How to cook meat
Information for meat in our free cooking ingredients collection.
Meat
Meat is the general term for any muscle from any animal. However, most people think of meat as meaning “red meat”. This section describes red meats, including the common American staples of beef, pork, lamb, and veal. Also included are ostrich, rabbit, buffalo, and game meats. Rabbit, buffalo, and game meats were once common to the American menu but are now eaten much less often. The same is true of so-called variety meats: brain, heart, kidney, liver, tripe, and tongue. Whereas Americans once needed to make use of every part of a slaughtered animal, the abundance of food, along with changing tastes and attitudes, has made variety meats only rare additions to meals.
Meat is composed of three basic materials: water, protein, and fat. On average, lean muscle tissue is about 75 percent water, 18 percent protein, and 3 percent fat. The eventual texture and taste of the cooked meat depend on the amount of fat and water in the tissue and on the kinds of proteins. In general, the most tender cuts of meat have more fat and less fibrous muscle. Tougher tissue from older animals often has more flavor. Both limitations can be overcome by using the proper cooking methods.
Roughly 50 percent of the protein in meat comes from fibers that contract the muscle and 30 percent from oxygen-storing pigments called myoglobin and various enzymes. The remaining 20 percent comes from connective tissues that hold the muscles together.
Nutrition
From a nutritional point of view, because the composition of most animals is similar to that of humans, animal tissues supply us with complete proteins. More simply, the protein from animals is similar to that produced in our own bodies. Thus, it contains the full count of essential amino acids.
Red meat is an important source of minerals, including iron, phosphorus, zinc, and copper, and vitamins, including B vitamins and vitamin A. However, there are some nutritional trade-offs to be made. Red meat can be the main source of fat, particularly saturated fat, and cholesterol in the American diet. Both have been linked by numerous studies to cardiovascular disease. Too much fat and cholesterol can contribute to the buildup of plaque in arteries, which in turn increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. In addition, diets high in fat have been linked to some types of cancer, particularly colon cancer.
Americans have traditionally enjoyed an abundance of meat in their diets compared with other populations, and tastes in meat continue to evolve. As more people have become aware of the risks of eating too much red meat, consumption of beef has declined. Recently, it has started to increase again and remains top on the consumption list. An important reason is that as health concerns have grown, both the meat industry and grocers have responded by introducing leaner cuts of meat and lower-fat options, such as lean hamburger. Poultry consumption has grown significantly since the 1970s.
How to cook meat
Many factors influence how tender and tasty meat will be after cooking. These factors include:
- The type of muscle (or cut).
- The amount of fat and connective tissue in the meat.
- The age of the cut.
- The manner of preparation.
Cuts from more exercised muscles (leg, hip, and shoulder) are tougher than those from the center of the animal: the rib, loin, or breast.
Fresher meats are generally tougher than aged meats. Aging causes meats to go through “rigor”. With time, the muscles relax and increase in acidity, a natural way to tenderize meat, and muscle proteins increase their water-holding ability, which enhances juiciness.
Aging is a process that relaxes the tissues, making the beef easier to chew and enjoy. The original process of aging, now called dry-aging, demanded that a carcass hang in a cooler for 3 weeks or more. The surface would dry out and be thrown away. The remaining beef made excellent but expensive steaks. This process is now reserved for steaks bound for only the best steak-houses.
Less fatty cuts are preferred from a nutritional standpoint. However, they are less tender than those with fat marbled through the muscle fibers. “Choice” and “select” grades have less fat and marbling and can be tougher than the “prime” grade unless they are prepared to maximize tenderness.
Storage
Meat is perishable, but there are ways to maximize its shelf life. To do so, minimize its exposure to light, oxygen, enzymes, and microorganisms. All of these can hasten the breakdown of muscle tissue and the decay process.
Keep meat securely wrapped, preferably with opaque butcher’s paper, available at grocery stores, and refrigerated at less than 40 degrees F in a dark place. Bacteria and molds thrive in higher temperatures and humidity. Refrigerating meat inhibits the growth of these microorganisms, and freezing meat at 0 degrees F or below actually halts their growth. Meat wrapped in butcher’s paper can be stored in the freezer for up to 12 months.
Safety issues
Any kind of meat can harbor harmful microorganisms that can cause food-borne illness. In recent years, Escherichia coli (E. coli), a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause severe, bloody diarrhea, has become a concern with red meat, particularly ground beef.
Fortunately, proper cooking kills all microorganisms in meat. Preventing meat from contaminating other foods before cooking is important. Good meat-handling practices include thawing meat in the refrigerator, making sure juices from raw meat do not get on other food, and disinfecting cooking and preparation surfaces after handling raw meat.
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