How to tell if pork is fresh

When buying pork, you must learn how to choose it. Do not buy pork that is not very fresh or even rotten. If people eat this pork, it will cause symptoms of illness in their bodies. You should choose some fresh pork to eat. If you find that the meat is very hard and the muscle fibers are very rough when you chew it, this means that the pork you bought is not fresh enough.

When buying pork, you can judge whether the quality of the meat is good or bad based on the color, appearance, smell, etc. of the meat. High-quality pork has white, firm fat and a fragrant aroma. There is often a slightly dry membrane on the outside of the meat. The meat is firm and elastic, and the depressed area will recover immediately after being pressed with fingers.

The color of second-rate meat is darker than that of fresh meat, and it lacks luster, and the fat is grayish white. The surface is sticky and has a slightly rancid and moldy smell. The meat is soft and has little elasticity, and the concave areas cannot recover in time after light pressure. After the meat is cut, the surface is moist and turbid gravy will ooze out. Spoiled meat is very sticky, has a relatively dry surface, and is gray-brown in color; the meat is soft and inelastic, and the concave areas cannot recover after pressure from the fingers, leaving obvious marks.

The first thing to look at is the color. Good pork is light red or bright red in color, while unsafe pork is often dark red or purple in color. The thickness of the pig fat layer is appropriate (generally it should account for about 33% of the total) and it is pure white without any yellow fat color. Pork with an inspection stamp on the carcass is healthy pork. In addition, it can also be identified by cooking. Bad pork will have a lot of water when put into the pot, and it will not have the fresh fragrance of pork. There will also be no thin layer of fat in the soup. When you bite it with your mouth, the meat will be very hard and the muscle fibers will be coarse.

The skin of fresh pork is milky white and the fat is white and shiny. The muscle is evenly red in color, with a slightly dry or slightly moist surface, but it is not sticky and has good elasticity. The depression caused by finger pressure will recover immediately, and it has the inherent fresh and fragrant smell of pork. Normal frozen meat feels firm, and after thawing, the muscle color, smell, water content, etc. are normal and have no peculiar smell.

Poor-quality meat caused by feed has the smell of wastewater or medicine; poor-quality meat caused by pathology has the smell of grease, feces, corruption, strange sweetness, etc. The muscles of breeding boars and sows are redder, have more connective tissue, are more tough, are not easy to cook or fry, and have a poor taste.

The water-injected meat is grayish white, light gray or light green, with water oozing out of the surface of the meat. The surface of the meat is not sticky when touched by fingers. After the frozen pork is thawed, a large amount of light red blood will flow out.

The skin of dead pork carcasses is purple-red due to congestion, the fat is gray-red, and there are black clots in the blood vessels. The odor varies depending on the length of time since death.

Water-injected meat

The surface of the meat is puffy, shiny and very moist. The connective tissue (reticular tissue) appears blister-like. Small drops of water seep out of the fresh incision. If the skin of the incision is connected, a pool of blood will ooze out. When normal meat is tested with paper, the paper is oily and flammable; when the paper is stuck on water-injected meat, the paper is wet and not easy to burn.

Spoiled meat

The surface has a dry black hard film or mucus, which is sticky to the touch and sometimes even has a mold layer. The cut surface is dark and moist, slightly sticky, with reduced elasticity and turbid gravy. The fat is dark and dull, sometimes moldy and has a rancid smell. The tendons are slightly softened, dull, and white or light gray. Mildly spoiled meat must be processed at high temperatures as required before it can be eaten, while severely spoiled meat should be used for industrial purposes or destroyed.