We had a talk with Rudy Magnani from Clai cooperative, Italy about his experience with their new MeatMaster.
The whole interview can be seen in the video, or read it below in our transcription.
Tell us a bit about Clai
Rudy Magnani: Clai is a cooperative of workers and farmers that takes care of all the swine chain. We have our own fields, our own breedings, we have our slaughterhouse, and we have this plant where we produce salami and sausages. We have another plant in Parma. We also have an energy plant where we produce energy and hot water from the waste of all the points of our swine chain.
Organizing the drying phase, I can ensure that a product will be ready in the time I want. Because, with fat content that is not standardised, the ripening time can change. In this way, we are able to ensure that the product will be ready at the right time, and that, we can reduce the weight loss. That means more money earned for us.
Why did you invest in the MeatMaster instrument?
We tried to find in the market the best technology we can, the best technology available. Seven years ago, we bought a FoodScan, and we started to check each batch we produced, to check the fat content of our products. But I was not able to correct my recipe because I discovered the fat content after the production. We decided to buy MeatMaster to control the fat content online. In this way, we can first of all ensure our customers that we have fat standardisation and ripening standardisation, because the fat standardisation is very important for the ripening phase.
First of all, we weigh the meat, we control the fat content of the meat and ensure the absence of foreign objects. Then we grind the meat with the cutter. We make the first cut with the cutter and then with the grinder. When the meat is ground and minced, it goes in a mixing machine, and after that, a filling machine fills the casing, the product.
After the filling phase, it goes into a drying phase for one week. The fermentation happens in this week. After that, the product is moved to a curing room, where it stays at high humidity and low temperature until the end of the ripening process. The ripening phase can last from two weeks until four months, depending on the shape of product, the fat content of the product and the quality that we want to reach.
By standardising the fat content, and also the drying phase, we can save weight loss, and we can reduce the ripening time.
