Transglutaminase (aka meat glue)

[ComradeQ]

Hey team! Been ages since I have made a post, working 12 hours a day/7 days a week since March and I never get a second for anything! Well with Christmas coming and the promise of some time off I figured it was time for some curing. So onto my question ... anyone ever use Transglutaminase with cured meat products? Specifically, I was going to do a rolled pancetta and have been debating using it on the rolled side prior to rolling so the slices will stay round and hold their shape. Any thoughts/suggestions/concerns about this plan? I just got a rather large package from a friend so trying to come up with some uses as I have never played with it before.

[DanMcG]

I've played around with it a few times. It will only bind proteins so it won't work on a layer of fat. Also once the package is opened it has a short shelf life.
That's about all I can offer Q

[ComradeQ]

I've played around with it a few times. It will only bind proteins so it won't work on a layer of fat. Also once the package is opened it has a short shelf life.
That's about all I can offer Q

That's helpful to know, thanks! I may give it a whirl and see what it does to keep the shape of the pancetta. I'm rolling meat side in so I may be able to have enough protein to bind. Guess it is worth a try if for experimentation sake. I'll update how it works out

[kimgary]

Bearing in mind that the vast majority of uk sliced supermarket ham is Reformed I cannot see a problem, though I am no way an expert on this.
On contacting a supplier for a similar much cheaper product I was told it would also be effective with seafood, will definitely look at investing in some and maybe sharing some for members to try and give feed back and opinions.
Regards
Gary.

[vagreys]

A small plea from a very small minority. Those of us who are allergic to beef, really need to know that transglutaminase is being used in a product. Some of us have full-blown allergic reactions to products that incorporate meat glue.

On a separate note, while you are rolling it meat-side in, after the first tuck, won't you have meat against fat?

[DanMcG]

Good point on the allergy thing Tom.
99% of my stuff is for home consumption so that's not a problem here.

[ComradeQ]

A small plea from a very small minority. Those of us who are allergic to beef, really need to know that transglutaminase is being used in a product. Some of us have full-blown allergic reactions to products that incorporate meat glue.

On a separate note, while you are rolling it meat-side in, after the first tuck, won't you have meat against fat?

Good point about the allergy note, it is for personal consumption but I will let any family know to be safe.

On the other note about rolling ... ha, I realized the folly of my way once I made that post, was hoping it would slip by unnoticed lol! Not on this forum, Admin's are way too good!

I did however read up on various websites and have found the following quote ...

"TG depends on available proteins to do its job. Much of the protein on the surface of charred and seared meats is unavailable to TG for bonding. The Maillard reaction uses them up. The cooked portions of meats may or may not have the majority of its protein available. Typically, cooked meats will still glue together, but they do not bond as strongly as their raw counterparts. The added sodium caseinate in Activa RM (as opposed to Active TI) helps to overcome the lack of undisturbed proteins in cooked and cured meats. Bacon and ham can be glued, as can braised short ribs and other similar foods.

High fat items, like chicken skin and bacon, can be glued because of the connective tissue they contain. Rendered fat cannot be glued."

So it seems according to some interweb sources that bacon glues fine. I have seen numerous posts where people are gluing pancetta or bacon onto something else and it seems to secure the whole thing. It is just an experiment anyway, so I will update with my conclusions. Thanks for all the great input!

[DanMcG]

Interesting info. I'll be looking forward to your results.

[ComradeQ]

Ok so cured the pancetta, applied the transglutaminase, rolled up and put it into the curing chamber for 2 weeks (humidity reads high in the pic, it was an hour after putting it in, got it down to 70% after the initial spike. I'm not going for a raw deli meat product so no weight loss goal, just looking for a fry up product. One week in, will find out the results in a week or so. I also added a layer of black pepper so interested in how it will bind with the pepper inbetween.

[DanMcG]

Looks great, i'll be waiting for next weeks pic's!

[DiggingDogFarm]

A small plea from a very small minority. Those of us who are allergic to beef, really need to know that transglutaminase is being used in a product. Some of us have full-blown allergic reactions to products that incorporate meat glue.

That meat glue stuff often gets called out for it's content but doesn't the same caution apply to collagen casings....it's said that they're often made from beef???

"Although collagen casing is a processed product,
sometimes incorrectly described as ‘artificial’, the raw
material that is used to manufacture sausage casings is
a natural animal product originating from the thin inner
layer called the corium; found just beneath the hide of
beef cattle."

Source: http://www.devro.com/uploads/tx_sbdownl ... llagen.pdf



=Martin=

[saucisson]

How did it turn out Q?