What is Meat Fabrication? Culinary Terminology You Should Know!

What is Meat Fabrication? Culinary Terminology You Should Know!

If you’re going enter the Culinary Arts field you’re going to have to know how to do it all; including process meat. While this might not be an everyday occurrence in your facility’s kitchen, learning where meat comes from and how to butcher it can be a turning point in many culinary students’ education.

Many find it an exhilarating experience. Beyond the emotional experience which comes from fabricating the animal, students also are able to see, first hand, how the meat is all connected. This helps students gain a holistic concept of cooking they could not get simply from picking up a pack of pork loin at the grocery store or butcher shop. 

What Is Meat Fabrication?

Meat fabrication is breaking down the body of an animal into consumer cuts and boned meat. Sounds pretty simple. But there are a lot of vocabulary words that go along with this practice. Each section of meat has its own terms and these terms can vary, based on what animal you’re butchering.

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What are some Meat Fabrication Terms I Should Know?

Here are some of the vocabulary words you’re likely to run into during your studies. Keep in mind these are by no means a complete list. But bone up on these terms and once you get to class, there will be no confusion over a chuck and a jowl!

Carcass – the body of a dead animal

Chevon – goat meat

Chuck – a beef steak which is typically a rectangular cut and comes from the sub primal cut near the cow’s shoulders

Cured meat – meat which has been preserved through the process of curing

Edible byproducts – consumable parts of an animal which are not meat (example: milk and eggs)

Flank – flank steak is cut from the abdominal muscles or buttock of a cow

Foreshank – meat cut from the front leg of an animal

Inedible byproducts – waste or unusable parts of an animal after butchering (example: bones and hide)

Jowl – a cut of fish consisting of the head and usually adjacent parts

Loin – a generous cut of meat which includes the vertebrae of the loins.

Offal – entrails and internal organs of an animal, thought of as waste material.

Picnic shoulder – a specific pork cut commonly used on the East Coast for pulled pork

Restructured meat – lower-quality trimmings reduced in size and mixed with salt and water (example: A McRib)

Rib – a beef steak cut from the rib of an animal, with the rib bone attached

Rib eye – a beef steak cut from the rib of an animal, with the bone removed

Round – a round steak or cut of meat is found near the rear leg of the cow, or the “round”

Smoked meat – meat which has been preserved through the process of smoking

What Should I Keep in Mind When Fabricating Meat?

Needless to say, you’re going to get messy while working with meat. Be sure to wear your apron and bring a change of clothes for after class in the likely event that you get your clothing dirty.

It’s important to remember to be safe. You’ll be working with a variety of knives and tools. Always be aware of where your hands and fingers are. Don’t ever attempt to show off or fool around while working with these dangerous implements.

Follow all of your instructor’s directions and be respectful of your classmates. Together, you can learn how to properly fabricate meat and experience just how the parts of the animal you’re butchering work in harmony to help you create different meals with a variety of cuts of meat.

Meat Fabrication Terminology

If you are interested in learning more about meat fabrication as part of the culinary arts, consider ECPI University’s Associate of Applied Science degree in Culinary Arts. With a year-round schedule and accelerated course, you could earn your degree in as little as 15 months. Contact an ECPI University admissions advisor today to see if a degree in culinary arts is right for you!

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