GB1243605A - Improvements in or relating to the tenderizing of meat - Google Patents

Abstract

1,243,605. Tenderizing meat. CORNELL RESEARCH FOUNDATION Inc. 15 Jan., 1970 [17 Jan., 1969; 24 Feb., 1969], No. 2107/70. Heading A2U. Selected edible muscle in the carcase of a freshly slaughtered meat animal is tenderized by the application of sufficient tension to extend the muscle prior to the onset, and during and through the completion of rigor mortis. In one method, applicable to beef carcases which are split longitudinally and each half suspended by the rear leg, extension of the back muscle is achieved by severing the backbone at several locations 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Fig. 1. To increase the tension due to the weight of the half carcase an additional weight 40 may be hung from the neck region. Other bones are severed at locations 12, 14, 16 tension the corresponding muscle, and in the case of the location 16 the fore leg may be tensioned by an additional weight. Bones are severed at similar locations in pork and lamb carcases, although in the case of pork the preliminary step of removing the fat cover is necessary, and with lamb, which is not split longitudinally, the backbone must be severed by a tool such as a sharp chisel, pruning shears, etc., instead of by sawing as is possible with carcase halves. An alternative method of applying tension to the selected muscles involves the use of a tool such as that illustrated in Fig. 10 comprising two members 52 each fitted with a row of pins 50 for insertion into the muscle to be tensioned and a lever system 56 for extending the tool which is locked in the extended condition by means 54. The use of such a tool converts an adverse articulation of the bone joints to a beneficial articulation in which the muscles are extended. The backbone and rear leg bones in a lamb carcase may be flexed to extend the back and rear leg muscles by suspending the carcase from a hook situated anterior to the pelvic bone.