399Chapter 23
Restructured Whole - Tissue Meats
Mustafa M. Farouk
Introduction
The trends toward increased consumption
of steaks (Sloan 2000 ) and ready meals
(Datamonitor 2007 ), as well as the demand
for convenience and visual impact (RTS
2006 ), coupled with the push for adding
value by meat processors, all point to a higher
demand for restructured meats in the future.
Excellent literature is available on restructur-
ing meats, the methods involved, and the
type of products produced (Pearson and
Dutson 1987 ; Pearson and Gillett 1999 ;
Sheard 2002 ). However, not much has been
written in these sources on restructuring
whole - tissue meats. The common objective
of restructuring whole - tissue meat is to
achieve a product that not only imitates but
also possesses the attributes of a whole - tissue
product. In other words, a restructured steak
from cheaper muscles in the fore - or hind -
quarter of a carcass should, when served to a
consumer, look and eat like steaks from the
more expensive middle cuts, such as the rib -
eye roll, striploin, or tenderloin (Farouk et al.
2005c ). The fundamentals of restructuring
whole - tissue meats are now well understood;
however, the technology for automating
some of the processes involved in the manu-
facture are still lagging behind and thus limit-
ing the realization of the full market potential
of these products.
This chapter discusses some of the recent
developments in the restructuring of meats,
with particular emphasis on the restructuring
of whole - tissue meats, including intact
muscles and/or whole boneless cuts from
some of the larger common animal species,
such as cattle, sheep, deer, and pigs.Restructured Whole - Tissue Meats
Defi nitions and Importance
Restructuring refers to a group of procedures
that partially or completely disassemble meat
and then bind together the meat pieces to
form a cohesive mass that resembles an intact
muscle (Pearson and Gillett 1999 ). This defi -
nition encompasses a variety of meat prod-
ucts, including fi ne and coarse emulsion type
products such as sausages. For this reason,
restructured meats are classifi ed according to
the degree of comminution and the process
involved in their preparation. For instance,
Pearson and Gillett (1999) referred to meat
products manufactured using muscles that
were ground, chopped, emulsifi ed, sliced, or
fl aked as restructured meats, and products
manufactured from intact muscles or sections
of muscles as sectioned - and - formed meat
products. In this chapter, the term restruc-
tured whole - tissue meat is used to defi ne
restructured products manufactured from
whole boneless cuts and comprising a number
of muscles, intact, or sections of muscles that
are bound together using hot - or cold - set
binding systems. Hot - set binding systems
require heat to “ set ” the bind, which produces
a cooked product, while no heat is required
in a cold - set system; the bind is achieved on
the raw meat.