Marbling In Meat Lubrication

Marbling is so named because the streaks of fat resemble a marble pattern.

Marbling in meat lubrication. The most marbled cuts come from the loin where. In addition to the quantity of marbling the distribution and texture of visible fat flecks within the ribeye are also considered during assessment of marbling score. There is less muscle fiber and collagen per unit volume of meat potentially requiring less oral processing foster et al. Marbling helps to insure acceptable tenderness at higher levels of doneness.

Review of material what the student should know. Marbling keeps the meat moist during cooking so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan. Overcooking is marbling s worst nightmare since it renders all the fat out of the meat leaving behind a dry and tough steak without the moist flavors we know and love. Also called intramuscular fat marbling adds flavor and is one of the main criteria for judging the quality of cuts of meat.

If marbling enhances juici ness by serving as a lubricant around muscle bundles then it should be uniformly and finely dispersed throughout the lean. In general the more marbling it contains the better a cut of meat is. 1 the fundamental factors related to differences in meat tenderness. Marbling that is fine textured small flecks and uniformly distributed is preferred over marbling that appears as large coarse flecks of intramuscular fat.

As meat is cooked to more advanced degrees of doneness the tougher it will get.