Cuts of Meat and Their Uses

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 89, Issue 6, 15 December 1954, Page 553

Cuts of Meat and Their Uses

MOST farmers slaughtering for their own consumption usually kill a sheep or lamb, mainly because the quantity of meat obtained can be readily consumed fresh. This continual use of mutton detracts from

its appeal, and its appearance with monotonous regularity on the table makes meals both uninteresting and colourless. With the rapid advancement of refrigeration and the trend today toward greater beef production more beef killing can be expected, especially on stations and farms employing much labour. Where farmers can get together to share a body of beef the following directions by A. Sheed, Meat Inspector, Freezing Works, Burnside, will be of great assistance and will show how to share equally and to the best advantage.

AS probably there will be no meat inspection service available, care should be taken that the animal selected for killing is healthy.

During the dressing intestinal organs and glands should be observed for any abnormality or disease. Advice on meat inspection of farm-killed stock will be readily given .by meat inspectors in freezing works and abattoirs or by Veterinarians or Livestock Instructors (formerly Stock Inspectors) of the Department of Agriculture.

Jointing a Beef Carcass

The method of cooking the joints is probably one of the important factors deciding the retail cuts. The following is one of the most common methods of breaking down a body of beef in New Zealand at, present. Several joints are removed by being cut off at the seams between the muscles and not so much cutting of actual meat is done as one would think.

Shown on Fig. 2 are the various cuts taken from a side of beef and lettered in order of cutting. In breaking down a side of beef the first operation is to separate the forequarter from the hindquarter. This is done by cutting through between the eleventh and twelfth ribs, marked A on Fig. 2. The breaking down of the hindquarter and the forequarter is described and illustrated on pages 554 and 555.

Chief Uses of Joints

After the carcass has been broken down joints to suit requirements can be easily obtained. A guide to the use of the different joints of beef, mutton, and pork is given here. Beef

Forequarter Joint Chief uses

Shin .. .. Soup or potted meats Bolar .. .. Chiefly used as corned beef Blade .. .. Frying or stewing steak Chuck .. Stewing steak or lean roast Prime ribs (6) (with or without bone) .. Roasting Brisket .. Corned or fresh for boiling Thin skirt .. Frying or stewing steak

Hindquarter Joint Chief uses Rump or undercut . . .. Frying or grilling steak Sirloin . . • . . Roasting Wing rib (twelfth or thirteenth rib) Roasting Thick flank .. Frying or braising steak Topside .. Frying or braising steak •or roasting joints Silverside •» .. Corned beef Thick skirt .. Frying or stewing steak In a test to ascertain the weight percentage of each cut a shorthorn bullock of 7201 b. was used. From a side of 3601 b. cuts in conformity with normal trade practice gave the following weights and percentages.

Cut Weight Per cent, lb. Rump steaklsJ 4.305 Fillet steak .. ... .. 4f 1.319 Skirt steak . . .. '.. 2J .763 Blade steak .. .. .. 85 2.430 Thick flank steak .. .. 135 3.819 Topside steak .. .. 20J 5.625 Stewing steak .. .. 32 z 8.888 Sirloin and wing rib (boned and rolled) .. .. 31 8.661 Rib roast (6 ribs boned and rolled) .. .. .. 38 10.555 Brisket (corned roll) . . 28J 7.152 Corned round (bolar) . . 141 4.027 Corned silverside . . . . 22j 6.180 Leg 13J 3.680 Shin- .. 91 2.638 Kidney . . 1| .347 Trimmings . . .. . . 61 . 1.805 Fat trimmings . . . . 204 « 5.694 Bones- .. 531 14.791 SuetlB4 5.125 Cod fat .. ... .. 5J 1.597

JOINTING I .THE HINDQUARTER H

There would of course be slight variations in the percentage weight of corresponding cuts in different breeds of cattle. The type of bullock to be preferred is the one that gives the higher weights of the choicer cuts. As may be seen from the chart on page 553, the choicer. cuts are mostly found on the hindquarter and this and the fact that the hindquarter carries less bone weight than the forequarter make a heavy hindquartered bullock the most profitable.' Mutton The divisions into which a mutton or lamb carcass should be broken down are shown above. The methods used are similar to those described for beef.

Chief uses are as follows: — Joint Chief uses Shank-end leg . Boiling or roasting Thick- or filletend leg .. Boasting Flap .. .. Stewing Shoulder .. Roasting Chump-end loin Chops or roasting Middle loin .. Frying or grilling chops Rib-end loin .. Frying chops or cutlets Neck .. ... Stewing chops, roasting or boiling joint Scrag end of neck .. .. Stewing Pork The divisions into which a pork carcass should be broken down are shown at right. The methods used are similar to those for beef. Chief .uses are as follows: — Joint Chief uses Leg .. .. Fresh for roasting; pickled for boiling Belly . . .. Pickled for boiling Hand .. .. Pickled for boiling Chump-end loin Roasting Middle loin . . Frying chops or roasting joint Rib-end loin . . Frying chops or roasting joint Shoulder .. Fresh for roasting; pickled for boiling Neck end .. Fresh for roasting; pickled for boiling Brine Curing Meat As well as providing a tasty change from fresh meat, brine curing will also be a solution to storage difficulties. The time the meat can be stored will depend on the method used. A brine is essentially a solution of salt in water to which other chemicals are added for special purposes. The other chemicals are saltpetre (sodium nitrate), flavouring agents or spices, and sometimes sugar. The salt absorbed into the meat is responsible for the main flavour and secondarily for a preservative effect. Saltpetre is added to the brine. This substance under the action of bacteria changes into nitrite, which combines with the haemoglobin to produce an attractive pink colour in the meat, which becomes fixed on cooking. This explains why a freshly made brine will not produce an attractive product until this change has taken place. When spices are used they should be boiled in water for an hour and the liquid strained before it is added to the brine. The strength of the brine is determined by the amount of salt it contains per gallon of liquid. As salt is added to the water the weight of the solution will increase more rapidly than the volume. In fact the salt disappears into the liquid. This causes an increase in the density of the liquid, which can be measured by a salinometer. This instrument has superseded the old-fashioned method of determining the density of pickle by floating a potato, a system manifestly open to great inaccuracy. The salinometer can be purchased from any butchers’ suppliers agency for a few shillings. When a quantity of water has dissolved as much salt as it will hold it is said to be 100 per cent, saturated, and this is marked on the salinometer as 100 per cent.' If the same quantity of water contained half the amount of salt, it would register 50 per cent. Pure water contains no salt and registers 0 per cent. - A 60 per cent, general purpose brine may be made by dissolving 201 b. of salt in 10 gallons of water; to this add 6oz. of saltpetre. The saltpetre must be dissolved in boiling water before being added to the brine. As

meat is brined the solution is continually weakened ,by loss of salt and will require to be built up with salt from time to time. The addition of |oz. of salt per gallon will increase the strength by 1 per cent, and a proportionate amount of saltpetre will also require to be added. The time of brining varies with the size of the meat and the strength and temperature of the brine. If the temperature is too high, the centre of the meat may turn bad before the brine can penetrate. On the other hand should the temperature be too low the meat juices will congeal, thus retarding the brining and producing the same result. The ideal temperature is 38 to 40 degrees F. and at this temperature brining will be slow and there will be much less tendency for the brine to sour. To brine cure a leg of pork or mutton with the bone in it is advisable first to pump some brine into the centre of the leg before putting the leg into the brine tub.

As cut surfaces of meat are quickly contaminated by putrefactive organisms, it is a good plan to wash joints in cold running - water before placing them in brine. This will remove surface germs and open the texture of the meat, , making it more receptive to the brine.