Lean fresh meat has a water content of approximately 70%.
One of the major challenges of meat processing is concerned
with preventing loss of liquid from lean meat tissue during
storage. When meat is cut, a red solution of proteins that is
known as drip (or weep or purge) oozes from the cut
surfaces. For primals, the volume of drip produced in the first
48 hours or so after boning is typically quoted to be about 1 to
10 mL per kg of meat (0.1 to 1%), while for steaks or chops; it
can be 10 times greater.
In meat that is stored for extended periods (e.g. vacuumpackaged
primals), the drip loss gradually increases with
time. A ‘normal’ amount of drip in commercial vacuum packs
of chilled primals is usually regarded to be 1 to 2%. Drip of
more than 1% is unusual for the main seam-boned primals,
but it could be up to 2% for pieces of meat that are subject to
cutting and trimming to achieve a specification. The amount
will be greater in smaller packs where the surface area is
proportionately greater per unit weight. In some of the
scientific investigations upon which information for this article
is based, the pieces of meat were small (for instance eighths
of striploins in one trial) to ensure that different treatment
effects were tested with practical quantities of meat. Fo