BEEF MEAT

Beef is the culinary name for meat from

bovines, especially cattle. Beef can be
harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers.
Acceptability as a food source varies in
different parts of the world.
Beef is first divided into primal cuts, pieces of meat initially
separated from the carcass during butchering. These are basic
sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. The term
"primal cut" is quite different from "prime cut", used to characterise
cuts considered to be of higher quality. Since the animal's legs and
neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat
becomes more tender as distance from hoof and horn increases.
Different countries and cuisines have different cuts and names, and
sometimes use the same name for a different cut; e.g., the cut
described as "brisket" in the US is from a significantly different
part of the carcass than British brisket.
 Chemistry and nutrient composition

Regardless of the animal, lean muscle usually consists of approximately 21

percent protein, 73 percent water, 5 percent fat, and 1 percent ash (the mineral
component of muscle). These figures vary as an animal is fed and fattened.
Generally, as fat increases, the percentages of protein and water decrease. The
 FAT
Fats, in the form of triglycerides,
accumulate in the fat cells found in and
around the muscles of the animal. Fat
deposits that surround the muscles are
called adipose tissue, while fat that is
deposited between the fibres of a muscle
is called marbling.

In the diet the fats found in meat act as carriers for the fat-
soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) and supply essential fatty
acids (fatty acids not supplied by the body). In addition to
their role as an energy reserve, fatty acids are precursors in
the synthesis of phospholipids, the main structural
molecules of all biological membranes.
 VITAMINS AND MINERALS
Meat contains a number of essential vitamins and minerals. It is an excellent
source of many of the B vitamins, including thiamine, choline, B6, niacin, and
folic acid. Some types of meat, especially liver, also contain vitamins A, D, E,
and K.

Meat is an excellent source of the minerals

iron, zinc, and phosphorus. It also contains
a number of essential trace minerals,
including copper, molybdenum, nickel,
selenium, chromium, and fluorine. The
Table provides a comparison of the
vitamin and mineral content of different
types of meat.
 CHOLESTEROL

Cholesterol is a constituent of cell membranes

and is present in all animal tissues. Leaner meats
typically are lower in cholesterol. Veal,
however, is an exception: it is lower in fat than
mature beef but has significantly higher
cholesterol levels

CARBOHYDRATES

Meat contains virtually no carbohydrates. This is

because the principal carbohydrate found in muscle,
the complex sugar glycogen, is broken down in the
conversion of muscle to meat (see above Postmortem
muscle: pH changes). Liver is an exception,
containing up to 8 percent carbohydrates.
 COLOUR

In well-bled animals approximately

80 to 90 percent of the total meat
pigment is due to the oxygen-
binding protein myoglobin. Colour
differences in meat are related to
the myoglobin content of muscle
fibres and to the chemical state of
the iron atom found in the
myoglobin molecule.
 Colour changes

In beef, changes in cooking temperatures ranging from 54 °C or 130 °F (very

rare) to 82 °C or 180 °F (very well done) correspond to changes
in colour from deep red or purple to pale gray. These colour changes are a
result of the denaturation of the myoglobin in meat. Denaturation is the
physical unfolding of proteins in response to such influences as extreme heat.
The denaturation of myoglobin makes the protein unable to bind oxygen,
causing the colour to change from the bright cherry red of oxymyoglobin to
the brown of denatured myoglobin (equivalent to metmyoglobin).
MEAT GRAIN
Meat grain is determined by the
physical size of muscle bundles.
Finer-grained meats are more
tender and have smaller bundles,
while coarser-grained meats are
tougher and have larger bundles.
Meat grain varies between muscles
in the same animal and between the
same muscle in different animals.
As a muscle is used more
frequently by an animal, the
number of myofibrils in each
muscle fibre increases, resulting in
a thicker muscle bundle and a
stronger (tougher) protein network.
Therefore, the muscles from older
animals and muscles of locomotion
(muscles used for physical work)
tend to produce coarser-grained
meat.
Postmortem quality problems

Meat quality may be affected by both the preslaughter handling of the live
animals and the postslaughter handling of the carcasses. Psychological or
physical stress experienced by the animals produces biochemical changes in
the muscles that may adversely affect the quality of the meat. In addition,
postmortem muscles are susceptible to adverse biochemical reactions in
response to certain external factors such as temperature.
 Beef fabrication

Steers and heifers average 495 kilograms at slaughter and produce carcasses
weighing 315 kilograms (63 percent yield of live weight). Beef carcasses are
split into two sides on the slaughter floor. After chilling, each side is divided
into quarters, the forequarter and hindquarter, between the 12th and 13th ribs.
The major wholesale cuts fabricated from the forequarter are the chuck,
brisket, foreshank, rib, and shortplate. The hindquarter produces the short loin,
sirloin, rump, round, and flank.
 Sanitation

Sanitation is maintained at all meat-packing and processing facilities by

mandatory inspection both before and during the production process. This
includes floors, walls, ceilings, personnel, clothing, coolers, drains, equipment,
and other items that come in contact with food products. In addition, all water
used in the production process must be potable (reasonably free of
contamination).
 Top Round Steak

The Top Round Steak is the most tender of the various round
steaks. This boneless steak consists of a large muscle called the
top or inside round. Note the cover fat on the curved top surface,
the cut surface on the left side, and connective tissue along the
bottom.
 Bottom Round Steak

The Beef Bottom Round Steak contains muscles which are less
tender than the top round muscle. Note the heavy band of
connective tissue separating the muscles.
 Eye of Round Steak

The Beef Eye of Round Steak is a small round boneless steak. It

usually has a layer of external fat on two sides.
 Round Tip Steak

The Tip Steak is cut from the tip roast. Like the roast this steak
is identified by four individual muscles within.
 Sirloin Steak

The boneless Beef Sirloin Steak is an excellent steak for broiling

and is made by removing all of the bones from any of the other
types of sirloin steaks.
 Porterhouse Steak

The Porterhouse Steak is similar to the beef loin T-bone steak.

However the tenderloin muscle is much larger and an extra
muscle is located in the center of the porterhouse steak on the
upper side.
 T-Bone Steak

This steak has the characteristic "T" shaped vertebrae and the
large eye muscle. The smaller muscle located below the T-bone is
the tenderloin.
 Top Loin Steak (boneless)

The boneless large eye muscle from the T-bone steak is called
the boneless Beef Top Loin Steak.
 Bone Steak

The Beef Chuck -Bone Steak is similar to the beef chuck blade.
It is usually cut less than one inch thick. The blade bone shown
in this slide has the typical shape of the "seven-bone", a term
frequently used in the meat trade.
 Chuck Blade Steak

The Beef Chuck Blade Steak is similar to the Chuck -Bone

Steak. It is usually cut less than one inch thick. The blade bone
is very easily seen in this slide.