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How is deli meat made? – Arabelle, 17, Brooklyn, New York

How is deli meat made? – Arabelle, 17, Brooklyn, New York

If you’ve ever eaten a ham or turkey sandwich for lunch, then you’ve probably eaten deli meat. Sometimes called lunch meat, deli meat is a kind of meat that has been cooked, preserved and sliced so it is ready to eat in your favorite sandwich, wrap or salad.

In the United States, common deli meats include ham, turkey and roast beef, but around the world there are many others, such as salami, pepperoni, capicola and even head cheese. Although they taste different, they’re all made in similar ways.

Believe it or not, I’m a meat scientist. I study how meat is turned into foods such as deli ham and how to make those foods safe, tasty and nutritious.

Let’s follow one ham from pig to sandwich. We’ll use ham because it is my mom’s favorite.

The journey to your sandwich

Ham starts out as the back leg of a pig. But by the time it’s finished, those muscles have been flavored, cooked, cooled and sliced so thin that they can be folded into a sandwich in just a few seconds. The process starts by removing the bones from the ham and separating the raw meat into large pieces.

This meat gets a bath in a salty mixture called a brine. Lots of tiny needles inject the brine deep into the meat, helping it soak in evenly. Then the ham pieces rest so they can soak up all those ingredients, almost........

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