No doubt, meat of the sacrificed animals is blessing for eaters. The meat is high in proteins, fat, vitamin B12, and iron contents. However, safe steps in meat handling, cooking, and storage are essential to prevent food borne illness. Following are the basic steps to keep meat safe.
Proper storage: To reduce the growth of harmful bacteria it is important to store the slaughtered meat carefully. There should be separate boxes with lids or zipper plastic shoppers for raw meat to avoid spread of bacteria. Freeze the meat into individual portions that are suitable for use in day to day. Rinsing the meat with water is not worthwhile before freezing because it may cause crystallization on the meat when it freezes.
Label the meat bag with the date and its type with the permanent marker. This will help to remember the time of packaging and let you know what cut of meat you are looking from the freezer without opening the package. Never put marinated meat in freezer to avoid the change of flavor. Minced meat has high tendency to be contaminated quickly, it should be kept in freezer. Defrost it in refrigerator, never at room temperature. Cook the ground beef as soon as it is defrosted.
It is important to note that there is a clear difference between frozen and fresh meat. Long time freezing beef may affect the flavor, texture, and appearance of the meat when it is cooked. Frozen meat will be valid for up to eight months for meat in pieces; six months for steaks or roasts and three months for ground meat. If the meat remain frozen for long, it will begin to dry up.
Safe cooking: Slaughtered meat should properly be cleaned with fresh water before cooking because the unproperly-cleaned meat is harmful for the health. There are two methods for cooking meat: dry heat and wet heat. Dry heat methods including grilling, roasting, stir frying, and deep frying. Wet heat includes braising, pot roasting, stewing, steaming, poaching, and slow cooking.
Most solid cuts of beef are cooked in a two stage method. First, high heat produces forms a flavorful crust on the surface. Then, slower cooking at a lower temperature will evenly cook the meat through without overcooking the outer edges. Steaming is one of the popular methods of qurbani meat. Steaming is a moist heat cooking process. The meat is cooked by surrounding steam. Steaming results in tender, well-flavored, juicy meat with minimum shrinkage.
When meat is cooked sink in fat or oil, the process is called deep fat frying. This method is only used with very tender meat such as liver, brain, mincemeat balls, or kebabs. Usually, meat to be deep fat fried is coated with egg and crumbs or a batter, or it is dredged in flour. BBQ is the most popular cooking method of qurbani meat. There are two types of BBQ style 1- Tandoori BBQ and 2- Charcoal BBQ. Marination plays an important role in the making of perfect BBQ. Mix salt, pepper, turmeric, red chilis, brown onions, oil, and tenderizer, in yogurt and add your favorite cut of meat. To soak up the flavor prepare the marination one day prior to BBQ. Always marinate in the refrigerator and never reuse a marinade as it can carry harmful bacteria. Cooked slaughtered meat should be accompanied by green salad and other dark-colour green leaf vegetables, and yogurt.
Moderate eating: Sacrificed animal's meat should not be consumed immediately after being slaughtered. It has to be kept uncooked for at least 12-24 hours before consumption. Many people get digestion problems such as bloating, diarrhea etc by eating fresh meat because it is hard for the digestive system.
100 grams of meat consumption in one day is healthy but anything beyond that can be harmful. Over consumption of red meat is common during Eid-ul-Azha days. Overeating and gastro problems are routine during Eid festivities in Pakistan. A majority of the people are unaware of the hazards of excessive consumption of red meat and a lot of others ignore the fact, even if they know it.
Red meat contains high amount of protein. Over eating of red meat can lead to the problem of hypertension. Both beef and mutton are high in saturated fats. This fat can gather in blood vessels and thus make it harder for the heart to pump blood and brain to receive blood, thus increasing the risks of heart diseases and strokes. Studies show that people who eat too much meat are 20 percent more likely to develop cancer if they eat a lot of red meat. Pancreatic cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer have been linked to heavy meat consumption.
Meat may also contain high levels of hormones, which can trigger reproductive problems and early-onset puberty in children. Red meat is loaded with protein so kidneys have to work hard to remove excess of proteins out of the body. This extra work may lead to kidney damage and renal failure. Doctors recommend that human body take 20 minutes to recognize that it is full, so wait before serving you second helpings. If you were presented with a plate full of food, eat slowly and stop when you have had enough, rather than when the plate is empty.
Excessive oxygen is required by stomach to digest the red meat. Therefore, those with respiratory problems are advised to eat the meat in moderation. Red meat contains high amount of sodium and nitrate. If you are at risk of type 2 diabetes then it is possible that overeating of red meat can raise your blood pressure and make it harder for your body to absorb glucose.
Use plenty of water during and after the Eid holidays, as excessive use of water helps functioning of stomach system of human body properly. Set your Eid table with other side dishes such as legumes, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, vegetables and fruit.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017