Emulsifi cation 149point chopping temperatures should remain
below 18 ° C, 12 ° C, and 8 ° C for beef, pork,
and poultry fats respectively to avoid fat
melting (Mandigo 2004 ). To make spread-
able products, fat must be dispersed in the
liquid state at “ hot ” temperatures. The end-
point chopping temperatures should be above
the fat melting point (i.e., 35 ° C) (Solignat
2003 ). To achieve this fi nal temperature, fats
are usually poached in water at temperatures
above 80 ° C before being mixed with the pro-
teins (liver or lean meat). The objective is to
reach a fi nal internal temperature between
50 ° C and 60 ° C for ham fat and between 70 ° C
and 75 ° C for jowl fat. Fat poaching also
causes contraction of the connective tissues,
which will facilitate the grinding; it elimi-
nates low - melting fats, which can cause
weight losses during cooking, and it lowers
the microbial content. Thus, for hot emul-
sions, low - melting fats are preferred, such as
ham and jowl fats that remain fi rm during
cooking at high temperatures.
Increasing concerns about the potential
health risks related to the consumption of
high - fat foods has led the food industry to
develop new formulations or modify tradi-
tional products to make them healthier. The
most common of these modifi cations has
been fat reduction (Papadima and Bloukas
1999 ). This is achieved by the use of leaner
meat raw materials and by substituting fat
with water and other ingredients such as
inulin (Jimenez - Colmenero 2007 ). Signifi cant
cholesterol reduction (20% – 50%) can be
achieved by replacing animal fat with vege-
table oils and by adding various plant - based
proteins (Jimenez - Colmenero 2007 ). Fatty
acid profi le can be improved by using vege-
table oils or fi sh oil (Caceres 2008 ) or by
incorporating vegetable ingredients such as
walnuts (Jimenez - Colmenero et al. 2005 ).
Fatty acid profi les have also been improved
by the direct addition of CLA to meat batters.
Adding oat, rye, or wheat bran contributed to
trans - fatty acid reduction (Yilmaz 2004 ).to SFA (saturated fatty acids) and to get a
more favorable balance between n - 6 and n - 3
PUFA in meat products by selecting appro-
priate dietary fats. This has consequences on
technological quality by lowering the fat
melting temperature, increasing carcass fat
softness, and increasing oxidation sensitivity
(Mourot 2001 ). Due to temperature increase
during grinding, highly unsaturated fats can
start to melt and form a fat coating on the
product, which is visually unattractive (Carr
et al. 2005 ).
The taste and fl avor of fat varies between
animal species. Chicken fat is neutral in
taste and well suited as a fat component for
pure chicken products (Heinz 2007 ). It con-
tains a lot of linoleic acid; it melts at a
low temperature; and it becomes oxidized
easily (Solignat 2003 ). Beef fat is considered
less suitable for further processing than pork
fat, due to its fi rmer texture, yellowish color
and more intense fl avor (Heinz 2007 ). Its
melting behavior is comparable to pork
kidney fat due to its low content of collagen
tissues and saturated fat (Solignat 2003 ).
Beef and mutton fats are used for specifi c
processed meat products when pork fats
are excluded for sociocultural or religious
reasons. Spices can be added to mask their
strong fl avor and taste. It is usual to use pork
fat as it is almost odor - and fl avorless and
largely available.
The combination of the four main factors
described above can explain the behavior
of the different pork fat tissues used to
manufacture “ emulsifi ed ” meat products
(Table 7.2 ).
Knowing the fatty tissue composition
and understanding the crystalization and
melting of lipids in food is important to
create food emulsions with desirable proper-
ties. Traditionally, the rules for making meat
emulsions were based on fat choice and tem-
perature control. To obtain sliceable prod-
ucts, backfat is the more appropriate, even if
jowl and belly fat can also be used. The end-