Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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The loin, from either mutton or lamb, can be cut as tenderloin into
boneless cutlets or as a loin roast.
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Package riblets, spareribs, and breast meat into 2-pound (1 kg) pack-
ages. Riblets, which are sometimes referred to as short ribs, are almost
inedible when prepared by most cooking methods, but when prepared
in a pressure cooker for about 45 minutes, with an inch (2.5 cm) of
water in the bottom to start, they are a real delicacy. You can substitute
barbecue sauce, curry sauce, or your favorite sauce or marinade for the
water. These parts are hard to remove from the bone but will fall off it
easily after being cooked in the pressure cooker. From lambs, the spare-
ribs and breast can be barbecued or braised. For mutton, these cuts are
pretty much waste products, though spare meat can be trimmed for
treats for your dog or cat.
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For mutton, have the rest boned, with the fat trimmed, and then ground.
Double-wrap in 1-pound (0.5 kg) packages, and try some of the mutton-
burger recipes in this chapter. Do not be surprised when the ground
mutton seems a lot juicier than other ground meats. Older animals' tis-
sue can bind large amounts of water.
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For lamb, the rack, or rib area, can be cut into that favorite, “lamb
chops,” or left as a rack roast. The shoulder can be cut into roasts or
chops, and the neck and shank can be used as soup bones. Stew meat or
ground lamb can also come from these “front” cuts.
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If you want kebab meat, make sure to have it cut from the sirloin or loin.
Tenderstretch
Texas A&M University developed a method of carcass hanging that improves
the tenderness of most of the larger and important muscles of the loin and
round (making up most of the steaks and roasts). This procedure is called
“tenderstretch” and consists of suspending the carcass from the aitchbone
within an hour after slaughter. The trolley hook should be sterilized before
inserting in the aitchbone on the kill fl oor. This method does not require any
change in equipment in small slaughterhouses and is suitable for farms.
With tenderstretching right after slaughter, meat is as tender after
24 hours of chilling as if it had been aged for a full week, and further aging
further improves the tenderness. Thus, with a little extra effort and no addi-
tional cost, the tenderness of many important cuts of the animal is greatly
improved. It does not produce the mushy overtenderness that sometimes
results with enzyme-tenderized meat.
