Meat processing is the process of making processed meats

Meat processing is the process of making processed meats products for human consumption. Different varieties of processed meat are available differing from place to place and region to region. Beef, Poultry and pork are the main types of flesh processed in the United States. Processed meats are made from animal tissue, muscle and fats. These are physically and chemically treated to create processed .

Methods of physical and chemical treatment:

Cutting Mixing Curing Utilization of spices Stuffing in containers Fermentation and drying Heat treatment Smoking

All the above processing steps are done with the help of some machines and tools. These machines reduce the efforts and make the task easier for the butcher. These machines are normally made from stainless steel which is easy to clean and prevents bacteria from inhabiting in the machine. These machines have played an important role in increasing the financial gains of the flesh processing industry by improving their efficiency and regulating their processes in an orderly manner.

Different types of meat processing equipments are

Knifes and saw: It is a basic tool for processing. A sharp knife will enable the meat cutting process at faster speed and are safer than the blunt knife. A saw is a kind of larger knife with a fine toothed blade .It is normally made from stainless steel and is used to cut shin, meat and bone.

Meat Slicers: They are used to chop the food into smaller pieces. They are available in different types and sizes. The bowl volume may vary from 10 to 2000 litres. Bowl volumes with 20 - 60 litres are useful for small and medium size flesh processing.

Meat grinders: Meat grinder is a tool to reduce it into very fine meat particles. They can minced the flesh of various sizes in no time.ne can choose from manual or automatic grinders that are available in the market.

Meat curing: The minced meat or sausages needs to be fermented at proper temperature and humidity. Meat curers helps in drying and fermenting the sausages appropriately adding spices, flavours and colour to give it the desired taste.

Sausage stuffer: These equipments are used to fill the minced meat in the containers like casing, cans, glass jars etc. Piston is the type of stuffer that is used in small and medium size processing operations.

Sausage clippers: They are used to clip the sausages into portions of desired sizes. Automatic clippers are used for the large scale industry while manual is used in medium scale. They help in reducing the wastage and speeding du bearing up the process of cutting the sausages.

Smokehouse: Smoke houses are the modern method of creating the desired smoking flavour and color. Burning hardwood or raw sawdust or pieces of log were the traditional method of creating smoke. With the invention of smoke houses the modern techniques of creating the smoke to tender the meat has changed completely.

Hygiene and sensitization is very important in process. This should be taken care of at every stage. Also these equipments should be properly cleaned and maintained to enhance the quality and taste of the processed meat.