Quick Dips

Reforming Meat

Research and development work by a Dunedin company has lead to a breakthrough in the production of restructured meat products.

Consumer demand for particular cuts of meat has left processors with the problem of what to do with arisings -- small leftovers, usually of high quality but of low value. Conventional methods of recombining arisings, using egg white or soluble meat proteins, have lacked stability at low temperatures, ruling out raw restructured meat products.

Neil Wilson, of Magic Meats Dunedin, has developed a method of cold binding arisings using a calcium alginate gel. Derived from seaweed, the gel is stable over a wide range of temperatures, allowing reformed meats to be produced in a raw form. The meats can be frozen or cooked without loss of product quality.

The process has proved practical with such diverse meats as mutton, beef, turkey, venison and hoki. Products assembled by the new system can be smoked, cured or dried, adding more value to the raw materials.

The Meat Research Institute has reacted positively to the alginate bonding process, and Magic Meats are presently looking for partners so that development of the process can be continued.