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Below is a cache of http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/NIRC/pdf/meat.pdf. It's a snapshot of the page taken as our search engine crawled the Web.
The web site itself may have changed. You can check the current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content. Meat Preparation and Cooking The Nutrition Information Resource Center is a collaborative effort of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition in the College of
Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences at Clemson University and the South Carolina Nutrition Council, South Carolina State University and Tri-County
Technical College. For more downloadable fact sheets, go to http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/NIRC/. Meat Preparation and Cooking P REPARATION AND COOKING M ETHODS Meats can be cooked by moist- or
dry-heat cooking methods. The
decision on which one of these
methods to use depends on the
tenderness of the meat you plan to
use. The tenderness of the meat
is related to the amount of
connective tissue. The greater the
amount of connective tissue a
meat has, the less tender it is. To
cook less tender cuts of meat,
such as beef roast, meats can be
tenderized using either enzymatic
or mechanical methods.
Commercial meat tenderizers
contain enzymes like papain,
found in fresh papaya, or bromelin,
found in fresh pineapple, and can
be used to help tenderize the meat
by breaking down connective
tissue at the surface. Grinding,
cutting, cubing, scoring, pounding,
and other forms of mechanical
tenderization can also be used to
break down the connective tissue.
To cook less tender meats without
tenderizing, it is best to use moist
cooking methods like braising or
stewing.
Dry-cooking methods like roasting,
broiling, pan-broiling, pan-frying,
and deep-fat-frying can be used to
prepare tender cuts of meat, such
as beef tenderloin. Even tender
cuts, however, can become tough
if they are cooked too long. The
more the meat is heated, the more
the protein draws up and becomes
tighter, making it tough and difficult
to eat.
COOKING TERMS
Baking or Roasting: Place meat uncovered on a rack in
oven with the fat side up and
bake at 300-325o F. Broiling: Place meat directly under or over radiant heat from
gas flames, charcoal
briquettes, or electric heating
elements, turning once. Season with salt after cooking. Pan- or Oven-Frying: Coat cooking surface with oil
cooking and cook meat at high
temperature. Deep-Fat-Frying: Coat or bread meat before frying. Keep temperature of oil at 350-
375o F. Use wire rack to drain
product after frying. Braising: Dredge meat in small amount of flour and fry in
small amount of fat. Cook in
small amount of liquid after
browning. Stewing: Brown meat at 350o F. Cover meat completely in
liquid. Simmer at 350o F until
tender.
CHECKING FOR DONENESS
Use a meat thermometer to check
meat for doneness before serving.
This ensures that you are serving
fully cooked meat that is as free
from pathogenic microorganisms
as possible. To use a
thermometer, pierce the meat at its
thickest point without letting the
thermometer touch the bone. Do
not test the meat for doneness by
piercing with a fork or cutting with
a knife because this releases the juices from the meat and allows
the meat to dry out.
People have different preferences
about how done they would like
their meat. The following are
guidelines to determine the major
stages of doneness:
Doneness Internal Temp Description Beef Rare 145 F Flesh very red,
outside brown
and plump Medium 150 F Interior of flesh
rose and
juices pink;
exterior well
browned Well 160 F Flesh completely
cooked with
little or no juice;
surface dry
and dark brown Pork Done 160 F Recommended
final cooking
temperature Turkey Done 180 F Recommended
final cooking
temperature
The web site itself may have changed. You can check the current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content. Meat Preparation and Cooking The Nutrition Information Resource Center is a collaborative effort of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition in the College of
Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences at Clemson University and the South Carolina Nutrition Council, South Carolina State University and Tri-County
Technical College. For more downloadable fact sheets, go to http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/NIRC/. Meat Preparation and Cooking P REPARATION AND COOKING M ETHODS Meats can be cooked by moist- or
dry-heat cooking methods. The
decision on which one of these
methods to use depends on the
tenderness of the meat you plan to
use. The tenderness of the meat
is related to the amount of
connective tissue. The greater the
amount of connective tissue a
meat has, the less tender it is. To
cook less tender cuts of meat,
such as beef roast, meats can be
tenderized using either enzymatic
or mechanical methods.
Commercial meat tenderizers
contain enzymes like papain,
found in fresh papaya, or bromelin,
found in fresh pineapple, and can
be used to help tenderize the meat
by breaking down connective
tissue at the surface. Grinding,
cutting, cubing, scoring, pounding,
and other forms of mechanical
tenderization can also be used to
break down the connective tissue.
To cook less tender meats without
tenderizing, it is best to use moist
cooking methods like braising or
stewing.
Dry-cooking methods like roasting,
broiling, pan-broiling, pan-frying,
and deep-fat-frying can be used to
prepare tender cuts of meat, such
as beef tenderloin. Even tender
cuts, however, can become tough
if they are cooked too long. The
more the meat is heated, the more
the protein draws up and becomes
tighter, making it tough and difficult
to eat.
COOKING TERMS
Baking or Roasting: Place meat uncovered on a rack in
oven with the fat side up and
bake at 300-325o F. Broiling: Place meat directly under or over radiant heat from
gas flames, charcoal
briquettes, or electric heating
elements, turning once. Season with salt after cooking. Pan- or Oven-Frying: Coat cooking surface with oil
cooking and cook meat at high
temperature. Deep-Fat-Frying: Coat or bread meat before frying. Keep temperature of oil at 350-
375o F. Use wire rack to drain
product after frying. Braising: Dredge meat in small amount of flour and fry in
small amount of fat. Cook in
small amount of liquid after
browning. Stewing: Brown meat at 350o F. Cover meat completely in
liquid. Simmer at 350o F until
tender.
CHECKING FOR DONENESS
Use a meat thermometer to check
meat for doneness before serving.
This ensures that you are serving
fully cooked meat that is as free
from pathogenic microorganisms
as possible. To use a
thermometer, pierce the meat at its
thickest point without letting the
thermometer touch the bone. Do
not test the meat for doneness by
piercing with a fork or cutting with
a knife because this releases the juices from the meat and allows
the meat to dry out.
People have different preferences
about how done they would like
their meat. The following are
guidelines to determine the major
stages of doneness:
Doneness Internal Temp Description Beef Rare 145 F Flesh very red,
outside brown
and plump Medium 150 F Interior of flesh
rose and
juices pink;
exterior well
browned Well 160 F Flesh completely
cooked with
little or no juice;
surface dry
and dark brown Pork Done 160 F Recommended
final cooking
temperature Turkey Done 180 F Recommended
final cooking
temperature
