I’m not a huge fan of eating animals, but I still feel it’s an important adult skill to know how to safely and yummily cook raw meat. You may be learning to cook but are putting off the somewhat scary, somewhat gross step of cooking a meat-filled meal from scratch. Well, now is the time my friend. Rip it off with these helpful tips!
Buy quality
Grass-fed meat from a farmer’s market is better for you and the environment. If your market is closed for winter, organic meat’s your next step. (Natural is not the same and doesn’t mean that much.) Think organic is too expensive? Try chicken meat with a bone (thighs are super yummy) to cut costs way down, or tougher pieces of beef, sometimes labeled “chuck” or “stew meat”, that you can stick in a slow cooker.
Separate it out
Use those plastic bags above the meat case at the grocery store to put your meat package in and keep raw meat separate from everything else in your cart if you can. Once you’re home, keep meat in a low drawer or on the bottom shelf of your fridge, or freeze it if you won’t use it within 3 days. Lastly, have a separate cutting board that’s just for meat and one for your veggies.
Cook it all the way through
This one we all fudge, you know that. No one wants a well done burger! (I’m also strictly anti-firm egg yolks.) But meat can be safe well before being well done. Using a thermometer to make sure you are heating your meat to the appropriately safe temperature will actually give you a better chance at a yummy meal than just guessing. Though with some practice you can get a good feel for when your meat is done. Literally feel it. Well done meat will feel like touching your forehead, medium your chin, and rare your nose. (I learned that from watching Gordon Ramsey.) Plus, the trick of cutting open your chicken breast to check will just let all the juices run out leaving you with a sad, dry dinner.
Put leftovers away
You don’t have to be crazy about dashing to the kitchen at work to put your lunch in the fridge immediately after you 20 minute commute, but do be mindful of not leaving your food out for too long. Two hours is the absolute tops. And remember, that’s from when it came out of the oven, not when you finished eating!
For more tips and specifics, visit foodsafety.gov. So, nothing to be afraid of. Go ahead and try a yummy roast this weekend!
