Concept
PSE Meat
Also known as Pale Soft Exudative meat, PSE
Pale, soft, watery meat from too fast a pH fall in a still-warm carcass, poor for curing because it will not hold water.
PSE meat, pale soft and exudative, comes from a pH that drops too fast while the carcass is still warm, often linked to stress before slaughter. The acid-and-heat combination part-denatures the proteins, so the meat turns pale, soft and weepy and loses its grip on water. For the curesmith that is bad raw material: it binds poorly, drips in the bag and cures unevenly. Its mirror image is DFD meat, dark firm and dry, from a pH that never falls far enough, which brings its own problems.