decreasing the fat content of the cut of meat on your plate.

What the grower feeds his livestock is another important area that impacts the fat-to-lean

ratio in meat. The total amount he feeds to the animals, as well as the balance of fat, protein and

fiber in the feed, can do a lot to keep animals trim. Both trimmable, outside fat and internal

marbling are affected by the animal's diet. Age of the animal at slaughter is a factor, too. Meat

from younger animals is leaner. The more mature the animal, the higher the fat-to-muscle ratio

(which is generally also same in humans).

For example, some Montana ranchers began selling specially bred extra-lean beef raised

without hormones or antibiotics at a cost of about 15 to 20 percent more than regular beef. To

further reduce fat, they market these animals at a younger age and keep them on feed lots for

only a short time. The result? The meat has minimum marbling, reduced flavor, it is dryer and

less tender. Today consumers' acceptance of lower flavor, less tenderness and higher prices in

exchange for lower fat is still questionable.

Genetic modification of meat animals is highly controversial, though it holds the greatest

hope for leaner meats. Genetic engineering can delete, add or mutate genes within a specific site

in the DNA to dictate a favorable muscle-to-fat ratio. Consumers are wary of such meddling with

meat and today we still don’t know if they will accept it or not.

Lower-fat processed meat is a different story altogether. Processors can custom-tailor

such meat to consumer needs to provide lower-fat, low-fat or no-fat products. The problem is the

cost of the ingredients that they add to replace the fat. If the processor replaces 35 percent fat in a

pound (half a kilo) of bologna, something has to take its place so the bologna still weighs one

pound (half a kilo). Since fat is cheap and the consumer is reluctant to pay a premium price for

no-fat bologna, the processor has to come up with a cheap substitute for fat.

Both air and water qualify. It is hard to pump air into meat and not have the consumer

complain (although we buy enough of it in ice cream that could be 50 percent air), but the

processor can pump in a substantial amount of water with a binder substance to hold it. Water in

meat even has advantages. It has the lubricating quality of fat, and it creates a sense of juiciness.

Palatability, texture and a meaty consistency must be retained, too. Cheap or not, the processor

can only inject just so much water. Injecting more there is too much loss of flavor.

Another problem with adding water is that bacteria thrive with increasing moisture in

their environment. How does the processor solve this problem? By adding more chemicals to

preserve the product and lengthen shelflife. So now we have no-fat bologna with 35 percent

water to replace the fat and extra chemicals to preserve the more perishable product. Bon appétit!

Meat Basics

All but our organ meats have three distinct parts—muscle, fat and connective tissue. All

three are edible and digestible, but only the first two contain nutrition and flavor. Fat is the

reason for our dietary problems, but connective tissues are the ones to give us headache in the

kitchen. Once we learn how these problem connective tissues react to various cooking

techniques, we have the key to tender meat dishes.

To offer the most tender, juicy morsels of meat, let’s first learn a little about the three

parts—muscle, fat and connective tissue.

Muscles

Serious Kitchen Play