Cooking Tips For Meat

Healthy Cooking Tips For Meat

Understanding methods for cooking meat is important to ensure you get the most out of your meat. In this article you will find handy tools and tips for Buying, Storing and Cooking meat along with few healthy tips that would help you make your meat dish tastier.

Buying And Storing Meat

• Choose wrapped packages without any tears, holes or leaks. There should be little or no liquid in the bottom of the tray.
• Make sure the package is cold and feels firm. Avoid packages that are stacked too high in the meat case because they may not have been kept cold enough.
• Check the sell-by date and use within 2 days.
• Put packages of meat in plastic bags before putting them in your grocery cart so bacteria in the juices doesn’t contaminate other foods.
• Don’t buy or use meat that has turned gray, has an off odor or feels slimy.
• Refrigerate meat as soon as you get home from shopping. If it will take longer than 30 minutes to get it home, keep it cold in a cooler with ice packs.
• Place it in the meat compartment or on bottom shelf to ensure there isn’t any drip onto other foods.
• Don’t put raw and cooked meat together in the same compartment of the fridge. Cover cooked and ready-to-eat food.

Few Healthy Cooking Tips For Preparing Meat

• Thaw your meat in the refrigerator or for quick thawing place your vacuum sealed package in warm water for a few minutes. You can run larger roasts (still packaged) under warm water to accelerate thawing. Stay away from the microwave thawing. It produces uneven results and can toughen or dry the meat.
• Bring your grass fed meat to room temperature before cooking. Do not cook it cold straight from a refrigerator.
• Don’t over-trim your grass-fed meats. Leave plenty of fat on your roasts and steaks to help insulate the meat.
• Always pre-heat your oven, pan or grill before cooking grass fed meat.
• Grass-fed meats typically have higher protein and lower fat levels than commercial corn-fed meat. Even if the meat is well-marbled, pasture-fed animal fat is more fragile and renders more quickly, so the meat will usually require 20%-30% less cooking time. 
• Experiment with reducing the temperature of your recipes by 25 degrees. Try 300 degrees for oven roasting or at the lowest heat setting in a crock pot. The cooking time will likely still be shorter than with grain-fed meat, even at the lower temperature. Watch your meat thermometer and don’t overcook your meat. Use moisture from sauces to add to the tenderness when cooking roasts.
• The meat will continue to cook when removed from heat, so remove it from your heat source 10 degrees cooler than your desired temperature.
• Be careful not to overcook your pasture-fed meat, it’s suited for rare to medium rare cooking. If you like well done meats, then cook at very low temperatures in a sauce to add moisture.
• Let the meat sit covered and in a warm place for at least 10 minutes (30 minutes for large roasts) after cooking to let the juices redistribute.
• Save your leftovers: roasted grass fed slices make great healthy luncheon meats with no additives or preservatives.

Cooking Methods For Meat
Cooking methods in the culinary arts are divided into two categories:

• Dry heat cooking, such as roasting, broiling or sauteing.
• Moist heat cooking, like braising, steaming or poaching.

Because every cooking method uses either dry heat or moist heat (or sometimes both), classifying them this way ensures that every known method falls into one category or the other.

Roasting Meat

• Remove meat from refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking. Trim excess fat and silver skin if necessary. Weigh meat to calculate cooking time.
• Preheat oven depending on the type of meat you are roasting.
• Place meat, fat side uppermost, on a rack in a roasting dish. Season with a little salt and pepper and any other seasonings wished.
• Cook for calculated time, basting occassionally.
• When cooked, remove from oven and transfer to a plate. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 10-20 minutes before carving.
• Carve across the grain to ensure tenderness and serve.

BBQ / Grilling Meat 

• Grilling is a fast, dry method of cooking tender cuts with radiant heat directed from below or above the meat. Char-grilling or barbecuing, and fan-grilling are variations on this method.
• Brush meat with oil or rub with infused oil; this adds flavour and prevents meat from sticking to grids.
• If adding salt or salt/spice mixtures do this immediately before cooking. With dry herb/spice rubs used to impart flavour, brush off excess before grilling. An option to be to brush over surface with oil before cooking to prevent burning dry rub ingredients.
• Ensure the BBQ or grill is hot before you cook; the meat should sizzle as it hits the surface.
• Let the meat cook on one side until moisture appears, then turn once only.
• Test for degree of doneness. This can be judged using touch.
• Before serving, allow beef or lamb to rest in a warm place for a short time, depending on size.

Pan frying Meat

• For even cooking, ensure meat is of even thickness. Some cuts (e.g. lamb cutlets, schnitzels) can be batted out or lightly pounded with a meat mallet to flatten slightly. First cover meat with plastic wrap to prevent mallet sticking to it.
• Pat meat dry before frying. Wet meat will not brown well. Drain marinated meat well before frying then blot dry with paper towels. When pan-frying thin slices or strips of beef or lamb a protective coating keeps meat moist and aids browning. 
• Coat with flour or flour/spice mixture immediately before cooking. Some other coatings are cornflour, pea flour, beaten egg or egg whites and breadcrumbs.
• Use a suitably wide pan so meat is not crowded during cooking. Too much meat added to a small pan reduces temperature and slows cooking.
• Heat oil/fat to the correct temperature before putting meat in. It should "haze" or shimmer, not smoke. If oil is too cool, food can absorb it and meat will not brown quickly enough. 
• During frying, adjust temperature to keep heat moderate-to-high so food sears quickly without burning.
• To keep food crisp after frying, drain it well on absorbent paper. If holding food after frying, use dry heat and keep holding time to a minimum.

Stir Fry Meat

• Cut meat across the grain into strips of even thickness. Coat the meat in oil instead of adding oil to the wok.
• Ensure the wok is hot before you begin to cook meat or vegetables. It should be hot enough to evaporate a bead of water on contact.
• Cook meat in small batches (about 250g). When you add the meat to the wok, work from the outer side to the centre, where it will be hottest.
• Set meat aside and return to the pan with sauces once the vegetables are cooked. Sir-fry only to combine - do not reheat meat for too long or it will toughen.

Poaching Meat

• Cook gently for most tender results.
• Arrange beef or lamb cuts in a single layer in the poaching, simmering pan, to ensure even cooking.
• Use a rich stock when poaching for a short time, as brief cooking does not allow rich, strong flavours to develop in the pan.
• A well flavoured poaching or simmering liquid can be used in sauces to accompany the meat.
• Pre-soaking and blanching: Some salted beef and lamb products may be soaked in cold water to extract some salt prior to cooking. 
• To blanch salted or pickled meat start it off in cold water, then bring to the boil, simmer and refresh under cold running water. After refreshing, simmer blanched meat in stock or liquid until cooked.

Braise, Casserole, Pot-Roast Meat

• Use the appropriate cut of meat; cuts with a certain amount of marbling and gelatinous connective tissue retain juiciness better than very lean cuts when cooked long and slowly.
• Although browning is not essential, it is desirable since it not only improves colour but also develops flavour.
• A tight-fitting lid holds in the steam that helps to soften the connective tissue,making the meat more tender. A sheet of buttered baking paper placed over the meat, under the lid, helps to prevent the surface from drying.
• After initial browning at a low temperature, maintaining a sub-simmer is important. While prolonged simmering or cooking close to the boil is necessary to soften connective tissue and make soft meat tender, it also dries lean meat out. As meat is heated, muscles coagulate and proteins shrink, squeezing out water. Cooking meat in liquid does not stop this water loss.
• Over cooking can make meat dry and stringy. Cook until just tender and check for readiness at intervals. If the meat is ready but the cooking liquid has not reduced enough to give a good sauce consistency, remove the meat (keep it covered so the surface does not dry) while you complete the sauce. Then return the meat to the hot sauce.

Steaming Meat

• Use a tight fitting lid or have steamer door securely closed to retain heat and moisture. 
• If food is cooked in basins or moulds, grease these well and firmly cover with grease-proof kitchen paper, cloth or foil to prevent sticking, or moisture penetrating food. 
• Steaming is practical for thawing and quickly reheating prepared foods.