Glutenfreeda : Gluten-Free Cooking at its Best

Handling Fresh & Frozen Meat and Poultry

One morning I woke up and wanted to try something a little different for breakfast. I decided to try an oven-pancake filled with a mixture of sautéed gf sausage, pears, apples and onions and topped with pure maple syrup. I pleasantly discovered that I had most of the ingredients on-hand and set to work on my early morning creation. I pulled some ground pork out of the freezer and proceeded to defrost it in the microwave. I noticed that after it was defrosted it had an odd smell. I went ahead and sautéed it with the other ingredients…but I couldn’t get it out of my head that something just didn’t smell quite right. So, while my oven-pancake was baking perfectly in the oven — I did some research on pork sausage and meat storage overall. Here’s what I discovered:

Meat

Fresh meat should be kept in the refrigerator at a temperature between 34º-40º F. In general, pork is going to be less stable than beef, lamb and veal due to the larger fat content. Roasts will hold for 3-5 days and chops for 2-4 days, and cubes, stew meat, ground meat and fresh sausage for 2 days. Always check raw meat for freshness before cooking, it should have no odd odor or be slimy to touch. If your fresh meat cannot be eaten within the above timelines, freeze it for future use.

When freezing meat, it is best to leave it in its original package. If it came in butcher paper, leave it in its wrap and place it in a sealable plastic bag. Assuming your freezer is 0º or lower, beef, lamb and veal steaks or roasts will keep for 1 year; pork chops and roasts for 4-8 months; ground meat for 3 months; and sausage for less than 3 months. For best taste and texture do not keep meats frozen for more than a month. Also, never re-freeze meat that has been previously thawed.

Frozen meat should be completely thawed before cooking to eliminate possibly undercooking parts of your meat. Harmful bacteria can grow easily in the partially cooked meat inside and can cause illness. The best method of defrosting your meat is in the refrigerator. Put a plate or something underneath to catch any drips. Steaks and chops will take about 1 day, while larger cuts of meat could take as long as 3 days.

Poultry

Fresh poultry should be stored in the refrigerator (kept between 34º-40ºF). They should be cooked and eaten within two days of purchase. Any poultry that cannot be eaten within the recommended time period, should be frozen. Leave it in its original packaging. Assuming the freezer maintains a temperature of 0º or lower, poultry will keep for a year or longer, however, for the best taste and texture, cook it within a month.

Frozen poultry should be completely thawed before cooking (for the same reasons as the meat above). If thawing in the refrigerator, set the bird, in its original package, on a baking sheet and defrost 1 day for every 6 pounds. If you are in a hurry, you may seal the bird in a zip lock bag and set the bird in cold water and weight it with a plate to keep it submerged. Defrost it for 1 to 8 hours, depending on the weight. When completely defrosted the legs and wings should move freely at the joints and the flesh should be pliable.

Frozen Fish

To avoid the fishy taste of fish that has been previously frozen — try this method of defrosting (this will work great, provided your fish has been frozen correctly): Place your frozen fish in a plastic bag and seal. Lay the fish on a tray of ice and place tray in the refrigerator. Rotate the fish periodically throughout the thawing process. It should take a couple of days to thaw a medium size fish. The theory behind this is that the slower the thawing of the fish the less chance water has to penetrate into the flesh — thereby causing the ‘fishy’ flavor.

Hopefully, that will help you. I know that it cleared things up for me. After discovering that my pork sausage had been frozen for about 4-5 months, I immediately discarded my sautéed mixture and enjoyed the oven-pancake by itself (albeit not quite as exciting as I had originally planned). Better luck next time!

Research was gathered from the following source:

You may purchase the Joy of Cooking by clicking here. It is a wonderful cookbook, with an abundance of information. It even has a few gluten-free recipes!

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