My first experience buying and making meats ( most previous experience
has been in restaurants or with bacon / sausage / deli ) went badly,
the cuts I got were so tough and rubbery my jaw hurt after eating.
( but they were cheap : )   ) , I wasn't
sure how long to cook to get rid of bacteria, etc....

Thanks for your time.


Hi Sam,
Perhaps you should want to avoid processed meats at least for a while, and
stick to fresh lamb, bison, pork, etc. You can cut meat into small pieces
and quickly stir-fry it, this is easier to chew.

The quality and freshness of the meat affects it's flavor and texture, of
course. I buy meat at Fresh Fields. Once I picked up a steak at Safeway, and
just about gagged on it it was so bad. So I stick to Fresh Fields' meat.

I really like brisket, cooked slow in a 300-degree oven for several hours,
it is very moist, tender, delicious and tastes great cold the next day too.

My mother I-L has been a vegetarian for about 10 years. It was difficult for
her to chew her cheap, overcooked meat so she stopped eating meat
altogether. Now she has a great deal of pain if she tries to chew anything.
When she visits and I serve her meat (she likes the way I cook it), I stick
to ground meats or the most tender steaks. Also, if you have never tried it,
you should try fresh albacore sometime. Have them slice it nice and thick
(about 2 inches) and sear it on the grill, leaving it a bit pink in the
center. My MIL's favorite!

If you are concerned about bacteria, you can do these two things: Store meat
in freezer for 30 days to kill bacteria. Thaw meat in refrigerator. Allow to
thaw completely. Wash meat well before cooking. Eat immediately after
cooking. I have left meat pretty rare in the center and never had a problem.
I feed it to my kids too, I have no worries about e.coli etc. If you have
any leftovers, and they are pretty rare, you should warm them throroughly
before eating to kill any bacteria that may be present.

There is a fascinating article about the discovery of an "ice age
refrigerator", see
http://www.discoveringarchaeology.com/webex/webex030900-iceage.shtml
This article doesn't get into it, but when my husband read about this
elsewhere (he can't remember where, maybe Discovery or SciAm?) it was noted
that though the meat (the experimental horse meat) was full of bacteria once
recovered from the icy water, it was completely safe to eat. Fisher even
tried a piece, and did not get sick.

The only time I have ever had an obvious case of food poisoning, I had eaten
a chicken burrito supreme (chicken, cheese, sour cream) from Taco Hell on
Christmas Eve (on my way to NY for the holiday...I was one very sick gal by
that evening. I think the red wine I drank actually helped kill some of the
bacteria, because I did not DIE, though I felt like I would.) I can just
imagine what this chicken burrito went through before I ate it. I never
treat my food that way, and have never eaten fast food take out since.

Salud,
Stacie

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