I thaw and refreeze?

Yes. Some people are concerned about meat that has been frozen, thawed and refrozen. As long as it stayed below 40°F when it was thawed, food-safety wise, it should be fine. It may lose some juiciness or have flavor issues from being thawed and refrozen, but chances are, you won’t even be able to tell.

Whole muscle cuts like steaks, chops and roasts take this treatment better than ground and processed cuts. Also, you don’t want to thaw ground beef and leave it thawed for very long at all if you decide to refreeze. At refrigerated temperatures, oxidation happens and it will be accelerated in meat that has been previously frozen.

*If for some reason, your freezer loses power, don’t open it. That will just cause you to lose the cold air that’s in there. The meat will stay frozen for a while without power. When you get power back or get a new freezer, check the temperature of the meat. Is it still frozen? Is it thawed, but still cold (below 40°F)? If these are true, its probably ok to just refreeze. If the meat is at room temperature or its been over 40°F for 4-6 hours or more, you need to discard it.

What does freezing do to quality?

The answer to this question is complicated. It depends. Some aspects of quality may actually be improved with freezing. Researchers at South Dakota State found that freezing beef actually improved the tenderness of beef steaks compared to non-frozen. The ice crystals in the beef acted like tiny little tenderizers.

For the most part, in whole muscle cuts under ideal conditions, freezing doesn’t have much effect on other aspects of quality like flavor and juiciness. Leaving something in the freezer for long periods or poor packaging may result in flavor issues and loss of juiciness, though. Ground beef and processed meats are more prone to flavor problems when they have been frozen, but under good conditions (packaging and fast freezing), the benefits of storing meat in the freezer out-weighs the problems.

 

I hope my post is helpful in answering your freezing questions. Like always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Cuts to try

I've been sharing posts on Facebook with new cuts to try and I wanted to put them all in one place to make them easier to find.

The Meat Industry in the midst of COVID-19

This is a scary time. Our entire society is fighting an enemy we can't see and have never fought before. 

Everyone is worried and stressed.

There have been news reports this week about the virus spreading in meat packing plants and those plants shutting down or significantly slowing production.

What does that mean for our food supply?

First, we are not going to run out of food. Yes, a slow down in production may affect the variety of protein available in some parts of our country, but we are not going to run out. We may have to get more creative or open minded about what we cook and serve our families. We may have to try new things or not have our favorite cuts for a little while. 

But, this too shall pass. We will not run out of food.

Packing plants

Workers in packing plants work in very close quarters. They have to stand near each other. Social distancing is not possible. There are lots of shared spaces like break rooms, changing rooms, and work areas. It’s not surprising that the virus spread in the plants because people are so close to each other.

That doesn't mean that COVID-19 is being passed on to consumers. The USDA does not have any reports of people becoming infected with COVID-19 from food or food packaging. This virus mainly spreads from person to person and is a respiratory virus meaning that you become infected when it enters your nose, eyes, or mouth. Viruses do not grow in food and when foods are cooked, viruses are killed. Follow the four steps of food safety to keep your family safe from all illness; wash your hands, be sure to cook your food to safe temperatures, keep cooked foods away from uncooked foods, and be sure to chill your leftovers in a timely manner.

Companies are doing what they can to keep their doors open and keep their people safe. Many are taking temperatures of employees, testing employees for the disease, and when people are infected, they stay home from work.  There is lots of extra cleaning and sanitation. Workers are wearing masks (most already wear gloves and wash their hands frequently). Some companies are providing partitions to keep people apart from each other.

These plants are in the middle of the food chain, so shutting down can have devastating consequences up and down the food supply.

Farmers

This disease has been dreadful for farmers. Some dairy farmers are dumping milk and egg farmers breaking eggs. We’ve heard about potatoes and other produce going to waste because no one can come pick it. Farmers all over this country have millions of animals ready to go to harvest in our food supply. Packing plants not purchasing them is a devastating condition for those farmers. The supply chain for beef animals goes back over two years to when the cow was bred. Pork and poultry are not quite as long, but still several months.

Grocery stores

People are buying more food in grocery stores than we’ve ever seen. Those stores have to have employees there to keep the food on the shelves. Then there are the truck drivers and supply chain workers that are also still hard at work in this mess. Those folks are putting themselves at risk every day because they have to be interact with people. They wear masks and try to social distance, but it must be so stressful.

In the US, we have the safest, least expensive food supply in the world. But that takes millions of people working every day. I love to think about the scope of our industry. That industry that feeds 300 million people.

Please continue to ask me about the meat industry. Hit me up with questions about new cuts that you are trying or new ways of cooking. Let me know about your successes and failures. Send me concerns about food safety. I’m happy to answer any question you may have.

Lab grown meat is not Impossible

Meat alternatives have been in the news a lot lately. A certain Royal burger chain has recently launched a burger that was once considered Impossible, and I can’t open my inbox or walk through a crowd at a conference without hearing something about lab-grown meat. So, it’s about time that I write something about it.

First. Is it Impossible?

We are really talking about two completely different products here.

       1.      Plant based meats – Products made to taste and feel like meat, but made from plants.

       2.      Lab-grown meats – Meat grown in a petri dish from cells and media. Not from plants, but not really from animals either.

One is out in the market, the other is still in the development stages.

Plant based meats

Some plant-based meats I found at a grocery
store in Texas.

The science behind the Impossible burger is actually pretty cool. They looked at meat and asked themselves, “What makes meat so tasty?” They felt like the answer was heme, a source of iron found in muscle and blood. Heme can also be found in soy and some other plants. So they isolated the heme producing DNA out of the soy plants and inserted it into yeast. Now the yeast can grow the heme through fermentation. They combine that with soy and potato proteins, coconut and sunflower oils, salt and some other ingredients. From there, they make burgers or sausage or whatever they want. If you look at the nutrition information (calories, fat, etc…) of the Impossible burger, you’ll see that it’s pretty similar to a beef burger.

There is another plant-based meat product called Beyond Meat that uses peas, mung beans, fava beans, and brown rice as their protein sources. They also use coconut and sunflower oils as well as cocoa butter and canola oil. Coconut oil is more saturated than other oils and likely gives these products a mouthfeel that is more similar to meats. Beyond Meat prides itself on not using GMOs and instead using beet juice extract, apple extract, and other ‘natural flavors’ to produce the meaty flavor. From what I can tell, the nutrition information on this one is also similar to a beef patty.

Lab grown meats

Meat products made from cells grown in a lab are being developed by over 40 different start-up companies. The most popular and well-funded of those is probably Memphis Meats, out of Berkley, CA. Others include Blue Nalu, Future Meat Technology, Finless Foods, Wild Type, and Aleph Farms.

I’m sure all these companies have their own spin on the process, but in a very basic way, they are using cells isolated from animals, either satellite cells or embryonic stem cells to grow more cells in a lab rather than growing them in an animal.

The cells are grown in what’s called a Bio reactor. Rather than feed and water, the cells need media, which is a combination of salts, sugars, and amino acids. Just like feeds change as animals grow, the needs of the cells change as they grow and differentiate. The scientists control the growth of the cells with hormones and provide them with scaffolding, which is a structure for them to grow on.

This technology is quite expensive. The first cell-based hamburger that was prepared in 2013 cost approximately $278,000, but today that cost is down to about $100. A company called Eat Just, Inc. has chicken nuggets that only costs $50 a piece.

A few of these companies are moving from lab-scale up to pilot plants, but the most ambitious timeline has products available for consumers no earlier than 2022. Most are after 2025.

Certain cell-based products will be easier to develop than others. Comminuted products like ground beef, hot dogs and chicken nuggets will be quicker to develop than those that are trying to produce whole-muscle cuts like a steak, a chicken breast, or a pork chop. The correct texture of a marbled steak will take a little longer to develop than a ground beef burger.

Another hurdle for these products will be regulations. In the US, meat products are regulated by USDA and call-based and plant products are regulated by FDA. The two agencies have agreed to work together to develop food safety regulations and labeling standards for cell-based meats.

One big question is what will it be called? The USDA has standards of identity for labels like ground beef, ham, and chicken nuggets. Currently, it is not clear if beef grown in a lab outside of a cow meets those standards. (I don’t think so, but no one has asked me.) Regardless, cell-based meat or lab-grown meat doesn’t have a very good ring to it.

So, lab-grown meats are still a long way from our dinner plates. As a rancher, a meat scientist, and as a mom, I’m not really worried about feeding them to my family any time soon.

Grannie Annie’s Pozole

I don’t often do recipe posts. Honestly, I don’t often cook. But my friend Sarah Shotts is working on an awesome new adventure, Project STIR. She wants to create videos of families cooking together and passing down recipes and kitchen secrets.

Her project really hit home for me as I lost my Mother in August and my Dad’s Mom last October. What I wouldn’t give for a few more hours in the kitchen with either one of them.

So many of the things that make a dish delicious can’t be found on the recipe card. I hope Sarah’s project helps to preserve dishes for other families and cultures.

I decided to share my Grannie Annie’s Pozole.

Like most grandmas, Grannie Annie was happiest with a
 baby in her lap. That's Vallie at about 3 months.

I grew up in Texas, but my Dad’s family lived for several years in New Mexico. In those years, my Grandmother picked up several culinary traits from the Hispanic and Native American cultures in the Jemez Mountains. She made homemade tortillas and sopapillas and put green chilies in everything.

Pozole is a prehispanic soup traditionally made with pork and hominy. According to Dad (and verified by Wikipedia), the word pozole actually translates to simply ‘hominy’ in the native Aztec language.

Our family always ate Pozole on New Year’s Day, but I wanted to share it because it’s one of the most unique dishes we eat.

Bonus! It’s super easy and can be made in the crock pot!

I had to call my Dad for a recipe. Turns out there’s not one written down, so he recalled the recipe from memory.

POZOLE

3 big cans hominy (drained)

2 cans of Green Chili Enchilada sauce

1 can for chopped green chili

Jar of chopped pimentos

Pork or chicken cut to bite size

Salt and pepper

You may need to add a little water to cover all of the ingredients in the crock pot.

It takes 3 to 4 hours for the meat to cook and it is ready to eat.

He said Grandma used to make it with dried hominy that she soaked overnight, but it was just as good with canned hominy.  Grandma was very particular about how her dishes looked in the bowl, so she would buy some yellow and some white and then add pimento to make it look pretty.

We fixed the Pozole late morning and let it cook for most of the afternoon.

We made ours with chicken, but pork works just as well. I wanted to take a picture of the cut-up chicken, but I was chasing kids while Dad was doing the work.

Even the kids enjoyed it.

I love a good crock-pot recipe.
So easy and great for this time of year.

We topped it with shredded cheese and ate it
with flour tortillas. Dad warmed the tortillas in the
skillet to take the ‘store-bought’ taste out of them.

Don’t judge cooked meat by its color.

Just… don’t.

Everyone, myself included, does it. We look at the color of the inside of a burger or chicken to determine if it’s cooked. Is it pink? Nope. Chomp chomp!

Here’s the problem: Color is not a good indicator of safe cooking temperatures. You have to use a meat thermometer to be sure meat is cooked to safe temperatures.

Meat turns from pink to brown because the protein that makes meat red (myoglobin) is denatured as it is cooked. The protein is damaged and doesn’t reflect light in the same manner anymore, so the meat appears brown.

Lots of factors can affect how quickly or slowly the protein is denatured as it is heated. Meat color changes can vary due to the pH (acidity) of the meat, the age and gender of the animal, how long it was stored, the way it was packaged, whether it was frozen, even the feed and water of the animals can affect cooked meat color.

Sometimes meat turns brown too soon!

Meat scientists call this phenomenon Premature Browning. It can be really dangerous because meat looks done, but it hasn't been cooked to a safe temperature.

This photo is from a great fact sheet about beef color from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Both of these patties were cooked to an unsafe temperature (55°C or 131°F). Patty A looks very undercooked, but patty B looks done.

I have a previous blog post about fresh meat color. Remember that we talked about meat being oxygenated (red), deoxygenated (purple), or oxidized (brown)? Researchers at Kansas State found that when patties were cooked in the oxidized (brown) state, their cooked color was brown, even at temperatures that were too low to kill deadly bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella. Other research has found that the packaging can cause meat to brown faster, too.

Regardless of why the meat turns brown at too low of a temperature, sometimes it happens. The best way to insure that your meat is cooked properly is to use a meat thermometer.

Ground beef should be cooked to 160°F and poultry should be cooked to 165°F.

Sometimes meat stays pink too long!

Meat scientists call this phenomenon Persistent Pinking. It is not as much a food safety issue as it is a perception and eating quality issue. When meat looks pink, even if it’s been thoroughly cooked, people will think it’s undercooked and will keep cooking it until its way overcooked. When it’s overcooked, it tastes terrible.

I am conducting research on persistent pinking in ground beef this summer. 

These patties were all cooked to exactly 160°F.
You can see how some of them are still pink in the middle.

Research has shown that a high pH (more basic) can protect the proteins at greater temperatures and keep them from turning brown. They may also stay pink because of a higher concentration of the myoglobin protein. Right now our research is creating more questions than answers, but it sure is interesting.

Persistent pinking can also be caused by outside substances interacting with the meat and creating the pink color.

Nitrites are a good example of one of these outside substances. Sometimes we want this pink color to appear, like in the case of ham, sausages, or bacon. However, very small amounts of nitrites can get into the meat (especially poultry) and create a pink color that kind of looks like ham. If you don’t expect the meat to be pink and it is, you may think it’s undercooked.

These pictures were sent to me by Dr. Jim Claus at the University of Wisconsin. He is one of the leading researchers in persistent pinking in processed meats. These are a pair of turkey slices and some tuna chunks with persistent pinking problems. All of these were cooked to a safe temperature, but some clearly have some color issues.

This is a pork chop that was cooked wrapped in bacon. Looks like the nitrites in the bacon seeped into the pork chop and created a pink color.

Sometimes the ovens that cook the meat can introduce gasses that react with the muscle and cause it to turn pink. We like it when this happens in smoked meats, but when you don’t expect it, you may be concerned it hasn’t been cooked enough.

This is a smoked sausage from an awesome BBQ restaurant in south Texas. See how the smoke has created the ring of pink around the edge of the sausage?

When you see pink color in meat, look to see where the off-color is within the pieces. Undercooked meat will be pink in the middle, but persistent pinking issues are more likely to occur on the surface.

Even what the animals (especially birds) eat or drink can introduce substances that can change the cooked color of their meat. Nitrates and nitrites that occur naturally in the feed and water can remain in the birds and create some color problems, especially around the bone.

This is another picture of some cooked chicken pieces from Dr. Claus. You can see some really severe pinking problems in them.

If you are served something that you think looks underdone, it’s OK to ask what temperature it was cooked to. Sometimes meat is just stubbornly pink, but sometimes it may actually be underdone. When it comes to my kids, if I think a piece of meat they've been served may be underdone, you bet I'll ask the waiter about it. 

The best way to know is to use a meat thermometer.

Cook it to a temperature not a color.

The USDA has a great fact sheet about meat color that gives more detail about persistent pinking and premature browning.

Microblogs: Ham vs. Lamb

The day before Easter, I surveyed my followers on social media on their preference of ham or lamb for Easter dinner.

According to my survey, more of you are eating ham today than lamb. Some chose beef. The reason we eat lamb today is pretty obvious. The lamb represents the sacrificial lamb of God.

But in the US many more of us will eat ham and I wanted to do a little research as to why. I secretly was hoping I would find that we ate ham at Easter because the pink color of ham matched our pretty pink Easter dresses and pink dyed eggs. But, probably not.

Some say that the tradition of ham at Easter goes back to pagan traditions associated with the celebrations of the Spring equinox, and others say that ham was eaten during this time because pork was considered a lucky meat by pre-Christian Europeans.

However, in the Ozarks and much of the rural US, the tradition of ham at Easter probably originated from the fact that pigs were slaughtered in the winter and the hams and shoulders were cured. The curing process in those days took many months, so the first hams were ready at Easter.

It really doesn't matter why we choose ham or lamb or beef, what matters is that we are taking the day to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus with our families or (like we do it) with our church family.

After note: For lunch, Ed made a ham for church pot-luck and had a piece of it, but there is a man at our church that makes some awesome BBQ chicken, so that's what I had. 

What’s in a food label? Uncured, naturally cured or no nitrate or nitrite added.

This year I’ve been working on a series of posts about food labels and what they mean. In earlier posts, I talked about what the Natural label means on a meat package, but I get some questions about Uncured, Naturally Cured or processed meat products that are made without nitrate or nitrite.

I’ve covered this topic before in a post called ‘What is Nitrite?’, but I wanted to cover it again in the labeling series.

Some processors want to create friendlier, less chemically labels and choose to remove nitrates. Also, when meat processors want to use the Natural or Organic labels, they are not allowed to add nitrites and nitrates as they are classified by the USDA as chemical preservatives.

 

What if you just removed these ingredients from natural products?

Just take it out. Problem solved.

Some processors do that, but without nitrite, deli ham would not be pink, it would basically be just a pork roast. Tasty meats like bacon and hotdogs wouldn’t have the same flavors we enjoy. And, most importantly, all of these products would be more susceptible to spoilage and the growth of dangerous bacteria. The nitrite helps them last longer on store shelves and in your refrigerator. Nitrite also makes them safer for you and your family.

So, removing it doesn’t work.

What is nitrite anyway and what is its purpose in meat?

Nitrite is added to processed meats like ham, bacon, and sausages (hotdogs, bologna, etc) for 4 reasons:

1.       It prevents the growth of Clostridium botulinum (the bacteria that causes botulism). Botulism can shut down your nervous system and that’s not healthy. It also helps control other dangerous pathogens and bacteria that cause spoilage, so it helps keep meat safe.

2.       It is a very powerful antioxidant and keeps the meat from going rancid. The fat in processed meat can get funky flavors if allowed to oxidize, and nitrite helps to keep that from happening. Ever notice why a package of ham can last for weeks in your fridge while leftovers go bad in a few days?

3.       It gives cured meats their distinct pink color. The nitrite reacts with the muscle protein and changes it to pink, and it stays pink for a much longer time than fresh meat stays red.

4.       It gives cured meats their distinct flavor. That unique “hammy” and smoky flavor of a ham or that unique bacon flavor in bacon comes from the nitrite.



German researchers discovered that nitrite and
not nitrate (curing cousins) was the form of
curing salt responsible for meat curing, and
started to exclusively use nitrite for curing.

Also, without nitrite, several products would completely lose their identity. The USDA has standards of identity that regulate what is a hot dog, bologna, or even bacon and nitrite is an important ingredient for making them what they are. Without it, they are no longer “cured.” This means bacon without nitrite would no longer be bacon, but would instead be cooked pork belly.

How do “Natural” and “Cured” coexist?

Even though, nitrate and nitrite are not allowed to be directly added to natural and organic labeled meat products, other ‘natural’ ingredients with high levels of naturally-occurring nitrate can be used to replace the synthetic forms.

Many vegetables contain high levels of naturally accumulating nitrate. In fact, the main human dietary source of nitrate isn’t processed meats, but actually green leafy vegetables like spinach and celery. When the nitrate is converted to nitrite, presto… meat curing can naturally happen.

Meat processors can use vegetable powder in processed meats as a source of nitrite to create the pink color and cured flavor. On the label, it may be listed as celery powder, flavoring, or natural flavoring. The nitrite derived from vegetables and found in vegetable powder and in natural meats is exactly the same compound as that found in conventionally cured meats.

However, this substitution doesn’t replace all the nitrite needed to provide important quality and safety attributes. The final nitrite levels are lower and the vegetable powder may have to be limited because it can give the meat product its own flavors, too. These lower nitrate levels mean that the naturally cured meats are not as well protected from spoilage and pathogenic bacteria like Clostridium botulinum and Listeria monocytogenes. So, other steps must be taken to help keep the product safe. Meat processors add natural antimicrobial ingredients or use extra processes like high pressure processing to protect against spoilage and dangerous bacteria.

So what’s the difference, really?

Generally, natural meats are going to be more expensive because the ingredients that go into them are more expensive. However, when your dinner hits the table, natural and conventionally-cured meats should taste the same and both are safe and nutritious for your family.

  

For this post, I want to thank Dr. Jeff Sindelar from the University of Wisconsin for helping me explain all the nitrate/nitrite chemistry. Jeff and I have been buddies since graduate school, and he is a great meat scientist who has devoted his research to naturally-cured meats. You can see him talking about it in his Meat Myth Crusher video.

 

 

 

 

Packaging questions: Purge

It’s one of my most commonly-asked questions.

What is the deal with that blood or water in my package of meat?

Beef steaks and purge
Photo courtesy Macc Rigdon

When you take your tasty cut of meat out of the package, there is a pinkish liquid that is left behind. Most of the time, there is even a little soaker pad in the package to soak it up.

What is that stuff?

Short answer:



It’s a combination of water, lactic acid, and meat pigments that seeped out of the meat.

Longer answer:



Soaker pad in a chicken tray

In science class, we all learned that our bodies are largely made up of water. The same is true for animals, and a high percentage of that water is held in the muscles and stays in the muscle when it’s converted to meat.

Water in the meat is what creates the juiciness we experience when we eat a juicy steak, a tender ham, or a succulent turkey (#tokenthanksgivingreference). Water helps give meat the texture and flavor we expect. Meat without water is jerky, dry and tough.

Think of the proteins in meat as a sponge. As the meat ages and the more it is handled (cut, shipped, packaged, etc.), the protein sponge loses its ability to hold onto water. So, the water seeps out of the meat over time.

When the water seeps out, the protein that gives meat its color (myoglobin) flows out with the water. That protein gives the purge its color. Although it’s similar to the protein that gives blood its color (hemoglobin), it is not blood.



Pork chops in a purge loss study
Meat scientists have lots of
creative ways to measure purge
Photo courtesy Macc Rigdon

The ability of the meat to hang on the water is dependent on several different things, including the species and age of the animal, the fatness and grade of the meat, the length of time since the animal was harvested, which muscle the cut of meat was from, and how the meat has been handled and processed. Meat scientists spend hours and hours trying to figure out purge and what causes it.

Sometimes meat processors will add a solution to meat cuts to make them more tender, flavorful and juicy. That solution can change the amount of purge in a package, but the presence of purge does not automatically mean that water or anything has been added to the meat. Most of the time, purge is just a natural result of water leaving the muscle.

Some of the water in meat will evaporate out when it’s cooked. That’s why cooked meat is lighter in weight than raw. As the meat is cooked, the myoglobin will denature and lose its red color. So the juice that runs out of a rare steak may still be pink or red, but the juice from a cooked steak is colorless.

So, the water in meat packages is just purge, water and a little myoglobin. Maybe we should give it a better name.

Vacuum packaged pork with purge
Photo courtesy Macc Rigdon 

 

Something I learned from writing this blog: When you ask your meat-scientist friends to send you pictures of purge, be prepared to get a whole lot of them! I wasn’t pleased with my own photos, and a whole community of meat scientists responded when I sent out a request for pictures on facebook. Thanks, friends!