Page 184 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

(b) Salting
To improve the shelf life and taste of the dried meat, it is common practice to apply
salt on the strips before they are placed for drying. This procedure helps to reduce
activities of spoilage microorganism and impart good taste in the final product. The
recommended application procedure is immersion of the strip in a 14% salt solution.
It is best to do salting within 5 hours after slaughter because this is the time when
microbial growth is most active. Dipping meat in salt solution also helps keeping
away insects such as domestic flies. In addition, salt forms a crystalline layer on the
surface of the meat as the meat is drying. In this way, salt helps in drawing water
from the deeper layers of the meat due to its hygroscopic property. Soaking the meat
strips should be done by dipping the strips in the salt solution. The strips should be
left to soak for about 5 - 6 minutes before being taken out for draining using a clean
cloth or plastic strainer.

(c) Suspending meat strips for drying
The best practice to hang meat strips for drying is to suspend them individually on
one end in an area with free air circulation. The strips should be placed well apart
to prevent them from coming into contact with one another. One should avoid the
traditional system of hanging strips over tree branches, ropes or wires (refer Figure
8.6). Different means can be used for suspending the meat strips. These include
loops, metal hooks and metal clips.
(a) Loops: Suspending meat strips with the use of thin plastic, sisal, cotton strings.

(b) Metal hooks: Suspending meat strips by attaching one end on the strip onto
non-corrosive metal hooks which in turn are held on a horizontal wooden stick
or tight rope.

(c) Metal clips: Suspending meat strips in similar arrangements as for metal hooks
using metal clips.

Figure 8.6: Suspension of meat strips

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AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 173 10/01/2025 12:31