Courtesy of:
Le Cordon Bleu “Poultry,Game & Eggs” - Jeni Wright & Eric Treuille
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| Chefs Tips - Choosing Beef and Veal |
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| Buy your meat from a reliable source, a high turnover will help to indicate fresh stock. Look for good butchering techniques - joints should follow the contours of the muscle and bone, cuts should be neat and well trimmed with little sinew. And any bones should be smooth with no sign of splinters. |
| SMOOTH fine-grained flesh that is creamy white with a pale greyish-pink tinge is best. Any outer fat should be firm and white |
| AN EVEN marbling of fat in the meat is a good indication of high quality |
| OUTER LAYER of fat should be creamy white and smooth; yellow fat can indicate the meat has past its best except in grass-reared beef |
| LOOK FOR deep red, moist-looking meat with a generous marbling of fat throughout |
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| Buying Beef and Veal |
| Though the age of the animal from which It came, and its breed and feed will be reflected it the meat, the best beef and veal will smell fresh and have clean-looking flesh that Is not too bight in colour. Meat with a greenish-grey tinge and an "off" smell should be avoided. Look for cuts that are uniform In thickness to aid even cooking, and that have a moist, freshly cut surface: avoid wet meat that Is slimy to the touch. Always check the "use-by" dates. Leaner cuts last longer than fatty cuts because fat goes rancid before meat. Buying the freshest and best quality meat is always worth while, but you must be prepared to pay a little more For organically raised beef or that from particularly fine breeds noted for their succulent meat such as Aberdeen Angus. |
| Handling Beef and Veal |
| Remove meat from its original wrapping as soon as possible after purchase and place on a plate or in a dish to catch any blood. Loosely cover, then store in the coldest part of the refrigerator (1-5°C) away from cooked meats. Minced meat and small cuts of veal are best eaten on the day you buy them. Joints, chops and steaks will keep for 2-3 days and large roasts up to 5 days. Freezing beef and veal quickly reduces the chance of damage to the texture or succulence of the meat; smaller pieces freeze more successfully than large joints. For convenience, freeze cuts tightly wrapped in individual portions; use veal within 6 months and beef within 1 year. Defrost, loosely wrapped, in the refrigerator allowing 5 hours per 450 g. |
| Courtesy of Le Cordon Bleu “Poultry,Game & Eggs” - Jeni Wright & Eric Treuille |
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