The judge of the 2017 Brandon Hog and Livestock Show Pork Quality Competition says colour, marbling and texture are the three big factors that influence the desirability of pork.
The Pork Quality Competition was the highlight yesterday of the 2017 Brandon Hog and Livestock Show. This year’s winners included Waldheim Colony at Elie in first, Barickman Colony at Cartier in second and Sky View Colony at Miami in third.
Dr. Bob McKay, the judge of this year’s competition says when it comes to eating quality colour, texture and marbling are the big three.
Colour is important because it’s the first thing the consumer sees when they go in the grocery store. There have been studies done where you put dark pork and light pork in a display case, they’ll take the light pork because they think it’s from a younger animal. They are all killed at the same age. Pale pork means that it’s going to ooze moisture, it’s going to cook more on drying, it’ll be very tough to eat, so very undesirable. Marbling is there because marbling just makes meat taste good. You need a little bit in there. Texture is important because, if it’s loose and wet, that means that the cell membranes are breaking down and it’ll cook out very dry.
If you ask the consumer what they want, they don’t want any fat in the meat, they want basically devoid of marbling, they want something that’s relatively inexpensive that they can eat. The trouble is, if you take the marbling out, they’re not going to like it. Back in the early 90’s we had done a study at the research station where we had marbled pork and non-marbled pork. When they saw it, they didn’t want the marbled pork. When you cooked it up and gave it to them to eat, they all preferred the marbled pork because it reminded them of pork that they had when they were kids.
Dr. Bob McKay-Brandon Hog and Livestock Show
Dr. McKay says what we see with our eyes is not what we desire with our palates. He says if you want a tasty nutritious meal with pork you’ve got to have some marbling in there.
