After eating meat for so many years, you still can’t tell the difference between hot fresh meat, cold fresh meat and frozen meat?

In a blink of an eye, 2021 has entered its final chapter. In order to welcome the Spring Festival, many families are preparing to purchase more "New Year's goods".

How can meat be missing from the table? Pork, chicken, duck... Relatives in my hometown began to shuttle between various markets, and then put the carefully selected meat into the refrigerator to welcome the returnees.

Many of my Northeastern friends have the habit of slaughtering a pig for the New Year. They put the processed pork in the freezer and eat it for several months.

However, as the quality of life improves, people have stricter requirements for meat, and many people are beginning to wonder:

Is frozen meat the legendary zombie meat? Not only is it not nutritious, it is also harmful to the body?

So, is frozen meat really that scary? What are the differences between meats on the market, which meat is more worth buying, and how to choose, all told to you at once.

In fact, the fresher the meat is, the better it tastes.

Because whether it is common pigs, chickens, cattle or sheep, its meat will go through four stages after being slaughtered.

If you want to know the quality of the meat you eat, you must first know what it has been through.

The common meat on the market is divided into hot fresh meat, cold fresh meat and frozen meat. We have summarized their characteristics for you.

Overall, the taste of hot fresh meat is average and hygiene is not guaranteed.

Because hot fresh meat is also called freshly slaughtered meat, it is processed and sold immediately after being slaughtered. Basically, it is bled and processed simply.

The maturation process of livestock and poultry meat to eliminate the rigor mortis state takes several hours or even days. For example, chicken takes several hours, pork takes 1 day, and beef takes 9 to 10 days.

The way to process fresh meat is to quickly cool it to 0-4℃, usually packed with air in plastic wrap, and keep the temperature low during subsequent transportation and sales.

This can eliminate lactic acid from the meat and form a protective film on the surface of the meat, reducing water evaporation and maintaining a better taste.

By the way, you can take the fresh meat home and cook it directly without thawing it, or you can put it in the refrigerator.

Although frozen meat doesn’t taste very good, it is not as bad as you might think in terms of nutrition and safety!

First of all, the frozen meat produced on a large scale in factories goes directly into a -18℃ freezer after slaughter and undergoes a set of strict standard production procedures, so there is generally no need to worry about safety issues.

Although the meat fibers become coarser and the taste is compromised due to the evaporation of water during the rapid freezing process, the protein content does not change.

After thawing once, there will be a small loss of protein, but the impact is not significant. You can still eat delicious meat, and it is still very wallet-friendly.

But one thing to note: do not thaw and refreeze repeatedly!

Because the bacteria are only temporarily "hibernating" when frozen, and the thawing process undoubtedly provides a comfortable temperature zone for the bacteria, the number of bacteria can increase thousands of times in just a few hours.

Moreover, the taste and flavor of meat that is repeatedly frozen will continue to deteriorate, nutrients will be lost, and toxins may even be produced. These toxins are difficult to destroy even if heated.

Scared, so how do you thaw frozen meat?

The technical lady specially selected 100-120g of pork front leg meat for the experiment, simulated 6 common thawing methods, and obtained the pros and cons of the following methods.

Therefore, if you want to eat safer and more nutritious meat, refrigerated thawing is the first choice for daily thawing. When in urgent need, consider soaking in cold water or using a metal meat clamp method.

By the way, we also have a “little secret” to thaw minced meat in 2 minutes. The key point is to turn the minced meat from a “lump” into a “side”.

The method is to first use a rolling pin to press the meat into a flat shape. If there is too much meat, use a chopstick to press out a few dividing lines and then put it in the freezer.

In this way, when thawing, you only need to soak it in cold water for 2 minutes, and the "hard" meat filling will be completely thawed.

Well, although the epidemic has recurred, home is always home. I hope that this Spring Festival, everyone can return to their hometown and reunite with their loved ones.

Let’s make a promise and eat delicious and safe meat together!

Editor | Xiaoshu

Design | Sour

Source: Dad Review