Meat Fabrication | Slaughtering Process

Meat Fabrication is the process of Cutting Cutting carcass of Meat into standard wholesale and retail cuts. The meat Fabrication process requires a knowledgeable person skilled at accurate cutting method .

Principle of Meat Fabrication :-

1. Cheap cuts of meat are separated from expensive cut .

2. Thick portion is separated from thin portion .

3. Tender meat is separated from Tough meat.

Meat Fabrication Terms :-

Carcass - body of dead animal
Chevon - goat meat
Cured meat - Meat which has been preserved through process of curing.
Inedible byproduct - waste or unusable parts of animal after butchering
Jowl - A cut of fish consisting of head and adjacent parts.

SLAUGHTERING PROCESS

Slaughtering is the process of killing or butchering animal in a correct way for meat. Slaughtering is done in slaughtered house. The main goal of slaughtering process is to ensure minimum suffering of animal and healthier meat for consumers.

The slaughtering process involves -

Resting

Watering

Feeding and inspection

Fasting

Stunning

Sticking and bleeding

Rinsing

Skinning

Eviscerating

Inspection

1. Resting - The period of rest usually ranger from 12 to 24 hours . The animals are kept at rest. The meat of rested animal is good than stressed animal.

2. Watering - It is very essential to reduce microbes load in intestine. Moreover, it makes electrical stunning more efficient.

3. Feeding and inspection - feeding helps in development of acidity and increase quality of meat , taste , tenderness of meat . The animal is also inspected for any infection, sickness .

4. Fasting - The animal is then stopped feeding few hours before slaughter . Fasting is very essential for good bleeding of carcass and minimize migration of microbes from intestine.

5. Stunning - Stunning cause complete unconsciousness to animal. It is done by Mechanical method or by Electrically or by carbon dioxide gas( 85% co2 for 45 second used in pigs). It is painless method and eliminate cruel slaughtering of animal. Muslim and Jewish are not in favour of stunning. It makes the animal unconscious prior to slaughter.

6. Sticking and Bleeding - The main goal of sticking and Bleeding is to kill animal with minimal damage to carcass. Sticking is done to major arteries and veins of neck. The animal is hanged vertical position with head downwards and knife is inserted. The bleeding should be as complete as possible and should be fast as blood is medium of growth for bacteria.

7. Rinsing - The animal body is rinsed after bleeding to remove stains of blood .

8. Skinning and Evisceration - The skin is removed and animal body is opened to produce carcass and dislodge content.

9. Post - mortem inspection - Now the carcass is inspected by professional veterinaries and they stamp passed/ inspected .

MEAT GRADING

Meat grading is voluntary and done by packer . The carcass are graded . Federal meat grading was established in 1925 . Meat grading = Quality of meat. For grading of cattle and beef , Marbling is looked which is distribution of fat throughout meat . The more marbling in the meat , the more flavourful , juicy and tender is the meat.

Grades of Beef :-

1. Prime cuts :

They have the highest grade and are often found in restaurant menus. Prime cuts is produced from the young well feed cattle. The prime cut of meat have abundant Marbling and very suitable to dry heat Medium of cooking.

2. Choice cut / meat :

They are also high quality meat with good marbling . It is high quality but have less marbling than prime cut.

3. Select cut/meat :

They are leaner than choice meat and usually cost less. They have less marbling . Choice cut and select cut are most commonly sold meat at grocery store.