I have a question

[eub]

that rmitz's post reminded me of: turkeys may not be shockingly flavorful, but they do taste like something. Deli turkey tastes like nothing at all. Why is that? Is it all, even the froofier varieties, some kind of turkey/cellulose amalgam? And so why don't they routinely amalgamate roast beef likewise?

Comments

[geekosaur]

Most commercial whole turkeys are injected with a broth (mostly brine but with some other flavorings which vary depending on brand; for example, the popular "Butterball" variety includes artificial butter flavor) before being shipped. Deli turkey meat just gets a certain amount of water injected, I gather.

[eub.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I don't buy commercially-brined turkeys because they taste to me a bit like ramen soup flavor pack.

[rmitz.livejournal.com]

eub++

[boonedog.livejournal.com]

I think it's all the preservatives along with added waterd in deli meats that causes it to be flavorless. I'm not sure there's a high percentage of real meat left in the mix. Although, I've noticed with lunchmeat it's like eating some floppy piece of leather with "turkey flavoring" that's much stronger and weirder than the normal flavor of turkey. The meat industry freaks me out.

[eub.livejournal.com]

What I find funny is how roast beef is usually like a slice of a recognizable piece of meat, turkey is always this weird thing, and ham varies wildly between the two.

[celebmith.livejournal.com]

I strongly suspect that the reason for the lack of amalgamated roast beef has to do with muscle fiber structure, but I'm not sure. It might have something to do with the reason why beef is "red meat" and turkey and chicken are "white meat" although what causes that, I don't know. Beef and poultry have such different flesh, in regards to both colour and texture, that perhaps beef cannot be processed in the same manner. It is a thought-provoking question.

[eub.livejournal.com]

Meat Products Gel with Hydrocolloids notes that "In Europe and Canada, carrageenan is found in poultry and as a binder in pork ham; in the United States it's used predominantly in poultry products." Also, "In products using meat emulsions, such as frankfurters and bolonga, or ground meat, such as low fat beef patties, all ingredients are mixed conventionally without vacuum tumbling." No explanation, though, of why these products and not others. And is this gunk ubiquitous?

Rigor Mortis Development at Elevated Temperatures Induces Pale Exudative Turkey Meat Characteristics, bleh.