Q1. How long does meat keep in the freezer?
Q2. Can Valley Butchery deliver my Meat Order?
Q3. How do I cook my roast - how long and what temperature is best?
Q4. How do I make my "meat dollar" go further?
Q5. Why is packaged beef a different colour on the outside than on the inside?
Q6. What is MSA Beef?
Q7. Why is thorough cooking so important for ground meat products such as hamburger?
Q8. How do I look after my Ham?
Answers
A1. As a rule of thumb you can keep meat for the following timeframes:
- 1 month sausages, mince, bacon
- 2 months pork chops
- 4 months chicken pieces, veal steaks & chops, lamb joints & chops
- 6 months beef steaks, veal joints, rabbits
- 8 months whole chickens, beef joints
A2. Yes, Valley Butchery delivers to the following areas:
FREE wirth a minimum spend of $180.00 to:
- Gatton area,
- Laidley,
- Esk,
- Comminya,
- Grantham,
- Toowoomba (city), and
- Lowood.
FREE wirth a minimum spend of $280.00 to:
- Ipswich, and
- Western Suburbs of Brisbane.
Delivery to the greater Brisbane area may incur a slightly higher minimum spend value or a delivery fee, depending on location.
A3. Cook the meat from start to finish at a consistent temperature of of 180°C, which reduces shrinking and sputtering and produces a juicy, evenly-cooked roast.
Various cuts of meat take different amounts of time to cook. The size and shape of the meat, the amount of fat and bone, how the meat was aged and other factors affect how long it should cook.
As a general rule of thumb, cooking at a constant oven temperature of 180°C, a 2 kg standing rib roast will take the following approximate timeframes to cook (note the times are per ½ kg):
- 18 minutes for rare,
- 21 minutes for medium rare,
- 24 minutes for medium, and
- 29 minutes for well done.
After the roast comes out of the oven, let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. This will allow the juices to become more evenly distributed within the meat and make it easier to carve.
A4. You can buy meat in economy "family-packs" when possible - like the Selecta Pack or the 8 in-store meat packs. Divide and freeze portions for specific uses. And/or buy beef by the "half" or "quarter" and have it professionally cut in order to store your meat in the freezer.
A5. The pigment that makes the meat dark red reacts to the oxygen in the air through the permeable plastic wrap and becomes bright red. The interior stays dark due to the lack of oxygen.
A6. Meat Standards Australia™ (MSA) is a beef and sheepmeat eating quality program that labels beef and sheepmeat with a guaranteed grade and recommended cooking method to identify eating quality according to consumer perceptions.
A7. Within the muscle there is no bacterial contamination. When the muscles are cut into steaks and roasts, the bacterial contamination will only occur on the cut outside of the meat. Cooking these meats rare to medium will create enough heat to kill off these bacteria. In ground meat, however, the surface where bacterial contamination occurs is spread throughout the product in the grinding process. The only way to be sure to eliminate the bacteria is to cook the hamburgers thoroughly.
A8. Use a calico ham bag or a cotton pillow case. Rinse your Ham Bag in a solution of 500mls water and two tablespoons of vinegar and squeeze out, leaving it moist but not dripping. Remove your ham from its original wrapping and wipe it clean with a vinegar/water damp cloth and then put the ham in the Ham Bag. Be sure to check that your refrigerator is running at 4°C.
Rinse out your Ham Bag every 3 days in a fresh batch of the solution to retain freshness. Remember to keep your Ham Bag Moist as the refrigerater will dry out the bag. If you want to keep some of the ham longer, slice off some fresh slices and pack them into the Freezer. (Keep sliced ham this way for a month.)
Once the Ham is finished turn the bag inside out, rinse it out thoroughly and then wash as per normal in the washing machine.
