In principle, the transportation, storage and sales of low-temperature meat products are required to be carried out under low temperature (0-4°C) conditions. Common bacon, ham, low-temperature emulsified sausages, hot dog sausage products, etc. are all low-temperature meat products. During the processing of low-temperature meat products, the protein is moderately denatured, the meat is firm, elastic, chewy, tender, crisp, soft, and juicy, and the original nutrition and inherent flavor are retained to the maximum extent. The quality is obviously better than that of high-temperature meat products, and it can be convenient for long-distance transportation and storage by establishing a sound cold chain system and adopting appropriate preservation technology to extend its shelf life. Low-temperature meat products have become the main trend of future development of meat products in my country due to their advanced processing technology, high technological content, less nutritional loss, special product flavor, and bright color. The processing technology of low-temperature meat products mainly includes marinating, rolling, kneading, chopping, baking, steaming, cooling, and packaging. Among them, the chopping process has a great influence on the yield and quality of low-temperature meat products.
01 Mechanism of chopping and mixing
Actin and myosin in meat are filaments embedded in muscle cells. Muscle cells are wrapped by a layer of connective tissue. As long as this membrane remains intact, actin and myosin are still wrapped in the membrane. They can only combine with their own water, but not with fat or external water. Therefore, this membrane must be cut to facilitate the release of structural protein fragments, absorb the added ice water, and expand by absorbing water to form a protein gel network, thereby containing fat and preventing fat particles
