Meat cookery is generally thought of by the non-meat scientist as a simple way to prepare meat to add flavor, texture, and eliminate potential harmful pathogens. This chapter discusses the differing types of cookery as well as the types of meat to use with each. Cooking loss is a major issue that is associated with degree of doneness, especially in steaks, and generally of greater interest in whole muscle cuts. Cooking method also has a large role in the amount of cooking loss. Depending on the method, cooking losses can be large or small. The chapter covers differences in cooking methods, including fast versus slow cookery, dry heat cookery, moist heat cookery, smoking, and microwave. There are differing ways to impart flavor on meat products when cooked. The Maillard reaction is the first of which is discussed. Collagen has a large impact on the texture changes that occur during heating. This edition first published 2013 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
