Do "working" muscles have more flavor?

[nickrey]

perhaps different muscles extract different things from the blood based on their design and use.

 

would love to see what M.C. folks think of the darker meat thats on the full pork loin, probably the nose end.

 

if you see lots of pork chops lined up some will have this darker meat.  give it a taste and compare it to the 'blond' meat.

This happens with age as well. Pork from an 18 month old pig is noticeably darker and has more flavour than that from a younger pig. What we are buying from the supermarkets that has come from the industrial meat now being created is far different from this. They are younger and bred to have less fat because of consumer expectations. They are then pumped with water and flavouring to give back some of what has been bred out of them. We then add various forms of marinades or cures to add flavour in response to what has been stripped out.

 

Someone on another forum commented on the relative expense of chicken breast meat here in Australia. The meat came from a free-range producer, which means that it had a degree more exercise than chickens confined to small boxes, which is required if you are going to make cheap meat. Having a chicken range means more flavour in the meat.

 

According to my charcuterie teacher the other night the best pig to use in sausages is a miix of meat from male pigs castrated at birth because of the greater muscle mass that they have and female, non breeding, pigs who have a greater layer of flavourful fat.

 

And let's not forget natural taints such as boar taint (which is likely hormonal in origin) that can affect flavour in a negative manner.

 

So at this stage I think we are moving towards muscle type, location, and use; marbling; amount of connective tissue (which when cooked adds texture which modifies the eating experience);  as well as age all being involved in producing flavourful meat.

 

We are also faced with intensively farmed and engineered meat that is cheap but lacking in flavour and may be all that some of the commentators here may have access to.

 

Any other variables we should add to the equation?

Edited March 19, 2014 by nickrey (log)

[dcarch]

"----Any other variables we should add to the equation?---"

 

In Asian stores, you can buy old chicken. They are for making stock because they are more flavorful.

 

dcarch

[rotuts]

the color difference Ive mentioned is on every whole loin Ive seen.

 

Plain vanilla supermarket mass market.  its the only time Ive seen these two contrasting 'types' right next to each other on the same slab.

 

Ive mentioned this to Real Time butchers who carry a better type of meat, and they never were able to explain the differences to me

 

but they commented that ' you sure know your meat '  not that that's relevant here.

 

they agreed the darker meat had tons more flavor and was tender  if cooked properly  ie on the rare side.

 

Id love to know the differences in these two muscle groups as they are right next to each other on the Pig.  Any Pig.

 

you can see these color differences on Supermarket 'Country style ribs'  boneless or not.

 

these come from an area towards the shoulder  not the tale, which makes me think on the whole loin look at the end that's toward the head.

Edited March 19, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

googles pork loin:

 

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=whole+pork+loin&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=0ggqU6mHGojB0AGKk4GQAQ&ved=0CCYQsAQ&biw=1243&bih=1057

 

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=whole+pork+loin&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=0ggqU6mHGojB0AGKk4GQAQ&ved=0CCYQsAQ&biw=1243&bih=1057#facrc=0%3Bwhole%20pork%20loin%20diagram&imgdii=_&imgrc=_

 

scroll through these images.   the second one clearly shows this darker meat.

 

it might not actually be "technical" loin, but it comes off the pig w the loin and sits right next to the lighter colored loin that has not much going to it except its cheap

[nickrey]

Which leads us into another complicating factor. With the invention of the saw, cuts of meat no longer had to follow the muscles. Many cuts both in the US and in England and Australia merge a number of different muscles together. I suspect what you are referring to is the "head" of the loin which is a different muscles at is attached tithe conventional cut.

In much traditional European butchery the cuts goes along the muscle rather than through it giving a much more coherent cut for us to cook with.

[rotuts]

""  a different muscles at is attached tithe conventional cut. ""

 

just so.   

 

so why is it darker, why is it tender when cooked carefully and most importantly, why is it packed w flavor on an otherwise

 

pretty 'tasteless' pig?

 

that's the question Ive been getting at and hoping to understand.

[gfweb]

Fast twitch muscles are lighter colored, slow twitch are darker.

Fast twitch is more anaerobic metabolism, slow twitch has lots of mitochondria for aerobic met.

 

That's all I remember.

[paulraphael]

Fast twitch muscles are lighter colored, slow twitch are darker.

Fast twitch is more anaerobic metabolism, slow twitch has lots of mitochondria for aerobic met.

 

That's all I remember.

 

Yup. That's why chicken breasts are white (for bursts of power to flutter into tree limbs, etc.) and duck breasts are dark (for endurance for migrating).

 

I don't know how or if this translates into the colors of pork. There are a lot of pigmented chemicals in meat, and I believe many of them are unrelated to this light/dark fiber type.

 

Some of the heritage porks, like berkshire, are pink, even bordering on beef-red. The same cuts that are white on modern breeds. This corresponds with a huge difference in marbeling, but I don't know if these factors are related.

[haresfur]

Colour has some complicating factors like oxidation (that's why they pack some meat under nitrogen, IIR).  Within the same muscle I think it might also be related to how fast the blood drained, how fast it cooled (interior or near surface of the carcass) or how close to the surface or how much tension during hanging.  Some of those may be related to the flavour but some may not be.  I'd just use some caution on assuming colour = flavour.

[dcarch]

May be a test of some Kosher meats to find out how much blood can make a difference in taste?

 

dcarch

[Thomas Luttikhold]

I don't think working muscles directly result in a better flavour, but I do think that the texture of a product is directly linked to how people judge their meat (=flavour).