A product such as meat is usually stocked in quantities for several meals. This means that it will need to be frozen and stored in the refrigerator and used as needed. In order for all the beneficial properties of fresh meat to remain in a frozen piece, certain freezing and storage rules must be observed.
How to choose meat for later storage
Naturally, you should only freeze and store meat that you are sure of, because this is a perishable product. In meat that was stored in violation of technology, bacteria develop very quickly, it begins to decompose and deteriorate, it has an unpleasant odor, the surface becomes slippery, its color brightens, and then it acquires a greenish tint. Eating such meat becomes dangerous.
But even fresh meat of a just slaughtered animal cannot be eaten immediately after that or put into storage - it must lie for 2-3 days at a temperature of 5-8 ° C for fermentation to begin in it, it becomes tastier, softer, juicier and easier to digest.
How to properly store meat in the refrigerator
In the event that you are going to cook fresh meat within the next 2-3 days, it makes no sense to put it in the freezer. How much meat to store depends on the age of the animal. If this is the meat of an adult animal, it will be well preserved on the lower shelf of the refrigerator at a temperature of 0 to 3 ° C, but if the animal is young, its meat can be stored in the refrigerator for only one day.
To help preserve the meat, cut into pieces and separate the flesh from the bones before putting it in the freezer.
If you need to store meat for a long time, use a freezer for this. Portioned meat should be wiped off with paper kitchen towels to keep it dry. Each piece must be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or wrapped tightly in a plastic bag to prevent air from entering. If minced meat is made from meat, it is also packed into portions and laid out in packages.
It is not recommended to wash meat before storing it in the freezer.
You can also use ice icing on the meat to completely exclude air from entering. To do this, pieces of it should first be put in the freezer in plastic bags for 1-1, 5 hours, so that it slightly freezes. After that, remove the meat and dip each piece in cold water, then put it back in the freezer. Repeat the operation 2-3 times and the meat, covered with a solid ice crust, can be kept juicy and soft.
The meat of adult animals can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months, for young animals this period is halved. If your freezer has a quick freeze function for storing several portions of meat, use it so that the water crystals that form do not have time to damage and disrupt the structure of the meat. It also allows you to preserve the nutritional value of the meat to the maximum extent.
