神戸牛専門店が考えたhow to store meat
Preserving and defrosting meat
At Tatsuya, in principle, the meat is delivered "refrigerated" so that you can enjoy fresh Kobe beef. Meat is fresh food, so please eat it while it is as fresh as possible!
However, there are some things that cannot be eaten right away. We will introduce how to preserve the flavor and quality at home as much as possible. It depends on the function of your refrigerator, but please refer to it.
"Save" Tips
Fast freezing and slow thawing are the golden rules when storing meat in a freezer!
Have you ever seen a butcher's freezer? Cools down to -40°C. The meat is vacuum-packed as a block and flash-frozen to keep the same quality for over a year!
(But if it remains unsold for a year, will the shop itself go out of business?!)
The freezer door at home is opened and closed, so please try to use it up within half a month.
The important thing is "freezing method" rather than "thawing"
I often hear that thawing is difficult, but the important thing is the "freezing method" rather than "thawing". The key to preserving the flavor without losing its flavor is how quickly it passes through 0°C to -5°C .
When storing in the freezer, it is recommended to avoid opening and closing the refrigerator frequently, and before sleeping at night or before going out. Also, if it is thick, it will take a long time to freeze all the way through, so divide it into smaller portions.
Storage method by number of days
Store for 1-2 days
Wrap and refrigerate. If there is a chilled room, be sure to go to the chilled room.
Please do not put anything on top of the meat.
Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking and allow to come to room temperature.
3-4 days storage
A chilled room (0 to -1°C) is fine if you rarely open and close it.
If the temperature is kept without opening and closing at all, it will last for a week.
If you open and close it relatively infrequently, or if you don't have a chill room, wrap it and put it in the "freezer".
Store more than 5 days
Wrap tightly and store in the freezer. Please use up within half a month.
It's called "freezer burn" and the flavor is getting worse and worse.
"Defrost" Tips
Natural thawing is best .
I also wrote tips for thawing in the microwave, but please try to thaw naturally as much as possible.
Slow natural thawing in the refrigerator is an easy and error-free method.
Defrosting at room temperature causes bacteria to grow rapidly over time.
How to defrost meat
Thawing method 1 natural thawing
The day before cooking, move from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw slowly.
Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking and allow to come to room temperature.
Natural thawing is the best even if it is troublesome!
Thawing method 2 Microwave defrosting
If you don't have time, use the microwave!
I can't really recommend it, but in that case, please be careful of the following points.
・Remove the plastic wrap, spread out the kitchen paper, and defrost.
The reason for removing the plastic wrap is that moisture will escape from the frozen meat, and the moisture-covered area will become hot and the heat will pass through instead of thawing. Kitchen paper is to absorb the drip (gravy) that comes out when thawing frozen meat.
・Please set the wattage of the microwave oven to the lowest.
・Keep in mind that the temperature is higher in the periphery than in the center of the turntable.
3 meat enemies
1. Opening and closing the refrigerator
Even if it can be stored at 〇〇℃, the temperature rises sharply every time it is opened!
2. Oxidation by air
Tightly wrap and store.
One steak at a time and ideally one slice at a time.
Minced meat and chopped meat will inevitably contain air, so even if you freeze it, please eat it as soon as possible.
3. Unreasonable decompression
Baking while frozen is out of the question! The streets of fire are sparse and cause failure.
