How to Cook Meat

After buying the meat, refrigerate it within 2 hours of buying it. Cook the meat immediately after buying it. You can keep beef, lamp or veal in the fridge for 3-5 days. But ground meat can be stored only for two days. To kill the surface bacteria cook meat such as beef, veal and lamp for 145˚F which is a minimum requirement. You can cook the meat even for 160 or 170 degree F. Ground meat should be cooked for a minimum of 160˚F. Ground meat contains bacteria that spread throughout the meat and hence it is necessary cook at that heat. Quality of the meat also affects the time taken for cooking. Low quality meat takes longer time to cook as it contains higher water content.

By using a meat thermometer, you can understand the temperature of the meat. Insert the thermometer to the thick and fleshy part of the meat. You also have to consider the cut of the meat. The cut of the meat from the protected area of the animal like beef tenderloin is safer to cook at a lesser degree of heat. Dry heat methods are used for tender or delicate cuts of meat. Using a pressure cooker is one of the easiest and efficient ways of cooking meat. You can cook any type of meat in a pressure cooker. Meat should be thawed properly before cooking.

Properly cooked meat will be juicy, tender and well flavored. The meat will become hard and indigestible when exposed to heat higher than the boiling point. Meat should be kept under boiling point for long time to make it tender. While roasting or boiling the meat, it should be exposed to higher degree of heat i.e. more than the boiling point in order to make the surface of the meat crusted and hard.