306 Chapter 16
In Europe, all muscles of the ham are kept
in the product, even though they may have
different color intensities. Examples of high -
and low - quality cooked hams are shown in
Figures 16.3 A and 16.3 B, respectively. The
uniformity of color is very important in the
United States, where some muscles with
darker and more intense color are removed,
and silverside and topside muscles are pre-
ferred. The color of smoked hams may be
darker due to the deposition of dark colors
from the pyrolytic decomposition of wood.Texture
The texture of cooked hams depends on
several factors, such as the extent of heating
(structure breakdown), the moisture content,
the extent of proteolysis (degree of myofi bril-
lar protein breakdown), and the content of
connective tissue. The content of intramuscu-
lar fat also exerts a positive infl uence on
some texture and appearance traits.
There are different types of starches that
can be added to hams. Commercial starches
are usually modifi ed by pregelatinization to
be cold - water swellable, cross - linking to
impart stability for cooked ham processing,
increasing the water - holding capacity (Martin
2001 ). They will enhance texture and bind
water, as well as improve the mouth feel of
the cooked product.
However, several processing factors such
as the different cooling methods may affect
the tenderness, juiciness, overall texture,
acceptability, and cured color (Desmond
et al. 2000 ). Also, the pigs ’ genotype can
affect cooked ham quality. For instance,
cooked hams produced from nn pigs were
reported to be drier, tougher, stringier, and
less smooth than those produced from NN
and Nn pigs (Fernandez et al. 2002 ).Flavor
Cooked ham experiences some biochemical
changes as a consequence of enzymatic reac-rates as compared with air blast, water
immersion, or cold room, but it affected the
yield and quality, especially toughening
(Desmond et al. 2000 ).
Final Product
Once cooled, hams are taken out of the molds
and packaged. Hams may be smoked to
acquire a typical color and smoke fl avor
(Ellis 2001 ). Cooked hams may be sold as
either entire pieces for slicing at the retailer
shop at consumer request or as packaged
slices ready to be consumed. A wide variety
of vacuum and modifi ed atmosphere pack-
ages containing different numbers of slices
are typically found in supermarkets.
Quality Aspects of the
Finished Product
Color
Cooked ham has a typical light pink cured
color as a consequence of nitrite addition.
Nitrite is reduced to nitric oxide that reacts
with myoglobin, forming nitrosylmyoglobin
that gives a reddish color. This color changes
from red to pink during the heating process,
especially at temperatures above 65 ° C,
because the generation of nitrosylhemo-
chrome has a typical light pink cured meat
color. This color is also known as cooked
cured - meat pigment (Pegg and Shahidi
2000 ). Of course, the intensity of the color
depends on the initial content of myoglobin,
which is associated with the type of muscle
and the age of the animal, being higher in
older animals and in muscles with oxidative
pattern (Aristoy and Toldr á 1998 ). The color
coordinate characterizes the red color and
color stability. It was reported to be nega-
tively correlated with sensory analysis by
consumers so that more redness was consid-
ered less acceptable (V á lkov á et al. 2007 ).
This means consumers prefer cooked hams
with light color and less red color.