Reg wrote:
>I'm constantly looking for information about packaging and
>preservation. It's difficult information to find, and much of
>it is geared toward large scale producers. For instance, I'm
>still trying to find information on minimum useful levels of
>nitrite in preserved meats. The maximum allowed levels are well
>covered in regulations, but not much info about quantity vs.
>efficacy, etc.
..>Also, in researching MAP I haven't been able to find much
..>about if/how I could make use of it. Again, it's geared
>toward large producers.
Reg,
In our past meetings with food regulations where brief mentions of
meat processing was discussed
I remember that the amount of nitrite that is effective is less than
half of the legislated allowed maximum level..Using just a third of
the maximum level can confer the desired preservative effect and
enhance the right color of the pickled meat.
If you had to cut down the use of nitrate/nitrite ....don't use the
nitrate but the nitrite...itself
Sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate is reduced into nitrite by
microbial action and that is where its preservative effect lies
If you use the nitrate the recommended dosage is higher than the
nitrite....
...Besides its not only the preservative effect of nitrite that is
important but the other ions in the pickling solution. Meat
preservation is a combination of many factors...that includes aside
from ther formulations the nature of your raw materials, the
equipments, methods used ...the level of processing etc
There is some websites that discuss the details examples of cured meat
processing such as this
http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6556e/X6556E02.htm
http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6556e/X6556E04.htm
For greater details...you really need to visit the Univerisity libary
and go to the food science section and you will be 'met' with so many
reference materials in meat processing and food packaging ....When I
was browsing those books in relation to my interests in ingredients
,and emerging technologies in food processing the large scale
operations can be scaled down easily but you still need important
piece of equipment to do the processing properly.