Understanding How to Get the Best Quality of Meat

The flesh of animals undergoes a huge change during the period between birth and maturity. When the animal is young, the fluids in the tissues of the muscles contain a large amount of what is called "albumen". This is the chief component of egg whites, and it contains the distinctiveness of coagulating or hardening at a certain temperature. This gradually decreases in proportion to the other portions of the juice of the flesh as an animal grows older. That is why veal is white and without gravy; the large quantity of albumen they have has hardened or has become coagulated. On the other hand, beef are brown and with gravy because they contain small amounts of albumen in comparison with their larger quantity of fluid which is soluble, and not coagulable.

One factor that influences the quality of the flesh of an animal is the food on which it has been fed, because the food supplies the material which produces the flesh. The condition of the food that was fed will always have an effect on the flesh of the animal. It is well-known that animal that feeds on farinaceous produces like corn and pulse are firm, well-flavored, and economical when it comes to cooking. Those that feed on succulent and pulpy substances like roots will have these qualities in a lesser degree. An animal whose food contains oil, such as linseed, are greasy, high-colored, and contains huge amounts of fat.

The animal should be in perfectly good health at the time of its slaughter to obtain meat of good quality. There will always be inferiority in the quality of flesh if there is a disease present within the animal. The flesh then becomes poisonous and inedible to people.

The animal's treatment before it was slaughtered is also another factor that can affect the quality of meat. It will be easier to understand this if we first learn the leading principles by which the life of an animal is maintained and supported. These are, digestion, and assimilation of food into its substance. The food is first reduced in the stomach into what is called a chime, which then passes into the intestines and becomes divided into two principles: the nutritive and innutritive portion.

The nutritive portion, or the milk-white fluid, is absorbed by many vessels that open up the inner coat of the intestines, or what we call the mucous membranes. These vessels release the fluid into a common duct. From here it is carried to the large veins of the heart. It is then mixed with the black and impure venous blood returning from every part of the body. It then supplies the waste which is in the circulating stream by the arterial blood (pure blood).The blood of the animal is now received by the heart and urged into the lungs to receive purification of the air which the animal inhales. As it again returns to the heart, it is forced through the arteries and distributed to capillaries in every part of the animal.

The innutritive principle passes from the intestines and is taken out of the body. It is now easy to understand why the flesh of an animal is bad when it is slaughtered at a time when circulation of its blood is increased by over-driving, ill-usage, and other causes of excitement. In situations such as these, the meat will be dark-colored and will become rapidly putrid. Making sure we get the best quality will guarantee us safety.