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Buying Beef Guide | More Beef Tips! | Selection Let the label be your guide. The key is understanding the primal or wholesale cut - it tells you where the meat comes from on the carcass and whether it's a tender cut. For example, the words loin and rib are clues that the beef is a tender cut. Chuck, round and flank indicate less tender cuts. If the beef cut on the label isn't familiar, ask your meatman to explain it. | Inspection ensures that the beef you purchase is of high quality and safe to eat. Federal meat inspection is the responsibility of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), a division of the USDA. | Grading is an altogether different process and is optional. Beef can be graded for quality by the USDA. Three grades are usually found at retail: Prime, Choice and Select. Grades are determined by evaluating the amount of marbling (flecks of fat within the lean), the texture of the lean meat and its color and appearance. Meat with the most marbling is labeled Prime. Select has the least amount of fat marbling. It provides fewer calories than Prime or Choice, but it may not be as tender, juicy or flavorful. | Shopping | When shopping for beef, in addition to reading the label, check for the following: | Beef should have a bright, cherry-red color, without any grayish or brownish spots. (Vacuum packaged beef may have a darker, purplish-red color because the meat is not in direct contact with the air. When exposed to air, the familiar cherry-red color returns.) | Make sure beef is firm to the touch rather than soft. | Choose beef that does not have excess liquid in the package. | Look for packages that are cold to the touch and not torn or punctured. | Check the sell-by date; purchase only on or before that date. | COOKING FROM FROZEN:
Although it is preferable to cook your steaks, burgers, pork chops, and roasts from a thawed state, it is possible to obtain satisfactory results without thawing. Place your meat farther from the heat when broiling or grilling. Broil or grill 1 1/2 to 2 times the suggested time for thawed steaks, burgers and pork chops. Roast 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 times that suggested for thawed roasts. | Cooking Frozen BeefBeef may be cooked frozen or defrosted. Defrosted beef should be cooked as a fresh cut; but allow additional cooking time. Frozen roasts require 1/3 to 1/2 more time for cooking. Cooking time for frozen steaks and patties varies according to surface area, thickness, and broiling temperature. Frozen cuts should be broiled farther from the heat so they do not brown too quickly. To braise frozen pot roasts, allow approximately the same cooking time as for defrosted cuts. Defrosting BeefFrozen beef my be defrosted before or during cooking. It should be defrosted in the original wrapping in the refrigerator. Defrosting meat at room temperature is not a recommended procedure. The following is a timetable for defrosting frozen beef in a refrigerator:
Large roast 4-7 hours (per pound)
Small roast 3-5 hours (per pound)
Steak, one-inch thick 12-14 hours
| Freezing
Slow freezing is undesirable as it makes for greater breakdown of muscle cells and subsequent greater juice losses when meat is thawed.
Freeze at temperatures as far below zero as possible. |
Freezer storage tips - For best freezer storage, temperature should be 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Maximum temperature should be 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Check temperature with freezer thermometer or outdoor thermometer. If no thermometer is available, use this rule of thumb; If freezer can't keep ice cream brick-solid, temperature is above the recommended level. Do not store food for more than one week in a freezer where the temperature is above the recommended level.
- Date food packages with an expiration date according to maximum storage time recommended below. Longer storage is not dangerous, but flavors and textures begin to deteriorate.
- For packaging, use heavy-duty foil, moisture- and vapor-proof plastic bags and wraps, freezer wrap or freezer containers. When folded, foil may develop pinholes, resulting in freezer burn.
- Pick up frozen commercial foods just before going to the checkout counter. Purchase only foods frozen solid. Place in home freezer as soon as possible. Cook or thaw according to label instructions.
- Freeze home frozen foods in the coldest part of freezer. Within 24 hours, freeze no more than three pounds of food per cubic foot of freezer space or one-tenth of freezer capacity. Don't try to freeze a quarter of beef in your home freezer. Bring it home from the butcher after it is frozen solid
Last Updated - Saturday, February 02, 2008 01:52 PM |
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