Page 183 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Factors to consider for proper meat drying: The major factors to consider for
proper meat drying are type of meat, speed of drying and salting of the meat before
drying. These factors are further explained here.
(i) Type of meat: Meat for drying should have little fatty tissues within the muscles
as it dries better without developing rancidity taste. The best meat for drying
should therefore come from medium-aged animals. This is because older
animals tend to have high fat in their bodies. Young animals in good condition
have leaner meat than fat in their muscles.
(ii) Speed of drying: Avoid rapid surface drying. Dry meat surface inhibits the
evaporation of moisture from deeper layers. It can lead to microbial spoilage in
layers where moisture content remains high.
(iii) Salting of the meat before drying: Salting acts as a preservative and helps in
minimising microbial activities.

Steps in preserving meat by sun drying: There are three steps involved in preserving
meat by drying method. These are stripping, salting and suspending for drying.
(a) Producing meat strips
The strips are produced as follows:
(i) Begin with separating individual muscles.

(ii) Cutting the muscles into thin strips. Strips to be dried together should be as
uniform in size as possible. Long strips are better than short ones.
(iii) Cut the muscles along the direction of the muscle fibres, always maintaining the
same diameter throughout the length of the strips (refer to Figure 8.5).
(iv) Keep the strip lengths between 20 and 70 cm long. Short strips are difficult to
handle; longer strips could be too heavy to suspend.

Figure 8.5: Beef strips for drying

Student’s Book Form Three
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10/01/2025 12:31
AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 172
AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 172 10/01/2025 12:31