Hello friends, Welcome to my blog FOODZAQ. Today I am going to discuss about meat curing. Curing is an important method of animal meat preservation. Curing is best suited for those meat with high fat content. Meat curing is defined as addition of salt, sugar, nitrites, nitrates, poly phosphates, ascorbic acid. Curing increases the shelf life, color, juiciness, taste, flavor, texture and gives stability for spoilage and pathogens. Cured product is not completely stable, so it requires freezing or refrigeration.
CURING INGREDIENTS
- Sugar
- Salt
- Nitrites or nitrates
- Ascorbic acid
- Poly phosphate
- Spices
Sugar
Addition of sugar to curing will improves the flavor. Sugar will soften the product. Sugar also act as a preservative by inhibiting microbial growth.
Salt
Salt is the primary ingredients used in meat curing. Salt act by dehydration and inhibits bacterial growth and inhibits bacterial growth and prevent the spoilage. Salt inhibits the growth of micro organisms by drawing water out of inner cells through osmosis. Use of salt alones give a harsh dry salty product and it is not palatable. salt alone results in a dark, undesirable colored product due to undesirable effect. Salt is used in combination with other curing ingredients.
Nitrates or Nitrites
Nitrates or nitrites, not only help to kill bacteria, but also produce a characteristics flavor and gives meat a pink or red color. Nitrites will fix the red color of myoglobin. It inhibit the growth of food poisoning and spoilage of micro organisms.
Nitrates or nitrites further break down in to nitric oxide. Which binds to iron in myoglobin ham group and produce nitroso myoglobin. This is responsible for the reddish brown color of raw meat and pink color of cooked meat. When nitrates or nitrites in excess amount, there is a chance of production of a compound known as nitrose amides and it has carcinogenic effect.
Poly phosphates
these are added to increase water holding capacity. Increased PH causes unfolding of muscle protein, there by making the site available for water binding.
Ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid act as anti oxidant, so it prevent rancidity. Stabilize the color and flavor of the product.
CURING METHODS
- Dry salt curing
- Pickle curing
- Pickle injection curing
- Combination of any two methods
Dry salt curing
In dry salt curing sodium chloride, nitrates, nitrites or sugar is rubbed on ct meat and it is held under refrigeration for some period of time. While compounds will penetrate to the tissue. So dissolve salt in meat near the surface and then passes slowly until the concentration of salt is approximately same through out the meat. A considerable amount of meat, thus remove as a results of dehydrating effect, bacterial growth is prevented.
Pickle curing
In pickle curing, the compounds are submerged in the pickle for long period of time. Here salt and water brine passes to meat, there is 7% of increasing weight for meat during pickling.
Pickle injection curing
All meat contains arteries, veins and their branches. Pickle solution can be plumbed through one of these veins and will be carried through out the meat. The curing mixture will be in the form of a solution and it is injected to the meat with helps of a hallow needle with multiple pins connected. This ensure quick and uniform distribution of the solution in meat., there by fasting the process of curing.
Combination of any two method
Any two methods are combined and used in the processing of curing of meat. In some cases, injection of brine followed by dry salt curing is done. Chemically in production of ham and bacon.
Processing of ham and bacon
Ham is the hind leg portion of pig and bacon is the belly portion of pigs. Ham and bacon has been preserved by curing with or without smoking.
Processing steps
- Good quality meat selected.
- Preparation of brine
- Brine solution was injected and ham and bacon is kept at 4-6C and humidity of 80-85%.
- Ham and bacon are then de salted in running tap water and remove excess salt content for about 1 hour.
- The de salted ham and bacon are then smoked in a smoke house or by insulated steel cabinets.
- Prepare ham and bacon & packed & stored at 14C.
Guys, Thank you for reading my blog FOODZAQ. I hopes you should understands about Curing of meat. If you have any doubts regarding this subject please feel free to comment below. If you like my blog, you can check my previous blogs as well. Thank you again. Have a great day.
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