Effect of salt dose on the quality of dry smoked beef

摘要

Longissimus dorsi muscles from beef carcasses were dry-salted at doses of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 g salt/kg meat. Salted samples were kept in a cooler at 2degreesC for 5 days after which time one treatment group of the cured meat was pre-dried at 35degreesC for 2 h, smoked at 88degreesC for 6 h and then dried at 95degreesC to a constant weight for about 52 h. Proximate analysis showed that the moisture and protein contents of the samples decreased with increased salt content of the meat, while the ash content increased. The pH of the fresh meat increased with increasing salt. In general, the addition of salt significantly (P<0.05) increased the degree of oxidation, while smoking produced antioxidant activity. Iron and phosphorus decreased with increasing salt content. With salting, smoking and drying of the meat the microbial loads generally decreased but the halophilic microorganisms increased.