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Standard Meat Selection Procedure in Kitchen/Hotels | Hotel Kitchen Standards and Training

Standard Meat Selection Criteria in Hotels

BEEF

  • Fresh meat must be hung to allow it to become tender. The colour darkens after it has been hung.

  • Lean meat should be bright red, with small flecks or fat interspersed in the muscle (marbled)

  • Fat should be firm, brittle in texture, creamy white in colour and odourless.

VEAL

  • Flesh should be pale, pink, firm, not soft or flabby.

  • Cut surfaces should be moist.

  • Bones in young animals are pinkish, white, porous and with an exceedingly small amount of blood in their structure.

LAMB

  • Carcass should be compact and evenly fleshed, having an even coat of fat.

  • Lean flesh is firm and of a pleasing, dull red colour and of a fine texture of grain.

  • Fat should be evenly distributed, hard, brittle, flaky and clean white in colour.

  • Bones are porous in young animals, as age progresses, they are smooth, white and brittle.

PORK

  • Lean flesh should be pale pink changing to rose as the animal matures.

  • Fat is white, firm, smooth and not excessive.

  • Bones must be small, slender and pinkish.

  • Fat ought to be white, smooth and not excessive in proportion to the bacon.

  • Lean meat should be deep pink in colour and firm.

OFFALS

  • Liver should be fresh and not dry.

  • Should be smooth in texture and not contain tubers in the flesh.

  • There should be a pleasant odour.

Selection of Other Meat/Organ Parts

1. Kidney

  • Should be fresh.

  • Certain amount of fat should be attached to the kidney as it keeps them moist.

  • The fat should be crisp and not sticky.

2. Tongue

  • Lamb or Ox Tongue should be fresh.

  • There must not be an excessive amount of waste at the root end.

3. Sweetbreads

  • They should be creamy white in colour.

  • They should have a pleasant smell.

  • They should be fleshly and large.

4. Oxtail

  • They should be of good size and lean.

  • There should be no sign of stickiness.

5. Head

  • Pig’s & Calf’s head should not be sticky.

  • They should be well fleshed and odourless.