Meat
Meat — From the COOKS.COM Culinary Archive.
MEAT
Meat is a general term applied to the flesh of animals
used for food. It includes the muscular flesh, sinews, fat,
heart, liver, stomach, brains, and tongue, and is divided
into three classes: —
Meat proper, including beef, veal, mutton, lamb, and
pork;
Poultry, including chicken, turkey, geese, and ducks,
or all domestic fowls;
Game, including partridges, grouse, pigeons, quail and
other birds, squirrels, rabbits, venison, and any wild meat
that is hunted in the forest of field.
All meat should be removed from the paper in which it
is wrapped as soon as it comes from the market, or the
paper will absorb the juices, and the meat will taste of the
paper.
Examine a piece of meat. First wipe it all over with a
clean, damp cloth, to cleanse it; but it should never be put
into water, as this draws out the juices.
We find large masses of red flesh or muscle, made up
of little bundles of thread-like fibres or tubes separated by
white membranes, and the large masses separated by cellular
tissue. These fibres seem full of a red, watery juice.
There is fat on the edge, or inner skin, also between
the fibres, and large masses of it are between the muscles and
in the hollow bones. We find a small amount of bone;
a hard, white, gelatinous substance around the joints, called
gristle; and white, shiny, tough membranes or tendons
at the ends of the muscles.
These masses of fibre we call the lean meat. In one
part the fibres seem coarse and flabby, separate easily, and
have thin membranes connecting them. These membranes
are called connective tissue. If we press the meat we find
only a little juice. In another section the fibres are smaller,
finer, very close together, and feel hard and firm. We
cannot separate them, there is so much of the connective
tissue; but there is a large quantity of juice. In still another
piece we find soft, tender fibre with little membrane and
juice.
Good beef should be bright-red when first cut, well marbled
with yellowish fat, and with a thick outside layer of
fat. The flesh must be firm, and when pressed with the
finger no mark should be left. The inner fat or suet should
be dry and crumble easily.
The best mutton is that from a large, heavy animal,
should have an abundance of hard, clear-white fat and the
flesh should be fine-grained and bright-red. Poor mutton
has but little fat and little flesh as compared with the bone.
More depends upon the quality of the meat than upon
its location in the creature. A slice from the sirloin in a
poorly fed creature may not be so rich in flavor and
nutriment as one from the flank in a well-fed animal.
The muscles that are used most are the toughest, but
they contain the largest amount of juice, for the blood
circulates most freely through them. The heart is a muscle
used more than any other and has a tough, close, compact
fibre.
The legs have large, thick muscles which start near the
lower end, among a mass of tendons and cords, and grow
larger, thicker, and more tender, till at the upper end they
are very thick. Here is where we shall find the largest
amount of lean meat with only the small, round leg bones.
The upper part of the leg is called the round and the lower
end the shin.
On the thighs, or rump, there are large, broad bones,
with large muscles, branching out in several directions,
which are tender and juicy. The muscles on the upper
part of the fore leg are smaller and not so tender as those on
the round.
Where the fore leg joins the shoulder and down the
back, we find the shoulder blade — a broad, flat bone —
and the backbone; also a number of small muscles running
in all directions. We cannot expect to find much lean meat
here; but we do find bone, gristle, and fat, with thin layers
of meat between them.
Under the shoulder blade, and extending down the backbone
to the loin, are the ribs, running at right angles with the
backbone, meeting at the breast and tapering off at the
loin. These bones are covered with a thick muscle near
the back, and with many layers of muscle, fat, and tough
membranes, extending round to the breast.
On the loin, and close to the backbone, there is a muscle
which is not much used. It is merely a cushion over the
bones; this is all tender and juicy, and is considered to
choice that is has been named "Sir Loin."
Inside of the loin and under the short ribs is another
muscle which is so little used that it is very soft and tender
and has but little juice or flavor. This is called the tenderloin.
On the flank or under part of the body there are no bones,
but many thin, flabby muscles with large elastic membranes
between them, so they can be stretched to a great size. They
cross, lap over, and extend in many directions, and sometimes
have large quantities of fat stored between and under
them. These are plainly seen in corned beef.
The ends of the legs and the large joints have gristle
and tendon like the drum stick of a chicken, which contain
gelatin, — a substance which softens in cold water and then
dissolves by long, slow cooking in hot water. But when
cooked to dry heat it becomes hard.
Thus you see that in an animal there is a great amount
of bone and fat, and only a small portion of choice, tender,
juicy, lean meat. The thick, lean, tender portions on the
rump and loin are the choice and expensive parts. These
are best when cooked quickly, by intense heat as in roasting
and broiling; they have so much juice and such tender
fibre, that they do not need the solvent agency of water.
But the tougher, cheaper parts of lean meat are very
juicy, and when properly cooked afford a large amount
of nutriment. The bones contain protein and mineral
matter, a part of which can be dissolved by proper cooking;
the fat is rich in heat-giving material; and the gelatinous
portions are useful.
The juices of meat contain many substances which are
valuable as food, and savory principles called extractives
which give flavor to the meat and cause it to differ in different
animals.
In salting meat this juice is drawn out into the brine,
and although there is some nutriment in the fat and fibre
of salt meat, it is less nutritious than fresh meat.
It is therefore important as a matter of economy and
health, that we learn how to cook all parts of meat so as
to obtain the greatest amount of nutriment, and develop
the flavors which make it more palatable.
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Diagram of an Ox
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1. Tip of Sirloin
2. Middle of Sirloin.
3. First Cut of Sirloin.
4. Back of Rump.
5. Middle of Rump.
6. Face of Rump.
7. Aitch Bone.
8. Lower Part of Round.
8 1/2. Top of Round.
9. Vein.
10. Poorer Part of Round.
11. Poorer Part of Vein.
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12. Shin.
13. Boneless Flank.
14. Thick Flank with Bone.
15. First Cut of Ribs.
c. Chuck Ribs.
d. Neck.
16. Rattle Rand.
17. Second Cut of Rattle Rand.
18. Brisket.
a. The navel end.
b. The butt end.
19. Fore Shin.
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A. Hind quarter of Beef
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1 — 6: Round of Beef.
7 — 9: Rump.
10 — 12: Sirloin.
13, 14: Flank.
1. Shin. Suitable to be used for soups and stock.
2. Lower or poorer part of the round, used for stews, etc.
3. Upper and best part of the round, used for steak and beef tea.
Top of round. The best round steak as far as the ridge of fat.
4. Lower or poorer part of vein, used for stews, chopping, braising.
5. Upper and best part of vein, used for boiling, steak, beef tea,
spiced beef, etc.
6. Aitch-bone, used for roast, stew, and stock.
7. Face of rump, used for a roast or steaks.
8. Middle of rump used for steak.
9. Back of rump, used for roast or steaks. These steaks may be cut with the grain, or across the grain, of the meat. The cross-cut steaks are much the best.
10. First cut of sirloin, used for a roast or steaks. It contains
tenderloin.
11. Second cut of sirloin, used for roasts or steaks; it contains
tenderloin.
12. Tip of sirloin, used for roast or short steaks. Contains
no tenderloin.
13. Thick end of flank. Used for corning, rolling, boiling.
14. Thin end of flank. Used for corning, rolling, boiling.
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— – —
B. Fore quarter of Beef
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1 — 3: Back-half.
4 — 10: Rattle rand.
1. First five ribs or prime ribs. Five-rib cut. Used for
roasts and steaks.
2. Five chick ribs. Poorer roasts and steaks.
3. Neck, used for beef tea, stews, boiling, etc.
4. Stickling piece, used for corning.
5. Shoulder, used for steaks, corning, etc.
6. Shin, used for soups and soup stock.
7. First strip rattle rand, used for corning.
8. Middle strip of rattle rand, used for corning.
9. Butt end of brisket, used for corning.
10. Navel end of brisket, used for corning.
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