structure of meat

• there are two factors affecting the structure of meat:

  1. muscle fibers
  2. connective tissues
• muscle fibers - lean meat is composed of  long, thin muscle fibers bound together in bundles. These determine the texture or grain of a piece of meat.
• there are two types of muscle fibers:

  • fine
  • course
• fine muscle fibers are when grained meat is composed of small fibers bound in small bundles
• course - textured meat has large fibers
• connective tissue are network of proteins that bind the muscle fibers together
• connective tissues are tough, meats are high in connective tissues if the muscles are more exercised, like meat from legs and meats come from older animals
• two kinds of connective tissue:

  1. collagen
  2. elastin
• collagen - white connective tissue that dissolve or breaks down by long, slow cooking method with liquid
• elastin - yellow connective tissues and is not broken down in cooking.
• tenderizing can only be achieved by removing the elastin, by pounding, slicing, and grinding.