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Terminology

Bull: mature male (intact - have testicles)
Cow: mature female (had calf)
Heifer: immature female (no calf)
Steer: castrated male (can not reproduce)
Calf: baby
Herd: group of cattle

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Angus

Most common purebred breed
Black
Polled
Northeastern Scotland; 1870s
Natural marbling
Low maintenance and calving ease

Red Angus Association

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Hereford

Hereford County, England
Established in the US established in 1840
White faces and red bodies
Horned or Polled (different association)
Easy to handle; docile
Tolerant of cold climates

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Charolais

Charolais Province in France
White to light tan color with pink skin
Large

Bulls: 2,000 to 2,500 lbs
Cow: 1,500 to 1,800 lbs

Polled or Horned
Heavy muscling

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Limousin

Southwestern France
Limousin semen: Canada – US in 1968
Wheat to rust red or orange colored; now black lines
Polled or horned
Breed is long and shallow bodied

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American Shorthorn

A dual-purpose breed
Originated in England
Red, white, or roan; horned or polled
Short, known to be docile animals

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Simmental

Western Switzerland - Simme Valley
Old breed - Middle Ages
In the US since 1969
White face – dominant
Red-and-white spotted or nearly solid red body
Blazed face
Rapid growth, thick muscling, adaptability
Triple-Purpose Breed (draft, milk, meat)

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Brahman

Originated in the US after a few cattle were imported from India
Commonly used in crossbreeding
Coloring – light gray, vary to red to almost black
Large ears, loose skin, huge hump
Excellent ability to forage successfully on poor range
Popular: disease and insects, tolerance of heat, rapid weight gain
Unpredictable temperament

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Brangus

⅜ Brahman and ⅝ Angus
Good from both:

Brahman: disease resistance, overall hardiness and outstanding maternal instincts
Angus: carcass quality and great mothers

Research started in 1932; association in 1949 - in Louisiana
Black or Red
Polled
Medium to large ears
Loose skin around neck
Round rump
Bulls with slight hump at neck

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Beefmaster

Developed in Texas in 1908
½ Brahman, ¼ Shorthorn, ¼ Hereford
Coloration varies, but red is dominant
Horned or naturally polled
Very hardy breed; known to milk well
Good temperament

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Texas Longhorn

Brought to the New World by Spanish (Christopher Columbus)
Hardy breed
Diverse coloring, and can be any color or mix of colors, but dark red and white are the most dominant
Huge, long horns

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Belted Galloway

Scotland
Deep red or black with white belt
High quality marbling and low saturated fat
Larger shape with increased number of high quality cuts
Polled

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Beef Breed Poster

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History of Beef

Domestication for food: 6500 BC
Not native to the Americas but brought to New World by colonies
Eating beef became popular in US in 1870s with the expansion into the West
Wide spread distribution due to refrigerated car on the railroad

Cattle drives to Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

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What is beef?

“Beef” = grown cattle, 2 years
Live steer of 1,000 lbs >> 450 lbs of edible meat
Most cattle are made up of 10 breed

Angus, Hereford, Charolais and Brahman

“Baby Beef” = “calf”

Under 700 lbs
Raised on milk and grass
Smaller cuts with light red meat and less fat. Yellow tint due to vitamin A in grass

“Veal” = meat from calf about 150 lbs

Milk fed; less 3 months old
Meat = pale pink due to diet; contains more cholesterol

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Raising Cattle

Cow/Calf

Reproduction, producing calves
Pasture/Grass
All over US; largest #s in Texas

Stocker

Calf Growth exclusively on forages
North Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma due to winter wheat to leave in spring
In: 500-675 lbs
Out: 700 - 995 lbs

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Raising Cattle

Feedlot

Finish growing/fatten cattle
¾ of all cattle
150-200 days on grain feed
In: 700 lbs
Out: 1300 - 1600 lbs
Near corn

Packing Plant

Near feedlots
Harvest & process
Broken into primal & subprimal cuts

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Antibiotics Hormones

Prevent or treat disease same as humans
“Withdrawal” : required period where animals can not be slaughtered so all residues leave the animal’s system
Random samples taken at processing plants to check for antibiotic residue

Used to:

Promote growth
Suppress estrus
Improve weight gain

Natural

Estradiol
Progesterone
Testosterone

Synthetic

Zeranol
Trenbolone
Melengestrol acetate

Implant in animal’s ear as a time released over 90 to 120 days

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Beef Inspections

Inspections is mandatory; grading is voluntary
Plant pays for meat to be graded
USDA-graded beef at retail level: Prime, Choice, and Select
Lower grades: Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, Canner (ground or processed meat products

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Prime Beef

USDA Prime beef: 2% of graded beef
More fat marbling = most tender and flavorful
Higher fat content
Most in grocery stores = USDA Choice or USDA Select
All beef similar in protein, vitamin, and mineral content

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USDA Beef Carcass Quality Grading

Program: evaluates factors that affect palatability of meat (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor)
Factors: carcass maturity, firmness, texture, and color of lean, and the amount and distribution of marbling within the lean.
Beef carcass quality grading is based on: degree of marbling and degree of maturity.

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Prime, Choice, Select

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USDA Certified Tender

Additional program to identify cuts that are consistently tender or very tender
Must meet International tenderness standards and reviewed by AMS
Approved by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)

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Ungraded Beef

ALL beef is inspected for wholesomeness and safety
Higher or lower than government grades

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Processing Videos Assignment

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Minimally vs. Heavily

Minimally processed = only meat, nothing is added for flavoring or preservatives. Has been handled less

Steaks, roast, ground beef

Heavily processed = meat ground multiple times, additional ingredients

100% beef hot dogs, Lil Smokies

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Marbling

White flecks of fat within the meat muscle
Intramuscular fat
Greater marbling = higher grade, more tender, flavorful, and juicy
Beef Marbling Score (BMS): 1-12

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Retail Cuts of Fresh Beef

4 basic primal cuts: chuck, loin, rib, and round
Recommend for stores to label the primal cut and the product name

“chuck roast” or “round steak”

Cut names vary regionally
Boneless top loin steak =

Strip steak, Kansas City Steak, N.Y. strip steak, hotel cut strip steak, ambassador steak, club sirloin steak

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Meaning of Retail Cuts

Type of muscle affects tenderness
Helps to determine type of heat to cook the cut
Chuck and round = less tender and require moist heat like braising
Loin and rib = dry heat methods like broiling or grilling

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Nutrition Labeling

Lean: less than 10 g of fat in 100 g of beef, 4.5 g or less saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholesterol
Extra Lean: less than 5g of fat in 100 g of beef, less than 2 g of saturated fat, less than 95 mg of cholesterol

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¨Natural”

All fresh beef = “natural”
“Natural” = no artificial flavor or flavoring, coloring ingredients, chemical preservative, or any other artificial or synthetic ingredient, and not more than minimally processed (ground)
All products with “natural” label must have an explanation on packaging

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Aged Beef

Develop additional tenderness and flavor
Done commercial under controlled temperatures and humidity.
10 days to 6 weeks
Aging is not recommended to be done in a home refrigerator

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¨Red¨ meat

Oxygen delivered by red cells in the blood to the muscles
Myoglobin = protein in muscles that holds oxygen in the muscle
Color of meat = amount of myoglobin
Beef = ¨red meat¨ because it contains more myoglobin than chicken or fish
Other ¨red¨ meats: veal, lamb, and pork

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Color of Beef

No oxygen (vacuum packaged) = burgundy or purplish color
Exposure of air for 15 minutes (myoglobin receives oxygen) = bright, cherry red
In refrigerate for about 5 days = brown because of chemical changes in myoglobin.

Spoiled: off-odor and tacky

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21. Additives

Additives are NOT allowed on fresh beef
Additives: MSG, salt or sodium erythorbate
If added, must be listed on label

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Product Dating

Not required by Federal regulations
Stores and processors may voluntarily add date
If there is a calendar date >> phrase explaining the date meaning

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“Sell-by” Date

Use or freeze products with a “sell-by” date within 3 to 5 days of purchase
“Use-By” date = follow the day
Quality assurance date because peak quality decreases after

Can still be used

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Beef Cut Tape/Label Activity

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Label on yourself the 16 main cuts shown on this diagram.

**Biggest word in each of the colored sections**

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Foodborne Organisms - E. coli

Escherichia coli
Colonize in the intestines of animals >> could contaminate meat during processing
E. coli O157:H7: rare strain, produces potent toxin that causes severe damage to intestine lining
Easily destroyed by thorough cooking

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Salmonella

Intestinal tracts of livestock, poultry, dogs, cats, other warm-blooded animals
2,000 bacterial species
Freezing does NOT kill but thorough cooking does
Must be eat to cause illness
Does not enter through skin cut
Cross-contamination: occur if raw meat or its juices contact cooked or foods eaten raw (salads)

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Preventing Cross-contamination

Proper hand washing frequently
Separate equipment (cutting board) for meat and vegetables

Knives - separate or wash in between

Put back hair
Cleaning cooking area often

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Staphylococcus aureus - Staph

Carried by human hands, nasal passages, or throats
Outbreaks: contamination from food handlers and production of a heat-stable toxin in the food
Prevent: sanitary food handling and proper cooking and refrigerating

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Listeria monocytogenes - Listeria

Destroyed by cooking but can recontamination of cooked food can occur with poor handling and poor sanitation
Observe handling information like “Keep Refrigerated” and “Use-By” dates on labels

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Rinsing Beef

Not necessary to do before cooking
Any bacteria that maybe on surface will be destroyed by cooking

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Safe Handling

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Raw Beef

Select beef right before checking out
Place in plastic bags to contain leaks which could contaminate other food and produce
Perishable: keep cold before you purchase to deter bacteria growth

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Raw Beef - At home

Take immediately home
Refrigerate at 40F
Use within 3-5 days and 1-2 days for ground beef
OR freeze at 0F : kept frozen continuously, safe indefinitely
Freeze in original packaging or repackaged

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Freezer Burn

Freezer Burn: grayish-brown leathery spots on meat caused by air reaching the food
Prevent ‘freezer burn” by overwrapping porous store plastic
Cutaway spots
Heavily freezer burned meat might be thrown out because of smell/taste
Best quality: use steaks and roast within 9 to 12 months

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Ready-Prepared Beef

Chinese food, barbecued ribs, or fast food hamburgers, be sure they are hot at pickup.
Use cooked beef within 2 hours—1 hour if the air temperature is above 90 °F (32.2 °C) or refrigerate it at 40 °F (4.4
°C) in shallow, covered containers.
Eat within 3 to 4 days, either cold
or reheated to 165 °F (73.9 °C)—hot and steaming.
It is safe to freeze ready-prepared beef dishes. For best quality, use within 4 months.

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Safe Defrosting

Refrigerator
Cold Water
Microwave
Never defrost on the counter or other locations

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Refrigerator

Best way to slow, safe thawing
Ground beef, stew meat, and steaks may defrost within a day
Bone in parts and whole roast = 2 days or longer
Safe for 3 to 5 days before cooking
Can safely refreeze it without cooking first

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Cold Water

Do not remove packaging
Be sure the package is airtight or in a leak proof bag
Submerge in cold water and change water every 30 minutes
Small packages = 1 hour or less
3 to 4 lb roast = 2 to 3 hours

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Microwave

Prepare to use beef immediately after because some parts will begin cooking
Partially-cooked food is not good because not all bacteria has been destroyed

Microwave or cold water defrosted beef should be cooked before refreezing because held at temperatures above 40F

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Marinating

Marinate beef in fridge up to 5 days
Boil used marinade before brushing on cooked beef
Discard uncooked leftover marinade (came in contact with raw meat)

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Liquid in Package

Not blood: removed during processing so only a tiny amount is in the tissue
Beef = ¾ water which with protein from the meat creates the liquid in the package

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Safe Cooking

Meat thermometer
Ground Beef: 160 F internal temperature
Steak and roast = at least 145 F
Allow meat to rest for at least 3 minutes after removing from heat for safety and improved quality
Cooking Time Table on page 6

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Storage Times

Use table on page 7 for length of time various products can be stored in the refrigerator and freezer
Look at the product day before purchase
Food handling guidelines
Safe to freeze in packaging, extra wrap for long term freezing

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Cattle By-Product Activity

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