Disclosed is a process for producing a red meat product that has an extended shelf life. The method comprises the steps: Providing a slaughtered animal having pre-rigor red meat Hot boning the slaughtered animal to obtain a portion of pre-rigor meat from the animal Processing the portion of pre-rigor meat to form a processed pre-rigor meat that has a pre-slaughter temperature, the temperature being substantially the same as the temperature of the animal prior to slaughter Salting the processed pre-rigor meat in the presence of a refrigerant Packing the processed pre-rigor meat at the refrigerated temperature. The salt can be sodium chloride and the refrigerant can be solid carbon dioxide.
