Beef aging

As meat maturation is called the controlled storage of raw meat, and by entire recessed livestock ( especially venison ) to improve meat quality.

  • 3.1 Duration of meat aging in different animal species
  • 3.2 haut gout

The aim of the meat maturation

As meat maturation is called the controlled storage of raw meat. Meat is soon after slaughter tough and then has little taste. Only through a proper storage and maturation, it is delicate, aromatic and wholesome. Sufficiently long matured meat has a higher water-binding capacity, it cooks faster and stays juicy. The meat maturation takes place within the muscle fibers and starts during cooling of the still-warm meat immediately after slaughter.

Two phases of meat ripening

Regardless of the maturity method, the process of meat maturation occurs in two phases:

First phase of the maturing of meat

After slaughter, the soft and flabby muscle goes into rigor mortis after some time. Because the slaughter stops the blood supply and thus the oxygen supply, the metabolic processes are present in the flesh under anaerobic conditions. The condition of the meat during the rigor mortis characterized by maximum strength and minimal water binding capacity. If you were such a piece of meat fry, it would be very dry and tough, and would have a strong acidic taste: It would be virtually inedible. The glycogen present in the muscle degrades over time to lactate. The resulting ADP ( adenosine diphosphate ) ensures that the muscle contraction subsides and the meat is slowly softened.

2nd phase of meat ripening

By the resulting lactate (salt of lactic acid), the pH of the meat of about 7 during the slaughter has fallen to below 5.8. Escaping enzymes, such as Cathepsins and calpains, causing dissolution of the muscle fiber structure and thus provide an increasing tenderness. Also, the water -binding capacity increases again during the second phase of the meat maturation. Depending on Fleischreifungsart the ripening process is now hanging on the bones, sealed in a vacuum package or continued inserted into mineral water.

Types of meat ripening

Duration of meat aging in different animal species

The duration of the maturing of the meat depends on the species of animal: For poultry and pork it is usually up to three days, with veal up to a week, in wild and beef and a half to two and a half weeks. In Germany but is also quite five weeks dry fermented beef available.

Haut gout

The traditional hanging of game, in which the haut gout (o ː gu ː, of French haut goût, literally " high taste " ), an incipient putrefaction taste and smell is done, uncooled in the fur or plumage. The animals are in most cases with the head down (two weeks or more ), wild fowl, until the spring dress is easy to pick (after three to ten days ).

Hoofed game earlier after jagdlichem Customs with the head ( " head" ) was up, hare and rabbit and wild game birds were hung with the head downward.

According to recent findings and process everything is killed game increasingly more hung with the head downward. So shall the gravity-induced drainage of residual blood and body fluids do not soak the precious meat from the back and legs or contaminate. The Meat Hygiene Act in force prohibits the slopes of wild to Hautgoutreife for resale and writes binding accurate core temperatures for ripening meat before.

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