How, where and how much to store meat

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Tips for those who love meat and want it to stay fresh and tasty longer.

Sometimes life gives us gifts in the form of a large ram leg or two or three farm chickens bought for the occasion. It is impossible to eat it right away, but I really want to keep it. The life hacker figured out how to properly store different types of meat so as not to harm your health.

Storing meat in the refrigerator

If you are going to cook meat today or tomorrow, you do not need to freeze it. It is enough to put it deeper into the refrigerator.

The bottom shelf is usually the coldest. However, it also happens that the top shelf turns out to be the coldest - it all depends on the model of the refrigerator. So read the instructions.

Chicken, turkey and other poultry can be kept in the refrigerator for only 1-2 days raw and 3-4 days cooked.

Pork, beef, and other raw red meat will last for 5 days in the refrigerator. But after preparation, it is not recommended to store it for more than 4 days.

Minced meat can be stored on the refrigerator shelf for no more than 2 days.

Storing meat in the freezer

The optimum freezer temperature is considered to be -18 ° C.

The main condition for the safety of meat in the freezer is the absence of air in the package. Try to get all the air out of the meat bag and seal it tightly. If you have a dedicated vacuum sealer, great, use it. It also doesn't hurt to wrap the meat bag in foil.

To prevent large pieces from freezing, wrap each in plastic wrap.

Be sure to sign all packages and containers. This way you will always know how much meat has lain in the freezer.

A whole chicken, duck, goose or turkey can be kept in the freezer for a very long time - up to 12 months. It is recommended to store individual parts of the bird no more than 9 months.

Large cuts of beef, veal, pork and lamb are also stored in the freezer for six months to a year. Small pieces of red meat will last less - 4-6 months.

Game (but not wild bird) can be stored for 8-12 months.

Frozen minced meat will withstand no more than 3-4 months.

Cooked frozen meat retains its properties for 2–6 months.

Storing meat without refrigerator and freezer

If you are going on a long hike or just want to stock up on meat for future use and the freezer is too small to walk around, consider alternative ways to store the meat.

Salting

Salt destroys microbes, dries out meat and keeps it from spoiling for a long time. There are two main ways of salting. You can rub the meat with salt, let the released liquid drain and get a dry product at the exit. To make the meat more tasty, you can add herbs and spices to the salt, or pre-marinate it with vinegar. Or you can keep the meat in a saline solution, adding honey or brown sugar for taste.

There are many recipes, but Lifehacker found the easiest one.

How to cook corned beef

Place the cuts of meat in a bag or jar with a tightly screwed lid and sprinkle with salt. Make sure the meat is covered with salt on all sides.

Close the jar or bag tightly and store in a cool place (2–4 ° C, but never below freezing).

The aging period of meat is calculated as follows: 3 days for each centimeter of meat. For example, a piece 10 cm thick will be salted for a month. Corned beef in a can with a volume of no more than 1 liter is cooked for at least 3 weeks.

Rinse meat with water before eating. Corned beef can be stored without a refrigerator for 3-4 months if kept in a container that does not allow air to pass through.

Drying

Cut the meat into narrow strips approximately 1 cm thick. Boil the meat for 3-5 minutes. Then take it out of the water and let it dry completely.

Season the meat strips with salt and season to taste.

Place a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet, place the meat in one layer and place in the oven. Select the minimum temperature and turn on the ventilation mode or open the door slightly. After 8-12 hours, the meat is ready.

Dried meat can be stored for up to 2 months without a refrigerator in a tightly closed container.

Canning

Canned meat can be stored for years. The only thing to consider: for preserving meat, in addition to cans with lids, you need a special device called an autoclave.

This is a rather cumbersome thing that not everyone has on the farm. However, it is she who guarantees the safety of canned meat. The old grandmother's way of canning with sterilizing steam cans, alas, is not safe enough for meat.

You can preserve both boiled and raw meat.

Boiled meat preservation

Boil the meat with salt and spices until half cooked. Then transfer the pieces to hot sterile jars and pour the hot broth almost to the top.

Wipe the jars, close them tightly and place in the autoclave. Then follow the instructions for using the autoclave.

Canning raw meat

Chunks of raw meat are salted and stacked in jars. The meat does not need to be poured with anything: it will itself give juice when heat treated in an autoclave. This method takes more time than canning boiled meat. Cooking pressure and time also depend on the size of the cans and the amount of meat. At the same time, banks must be hermetically closed.

Meat preserved in this way can be stored without a refrigerator, but it is still recommended to keep it in a cool place.