Whether you are a housewife or any person else, you may cook meat for thousands of time. Because meat is the main ingredient in most of the meal, there are tons of ways you can cook it into delicious dishes. We are familiar with meats such as beef, lamb, pork, and chicken. And there is nothing perfect than the sizzling sound of a nice piece of meat on the stovetop. But maybe sometimes you are disappointed in an overcooked lamb or undercooked chicken dishes. It is both easy and hard to cook meat right for your family’s dinner. Here are some things you can note for the next cooking time.
Prepare to cook meat
Before cooking the meat, preparing process is an essential thing to make sure you don’t have a foodborne illness. To thaw or not to thaw is still a controversial topic. It depends on the kind of meat and the method you plan to cook it.
But overall, it is better to thaw frozen meat in the refrigerator for 24 hours before cooking. You’d better thaw the frozen meat with cold water. You can put the meat in a bag and submerge it in the sink with water. Many people usually thaw foods at room temperature, but it can develop bacteria that harm your foods.
Choose the right meat for the right dishes
If you are not a master meat cooker, you can find it hard to find the right way to cook meat right. You should know which kinds of meat suit with grilling, broiling, roasting or simmering recipes.
Beef and pork
Beef and pork are full of protein and have a variety way of cooking. In general, they are consist of tender cuts and tough cuts.
Tender cuts include tenderloin or striploin. They are suitable for the dry-heat method like grilling or broiling. Beefsteak or BBQ party is an excellent choice for your meal.
Tough Cuts includes blade, brisket or short rib go well with stewing or braising method. By this way, you can add moisture and break down tough proteins.
Chicken is a familiar dish in holiday seasons. You can roast the whole chicken in the oven so the fat from the skin can permeate the meat inside. It depends on each part of the chicken that you can cook in different ways. Chicken thighs and legs are suitable for grilling while the chicken breast is best to lock in juices and brine to add moisture.
Check the temperature
Once you’ve chosen perfect meat to cook, the next thing you should consider is temperature.
You don’t want your beef is so overcooked that too tough to eat. You can have a thermometer to know exactly the temperature of the meat. If you don’t, it’s not a big problem, the oven or infrared cooker can help you.
Red meat like beef, pork, lamb or veal should be cooked from 115 to 120 F degrees.
Pork meat should be cooked in 140 to 145 degrees depends on you like medium or well-done dish.
Chicken and turkey should be cooked from up to 160 degreed.
