Meats Judging Outline: Vegetarian Or Carnivore

Brady Bobendrier
Informative speech
Meats Judging Outline
I.

Introduction
A. Attention Getter: Vegetarian or carnivore? If you’re a carnivore then you are going to want to listen; to learn something you will want to know in the future when buying groceries.
B. Bridge: Meats evaluation is a contest offered by FFA, 4­H, colleges and universities to expand their knowledge of the major components of meat science. C. Thesis: I hope to inform you on the different categories and share knowledge I have learned from the meat evaluation contest and how these things pertain to future grocery buying decisions.
D. Opening Statement: I will first give an overall background on what a Meats
Evaluation contest includes; then I will further explain each category of the
contest.

II.

Background Information
A. The meats evaluation contest is only one of 34 different contests in which you can compete in 4­H/FFA. The contest consists of teams with 4 participants.
Each person is then divided into different groups with one member from each other team. The following are performed in a cooler except the Meat Science general knowledge test.
1. The contest is divided into 4 categories
a) carcass grading
b) Wholesale cut evaluation
c) Retail cut Identification
d) Meat Science general knowledge test

III.

Carcass grading (fsis.usda.gov)
A. In my mind the most challenging part of the contest is carcass grading. Carcass grading is performed on full beef carcasses weighing around 800 lbs. There are two types of carcass grading that you have to do.
1. USDA Beef quality grading
2. USDA Beef Yield grading

B. In USDA Beef Quality Grading the objective is to determine a grade that will qualify steaks from that carcass for premiums and set their dollar values.
Quality Grading is based on two common factors Maturity (age of the animal) and Marbling (primary determination of quality grade, the distribution of the flecks of fat in with the lean in the ribeye muscle).
1. Maturity scores (Meat.tamu.edu)
a) A, B, C, D, and E
(1) classified young animals ( more desirable, more premiums) (a) Maturity scores A & B
(2) classified old animals
(a) maturity scores C, D, E
(3) This is determined by the percent of bone ossification of the vertebrates down the spine
2.
Marbling scores
a) Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility
(1) Young animals (A&B) qualify for
(a) Prime, Choice, Select, Standard
(2) Old animals (C,D,E) qualify for
(a) Commercial and Utility
C. In USDA yield grading the objective of the judge is to estimate the total
Boneless Closely Trimmed Retail Cuts, or the part of the animal that is muscle and flesh only not bone, guts, or fat. (meat.tamu.edu). Yield grading is based on many more factors than quality grading, like the total carcass weight, Kidney pelvic and heart fat, the Rib eye steak area, and the external fat thickness of the ribeye steak.
1. USDA Yield Grades
a) 1,2,3,4,5
(1) 1 being the best and most desirable of BCTRC and so on down to 5
2. Total carcass weight

a) The carcass weight isn't used in the actual yield grade. It is used in determining the rib eye area size to be required to get a better yield grade.
3. Kidney Pelvic and Heart fat
a) A lower priority in determining yield grade. Is used as a secondary factor in determining the final yield grade.
Is determined by estimating the percent of the fat on the carcass that is located in the Kidney, Pelvic, and Heart areas.
4. Rib eye steak area
a) A high priority in determining the final yield grade.
Is measured in square inches.
(1) The larger the rib eye compared to the carcass weight the more desirable yield grade.
5. External Fat thickness at the rib eye
a) The highest priority of the yield grading portion. For the most desirable yield grade the carcass should have a very little amount of external fat, and a large rib eye size.
IV.

Wholesale cut Evaluation (unce.unr.edu)
A. This portion of the contest consists of 6 classes. The classes contain 4 pieces of the same cut for example 4 T­Bone steaks. The job of the judger is to place the class from best quality to worst based on factors from each different class.
In most classes you look for amount of muscling, Least amount of fat exposed, and the quality of the cut based on color or texture. This part of the contest teaches how to pick the best quality of something you can buy in a grocery store for a meal.
1. The different classes that can be presented are from Beef, Pork, or
Lamb.
a) Beef
(1) Usually common cuts like T­Bones, Rib Eyes, or Prime rib roasts
b) Pork

(1) Based on fat to lean (muscling) ratio or called (cutability).
Some example classes are Pork rib chops, loin
chops, and many roasts.
c) Lamb
(1) Uncommon to have classes of lamb in a contest as the cuts are smaller and harder to evaluate.
V.

Retail Cut IDentification
A. This portion of the contest requires memorization of things. There are a total of
99 different possibilities for cuts of meat that can be judged. This part of the contest requires 4 different stages to each cut that is identified. The species,
Where it comes from on the wholesale part of the animal, the actual retail cut itself (What it is sold as in the grocery store), and the method of cookery.
1. The species
a) Beef, pork, or lamb
(1) Beef
(a) Bright, Cherry red color, large in size
(2) Pork
(a) Pink, Pale color, Medium in size
(3) Lamb
(a) Dark, Dark red color, Smallest size
2. Wholesale part of the animals (Oregonstate.edu),
a) Beef classified into 7 categories
(1) Brisket, Flank, Chuck, Plate, Loin, Rib, Round
b) Pork classified into 5 categories
(1) Ham/Leg, Loin, Shoulder, Side/Belly, Spareribs
c) Lamb classified into 5 categories
(1) Breast, Shoulder, Loin, Leg, Rib
3. Retail cuts
a) Are determined by size, color, and number of muscles
4. Cookery Methods
a) Determined by memorization,
(1) Dry, Moist, or Dry/Moist. Most common steaks are grilled which is a Dry cooking method.

VI.

Meat science general knowledge test (Meat Science & Food Safety Powerpoint)
A. This is a 30 question test performed in a classroom. These questions test the participants knowledge in things such as the Legislation & History of Meat science, Animal Care and Handling, Meat Nutrition, Purchasing Meat, Meat storage and Handling, Meat Cookery, Processed Meats, Food Additives, and
Food Safety.

VII.

Conclusion
A. Participating in this contest teaches common things that will help everyone in the future when they have buy groceries. You learn how to identify different things, food safety regarding cooking, handling of the meat, and knowledge about the meat industry. This is a hard and complicated thing to accomplish and learn all of the things.

1) http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food­safety­education/get­answers/food
­safety­fact­sheets/production­and­inspection/inspection­and­grading­of­meat­and­pou
ltry­what­are­the­differences_/inspection­and­grading­differences
2) http://meat.tamu.edu/beefgrading/
3) https://www.unce.unr.edu/4H/programs/stem/files/pdf/4­HManualMeatJudging.pdf
4) CEV Meats retail IDentification Video
5) http://aggiemeat.tamu.edu/files/2012/11/2012­Retail­ID­With­Codes.pdf
6) CEV Meat Science and Food Safety Powerpoint