Suggestions about treating and preparing meat
Kitchen utensils for preparing and cutting meat
Storing, freezing and defrosting meat
Quality of Meat
Suggestions Applicable to the Preparation Methods of All Kinds of Meat
A few definitions
Suggestions about treating and preparing meat - Do not damage meat excessively when turning or cutting it (no incisions ) - otherwise meat juices run out and its flavour and succulence are lost to some extent.
- Cut meat steaks (cutlets) crosswise to its muscle fibres . The same applies when cutting up meat dishes after cooking - by doing so you shorten muscle fibres, making the pieces tenderer and more delicate. Cutting meat fibres lengthwise leaves meat tough and less delicious.- Use a sharp knife to cut meat in order not to uselessly damage its cut surface. The knife should effortlessly slide through meat. For chopping bones use a bone saw.
- It is possible to prepare a juicy and tasty meal even of tough meat. For that end meat has to be marinated in an acidic marinade. Pounding, making incisions and thermal treating also help to soften tough chunks of meat. One possibility is to use meat tenderiser (papain). The aim of tenderising (crumbling or loosening) meat is the same as that of pounding. Meat slices are once or twice passed through a tenderiser equipped with needles or blades. However, excessive loosening damages meat fibres and makes it dry.- Take care with seasoning for meat should retain its original aroma and flavour. Moderate seasoning requires discernment which is built on experience and experiments.
- Before thermal treating meat should be kept at room temperature for about an hour so that when starting cooking, the temperature difference is not as drastic and meat browns nicely.- Whichever the preparation method, for health safety reasons the internal temperature of meat should be 72′C (cooked well-done). However, beef is frequently cooked medium (internal temperature 60-65′C) and rare (internal temperature 50-55′C).
- Cooked meat should be kept for 5-15 minutes covered in a dish or pot before eating so that the movement of meat juices stops. Still, do not leave meat to cool for too long, but eat it while hot.
Kitchen utensils for preparing and cutting meat
The principal implement for cutting meat is the knife which should be functional and durable. It is important that the knife be comfortable to use. Knives with various shapes each have their own purpose.Meat knife (also called chef’s knife) is for cutting larger slices.
Meat cutting knife: its blade is slightly curved upwards (blade length around 15 cm), Suitable for cutting all kinds of meat, especially for making curved cuttings.Boning knife is meant for removing bones from meat. Its short blade (ca. 10-12 cm) is slightly curved at both ends.
Serrated knife is used to make cuts - fashioned as a grid or just simple stripes - onto the surface of meat (e.g. onto rind or pork lard).
In addition, there are other implements that come to help when preparing meat.Regular use of the sharpener stick helps to keep knives sharp for longer. Just repeatedly draw the blade down the stick at a steady angle.
Meat hammer is used for pounding meat slices to give them tenderer and looser texture and round shape. The meat hammer has two sides - one rough and the other flat.Scraper is for cleaning meat surfaces (for example, after sawing). If a scraper is not available, scrape meat with a knife blade.
There are two types of safety gloves. 1) protective gloves made from a mesh of interlocking steel rings; 2) gloves made of textile reinforced with steel fibres. Such gloves protect hands from cuts when working with edged tools.
Storing, freezing and defrosting meat
When storing meat, it is extremely important to follow the storage temperature and expiry date indicated on the package. If a package has been opened, the product should be consumed the same day. Curing meat with salt, seasoning, marinating and packaging extends its storage time.The best storage temperature of meat and minced meat is 0…+2′C. Cooled meat chunks can also be stored at +2…+6′C. The storage temperature of frozen meat is -18′C.
Freezing and the later defrosting inevitably degrades the quality of meat. That is why it pays to avoid freezing. At the same time freezing is an effective method that enables meat to be stored for a longer time.Freezing means that the internal temperature of meat is reduced to -18′C. So cold an environment destroys most microorganisms and therefore meat can be preserved for a longer time. When meat is stored for an unnecessarily long time, its adipose tissue goes rancid and the meat is unfit for human consumption. Therefore it is important to follow the expiry date even for frozen meat.
Meat should be defrosted slowly, otherwise lots of meat juices are lost and meat becomes dry or dull. The best defrosting temperature is 0…+2′C. Meat can be defrosted at room temperature or in the refrigerator, and the latter method should be preferred. In the refrigerator at the temperature +6′C meat retains more juices then in case of fast defrosting. In the refrigerator it takes 500 g of meat 6 hours to defrost, at room temperature 2 hours. Defrosted meat should be used for food as quickly as possible.It is best to defrost meat in its package and in the air. It is also possible to defrost meat in water (under running water of +18′C maximum), but only as a last resort and in that case meat has to be packaged. The package can be opened only after defrosting. However, meatballs can be defrosted without a package - just pour them into soup to boil.
Quality of MeatMoney paid for high-quality meat certainly pays off for it means fewer scraps, higher nutritional value and better flavour. Only meat of natural and fresh aroma and colour can be used for food. Greyish, brownish, slippery or blotchy surface and unpleasant smell indicate that meat has perished and cannot be used for food.
- Tough and stringy meat is not as highly valued as pleasantly tender and delicate meat. The degree of tenderness depends mostly on the amount of connective tissue. The more meat contains connective tissue, the tougher it is. Meat with high connective tissue content requires longer maturing time and also marinating. Meat from older animals is especially tough.- It is not advisable to consume meat raw in order to avoid various diseases.
- Uncooked and cooked meat (including thermally treated and untreated meat) should never come into contact. In addition, raw poultry should be kept separate from other meats at all times.- When preparing meat dishes, wash hands regularly and keep all surfaces clean.
- Meat is stored in the refrigerator either covered or packaged. It is vital to follow its storage time.
Suggestions Applicable to the Preparation Methods of All Kinds of Meat
- Before thermal treating meat should be kept at room temperature for about an hour so that when starting cooking, the temperature difference is not drastic and meat browns nicely.- Do not damage meat excessively when turning or cutting it (no incisions) - otherwise meat juices run out and its flavour and succulence are lost to some extent.
- Whichever the preparation method, for health safety reasons the internal temperature of meat should be 72′C (cooked well-done). However, beef is frequently cooked medium (internal temperature 60-65′C) and rare (internal temperature 50-55′C). The internal temperature of pork and poultry should reach 72′C.- Cooked meat should be left to stand for 5-15 minutes before eating so that the movement of meat juices stops. It is advisable to eat meat hot right after cooking (especially barbecued and grilled meat).
More to come…- Due to risk of contracting infectious enteritis raw poultry should never come into contact with other food products. All kitchen utensils used should be thoroughly cleaned.
- Wash hands after preparing raw meat. Use separate dishes for cooked and uncooked meat.- It is important to keep raw (i.e. thermally untreated) and cooked meat separate from each other in order to avoid the spread of food bacteria.
A few definitions- Meat is the muscular part of the bodies of animals and birds used for food.
- As a rule, red meat includes pork, beef, veal, mutton and lamb although pork and veal can sometimes be quite pale. White meat generally designates poultry.- Carcass is the properly processed (without a head and feet) and bled body of an animal from which its skin (pork carcasses include rind), innards and other slaughter products have been removed. Half-carcass means that a carcass has been cut in half lengthwise its backbone, dividing the carcass into two equal parts.
- The result of boning (removing bones from meat with knife) is boneless, the so-called tender meat.- Low fat meat can also be called lean meat.
- Muscle meat consists of 75% water. The majority of muscles are muscle fibres , in addition connective tissue, veins, etc. Connective tissue links and binds together different tissues - it surrounds muscles, tendons and vessels. It is also present as muscle-connective tissue and rind.- Meat protein (animal protein) is the protein present in meat - protein from meat and connective tissue and blood. The major sources of animal protein are meat, milk, fish (does not contain iron) and eggs. It is important to bear in mind that vegetable protein does not replace animal protein. Therefore eating meat is essential to the human body.
Enn Tobreluts (product manager of meat, AS Rakvere Lihakombinaat) - author of the books Meat Book and Grilling and Barbecuing published in the series 100 Recipes.
