Meat Tenderising Trials

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31659, 20 April 1968, Page 36

Meat Tenderising Trials

(New Zealand Press Association) HAMILTON, April 19. Equipment for a new tenderising process for meat has been installed temporarily at the Auckland Farmers Freezing Company works at Horitiu, for trials.

The equipment will introduce an American-developed method of tenderising which it is claimed, will create a premium for New Zealand meat in the United States. In the past the treatment of individual cuts was limited to relatively thin steaks, because tl» tenderising enzyme could not be distributed uniformly in thicker cuts. The new spray tenderiser is designed to overcome this problem, making it possible to treat the entire primal cut, not just individual steaks and roasts. The technique has been approved by the consumer and marketing services of the United States Department of Agriculture. . Experiments with New Zealand beef have been com-

pleted and an export production run is about to be made. Experiments with lamb and mutton will start soon. The managing director of the Christchurch Meat Exporting Company, the Pacific agent for the equipment (Mr C. S. Stevens), said the new process could pave the way for substantially bigger sales in Asia. “Not only does this equipment tenderise, but it should be possible to de-odorise mutton with it,” he said. This was particularly Important as far as the Japanese market was concerned. The tenderising equipment will process a piece of meat weighing up to 301 b. The meat is placed in a box which is moved along under a row of needles that work up and down. During the process the

enzyme is introduced by a technique which opens the meat tissues, permitting the atomisation of the tenderising solution throughout the meat.