8 - whole-muscle brine-injected products

Abstract

Cooked hams occur in a huge variety of forms, shapes, and tastes around the world. The term “ham” specifically refers to meat from the leg, but many cooked ham products are made from other cuts of meat following a process of injecting, tumbling, and heat treatment. The traditional method of producing hams by soaking pieces of meat in brine before heat treatment is very rarely practiced today. High cooking yields are the norm in most parts of the world and the price that consumers are willing to pay for a whole-muscle product generally determines the cooking yield and eating qualities of such products. Cooked hams frequently exhibit a very high Aw and are therefore prone to microbiological spoilage, which can negatively affect flavor and color. Boneless cooked ham products are commonly consumed in a cold state after heat treatment. Bone-in products might be consumed hot as well, after reheating. Cooked ham products are extremely popular, as they can be eaten on their own and in conjunction with other foods, and cooked hams are also often used for fillings. Another advantage of ham products is that most are very low in fat, which means they match current consumer demand for healthy low-fat food. This chapter discusses the production of re-formed whole-muscle products and injected meat products made from individual muscles. The processing steps for producing cooked ham and other meat products should take place in sequence, each one following smoothly from the previous step.