s passage using these data to achieve quick and efficient fat removal from large pieces of meat the needles of the apparatus should be spaced 6 mm apart on centers in staggered rows the final appearance of the meat remained unchanged after the process except for the disappearance of much of the marbling the meat was roasted in standard fashion the texture and flavor of the roast was judged good although noticeably leaner and tougher than an untreated roasted control piece a piece of fresh raw lean usda good chuck arm steer beef 20 mm thick was treated at 20 u00b0 c in the device shown in fig1 as in example 1 the needle was 1 5 mm in diameter and 60 mm long the eye of the needle was 0 3 mm in diameter 3 mm from the needle point the eye of the needle was in contact with the needle lumen which was approximately 0 5 mm in diameter and extended 57 mm from the eye of the needle to the oil reservoir the oil reservoir was filled with corn oil and maintained at a constant temperature of 50 u00b0 c the stroke of the needle was set at 50 mm with a stroke rate of 120 strokes per minute the stroke length caused the needle to ascend approximately 25.