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Wallace Wallace is offline
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Default Beef Sklaughter and Rigor Mortis


"Dave Bugg" > wrote in message
...
> Sqwertz wrote:
>> at which stage in the beef slaughter/packing plant does the beef gi
>> through rigor mortis?
>>
>> Do they rush it through into cryovac and let it RM there, or do
>> sides of beef hang for 12 hours at room temp before the primal
>> cuttings?

>
> Good question. I can't imagine pacers letting carcasses hang around very
> long. Growing up, we would kill, butcher, wrap, and freeze a steer all
> within two hours. Some cuts were allowed to age, but most were put into
> the deep freeze.


growing up we were lucky enough to have a walk in where we hung the beef up
for a few weeks before butchering. I just found this interesting tid bit:

"Immediately after slaughter, many changes take place in muscle that convert
muscle to meat. One of the changes is the contraction and stiffening of
muscle known as rigor mortis. Muscle is very tender at the time of
slaughter. However, as rigor mortis begins, muscle becomes progressively
less tender until rigor mortis is complete. In the case of beef, 6 to 12
hours are required for the completion of rigor mortis, whereas in the case
of pork, only 1 to 6 hours are required.
The carcass is chilled immediately after slaughter to prevent spoilage. If
the carcass is chilled too rapidly, the result is "cold shortening" and
subsequent toughness. Cold shortening occurs when the muscle is chilled to
less than 60°F before the completion of rigor mortis. If the carcass is
frozen before completion of rigor mortis, the result is "thaw rigor" and
subsequently extremely tough meat. Under normal chilling conditions, it
appears that unprotected carcasses with less than 0.50 inch of fat over the
rib eye probably will have some reduced tenderness because of cold
shortening. Aging a carcass affected by cold shortening or thaw rigor will
not alleviate the detrimental effects on tenderness caused by these two
conditions. To ensure more tender meat, home slaughtered animals and wild
game should be protected from very rapid cooling during the first 6-12 hours
after death."



http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...on/DJ0856.html