Meats and Offal
Chapter 13
Objectives
• Define the term meat, and identify the
four basic animals from which meat is
derived
• Explain the importance of The Meat
Buyer’s Guide and IMPS system
• Summarize the USDA’s system for
grading meat
Objectives (cont’d.)
• Identify the most commonly used
grades of meat for beef, veal, lamb, and
pork
• List the products classified as offal or
variety meats
• Identify the four categories of sausages
Meats
• Meat is animal flesh prepared for eating
– Includes muscles and fat as well as organ
meat and sausage
– Sold and categorized by animal of origin
• Texture of muscle fibers determines the
tenderness of the meat
– Fat content, age, and size are also factors
Buying and Storing
• North American Meat Processors
Association (NAMP) has created The
Meat Buyer’s Guide
– Divided into sections by animal
– Includes pictures of the major cuts
– Each cut has a unique identifying number
• Known as institutional meat purchase
specifications (IMPS) codes
Buying and Storing (cont’d.)
• Considerations when buying meat
– Available cuts and grades
– Menu needs
– Available storage
• Meat shipped across state lines must be
inspected by the USDA
Buying and Storing (cont’d.)
• USDA meat grading program
– Quality grades for beef, veal, and lamb
• Meats are available in many different
forms
– Primal cuts (approx. 1/8 of the animal)
– Subprimal (smaller roasts, rounds, ribs)
– Portion cuts (steaks) are most expensive
Beef
• Beef is meat from domesticated cows
• Two types of grades
– Quality grade
• Level of flavor, fat, juiciness, and tenderness in
the carcass
– Yield grade
• The amount of usable meat in the carcass
Beef (cont’d.)
• Marbling
– The amount of fat in the muscle
• USDA quality grades for beef
– Prime
• Sold to upscale restaurants
– Choice
• Available to most restaurants and grocery
stores
Beef (cont’d.)
• USDA quality grades for beef (cont’d.)
– Select
• Leaner than choice or prime; less marbling
– Standard and Commercial
• Lowest quality for restaurants and groceries
– Utility, Cutter and Canner
• Used by food manufacturers to make ground
beef, hot dogs, and other processed meat food
Beef (cont’d.)
• Yield grades
– Range from 1 to 5
– Indicates percentage of usable meat
– Only important if purchasing carcasses or
primal cuts
Veal and Calf
• Veal is meat from a young cow
– 16 to 18 weeks of age
– By-product of the dairy industry
• Forms of veal include calf, bob-veal,
and special-diet veal
• One of five grades is assigned based on
quality and proportion of the lean meat
Lamb
• Most lamb is from animals less than one
year old
• Five grades available
– Prime and Choice available for retail sale
– Good, Utility and Cull are used for food
processing
• Mutton is meat from older lambs
Pork
• Pork is meat from young pigs
• In past 30 years, pork producers have
modified pig feed
– Producing meat that is leaner and sweeter
• Two grades: acceptable and
unacceptable
– No quality grades
Offal (Variety Meats)
• Edible, nonmuscular parts of slaughter
animals
– Red offal (heart, tongue, lungs, liver)
– White offal (brains, marrow, testicles, feet)
• Includes meat mixtures such as
sausage
Buying and Storing
• Variety meats are more perishable than
other meats
• Sausages should be smooth and evenly
colored, not sticky
• Dried sausage should have a pleasant
odor and be covered with a bloom
Heart
• Very little importance in contemporary
cuisine
• Stringy meat
– Heart of calves, lambs, and chickens are
small and tender
– Pigs heart is moderately tender
– Beef heart is strongest tasting
13.10a Diagram showing where offal, or variety meats, come from on beef
13.10b Diagram showing where offal, or variety meats, come from on pork
Liver
• Red offal that comes from domesticated
animals, poultry, game and certain fish
– Liver from young animals is more tender
– Calf’s liver is most sought after
– Color should be pinkish to reddish brown
– Should be shiny with a pleasant smell
– Foie gras is fattened duck or goose liver
Tongue
• Tongue has a thick membrane
– Should be removed after cooking
• Beef tongue has very strong taste
• Calf’s tongue is very tender
• Can be refrigerated for one or two days
– Deteriorates rapidly
Sweetbreads
• Thymus gland from lambs and calves
• Gland has two parts
– Central lobe called heart sweetbread
– Two outer lobes known as throat
sweetbread
• Has a delicate taste
• Extremely perishable
Brains
• Brains of sheep and lambs are most
delicate and sought-after
• Cow brains are firmer
• Pork brains are seldom eaten
• Purchase only from reputable dealers
who had access to animals when they
were alive, to verify origin
Calf Kidneys
• Kidney is a type of red offal
• Pork and sheep kidneys have one lobe
– Those of calf and beef have several
• Kidney of young animals is tender and
flavorful
• Choose plump, firm, shiny kidneys that
do not smell of ammonia
Tripe
• Tripe is made from the stomachs of
cows and lambs
– Usually blanched before it is sold
• Choose white or cream colored tripe
that has a pleasant odor
• Can be poached for one to two hours
and then sautéed or fried
Sausages
• Hundreds of types of sausages are
available on the market
• Germans make the most sausage
• Most made from lean and fatty cuts of
pork, but some sausages are made
from beef, lamb, veal, and other meats
Sausages (cont’d.)
• Natural and synthetic casings are used
• Types of sausages
– Small fresh sausages
– Small cooked sausages
– Large cooked sausages
– Dried sausages
• Raw, but salted, fermented, and then dried
Ham
• Originally referred to pork from the hind
leg of a hog
• Turkey ham is turkey thigh meat
• Sold in fresh, cook-before-eating, fully
cooked, picnic, and country varieties
• May be stored differently according to
its method of curing and preservation
Summary
• Beef, veal, lamb, and pork are the most
commonly available meats
• The Meat Buyer’s Guide includes
specification codes for many cuts of
meat
• There are eight USDA quality grades for
beef; five for veal and lamb
Summary (cont’d.)
• Offal is the term for variety meats that
include animal organs; many types exist
• Sausage is a meat mixture encased in
natural or artificial casing
• Ham comes in a variety of forms