Meat

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Tick Causing Meat Allergies in Virginia

Apparently there is a species of tick in Virginia that's causing quite a scare to many, many people. A bite from this tick can supposedly cause an allergy to MEAT.

Hmmm... Something tells me PETA might be behind this one.
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Nevertheless, here is the story.

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Not a Typo

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So You Think You're Vegan?

CTE!

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The Secret of Meat Glue

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PETA Information

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Pig Butchering Guide

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Divine BBQ Intervention

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How About Some Frog Legs

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Dove of Peace -OR- Piece of Dove?

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United Steaks Of America

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The Truth About Taco Bell Beef

There's a lot of talk right now about what really hides inside Taco Bell's beef — better known as "Taco Meat Filling" — and so naturally the fast food restaurant was bound to chime in with some rather angry words:

TACO BELL STATEMENT REGARDING CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
"At Taco Bell, we buy our beef from the same trusted brands you find in the supermarket, like Tyson Foods. We start with 100
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percent USDA-inspected beef. Then we simmer it in our proprietary blend of seasonings and spices to give our seasoned beef its signature Taco Bell taste and texture. We are proud of the quality of our beef and identify all the seasoning and spice ingredients on our website. Unfortunately, the lawyers in this case elected to sue first and ask questions later — and got their 'facts' absolutely wrong. We plan to take legal action for the false statements being made about our food." -- Greg Creed, President and Chief Concept Officer, Taco Bell Corp.



Taco Bell "beef" pseudo-Mexican delicacies are really made of a gross mixture called "Taco Meat Filling" as shown on their big container's labels, like the one pictured here, which customers can't see. The list of ingredients is gruesome:

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Beef, water, isolated oat product, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats (wheat), soy lecithin, sugar, spices, maltodextrin (a polysaccharide that is absorbed as glucose), soybean oil (anti-dusting agent), garlic powder, autolyzed yeast extract, citric acid, caramel color, cocoa powder, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), natural flavors, yeast, modified corn starch, natural smoke flavor, salt, sodium phosphate, less than 2% of beef broth, potassium phosphate, and potassium lactate.

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It looks gruesome but passable... until you learn that, according to the Alabama law firm suing Taco Bell—only 36% of that is beef. Thirty-six percent. The other 64% is mostly tasteless fibers—which are there to increase volume while keeping the cost down—additives and some flavoring and coloring. Everything is processed into a mass that actually looks like beef, and packed into
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big containers labeled as "taco meat filling." These containers get shipped to Taco Bell's outlets and cooked into something that, again, looks like beef, is called beef and is advertised as beef.

But can you call beef something that looks ground beef but it's 64% lots-of-other-stuff? Taco Bell thinks they can.

That's the reason why an Alabama law firm is presenting a class action lawsuit for false advertising, claiming that what Taco Bell claims is "beef" in their commercials is just the aforementioned processed clustermass of disgust. It appears that they have a very good point.

According to the USDA, Taco Bell can't call this mixture "beef" at all. Beef is officially defined as "flesh of cattle", and ground beef is defined as:

Chopped fresh and/or frozen beef with or without seasoning and without the addition of beef fat as such, shall not contain more than 30 percent fat, and shall not contain added water, phosphates, binders, or extenders.

That is certainly nothing like the mix that Taco Bell is using in their products.

The law firm argues that the taco.. Click here to continue to the rest of the article..

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The Periodic Table Of Meat

Scientists have long referred to meat as “the building blocks of delicious meals.” In an effort to catalog the world’s most popular (and unpopular) types of meat into an informative and easy-to-reference tabular form, I give you the Periodic Table of Meat.

Well not me, but pleated-jeans dot com does. Click the pic..

13 Things Your Butcher Won't Tell You

From Reader's Digest


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1. Don’t be fooled by supermarket brand names like Butcher’s Brand, Rancher’s Reserve, and Blue Ribbon. The label to look for is USDA Quality Grade. Prime is the best (and most expensive), followed by choice, select, then standard.

2. A big part of our job is window dressing. We flip brown meat over, cut off fat, and dab away blood that might turn you off.

3. Your beef may get ground in Iowa, stuffed in a long tube of plastic, and trucked to our store, where we regrind and package it.

4. Some companies pump carbon monoxide into packaging to keep the meat from turning brown.

5. Make sure you check the price per pound or per serving. The regular size is often cheaper than the family pack.

6. Why are you so wedded to the cut of beef your recipe calls for? We can suggest cheaper options.

7. My favorite cut? The hanging tender. Also known as a hanger steak or a bistro steak, it’s got great flavor at a good price.

8. Take the meat tray at the bottom of the stack or the farthest in back. Just like milk, it tends to be fresher.

9. Save $1.50 to $2 a pound on boneless pork chops. Buy a whole boneless pork loin roast and slice it into chops an inch thick.

10. Yes, that 92/8 ground beef is lean, but if you make burgers with it, you might be disappointed. Your favorite burger joint probably uses beef that’s much fattier.

11. Even if those chicken breasts say “100 percent natural,” they may still be injected with sodium-laden broth, salt water, or seaweed extract. Always check the label.

12. Some of the best tasting cuts are the ugliest ones, like the flap meat on the belly part of beef.

13. Ask me to help. Even if it’s already on a tray wrapped in cellophane, I can cut the fat off a roast, trim a flank steak into stir-fry strips, or grind up a chuck roast. Then I’ll neatly wrap it back up for you. All for no extra charge.

Also: 9 More Secrets Your Butcher Won't Tell You

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Universal Food Chopper

I think my parents still have one of these. They use it to make ham salad for sandwiches - but they use a hunk of bologna. I don't like it, but I'm gonna have to make sure it gets passed down the right direction..

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Not A Vegetarian

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Eat Meat - It Tastes Good

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7 Hidden Dangers In Your Fridge

Fruits & Vegetables
Now here are some foods that don’t have to be in perfect condition for you to enjoy them.

Produce is the easiest to tell if it is starting to rot, because it won’t look good enough to eat! Squishy, slimy, or stinky produce needs to go in the garbage.

However, greens that are wilted can still be used in soups and stews; they have simply become a little dehydrated and started the aging process.

To avoid having to throw out expensive fruits and vegetables, grocery shop more often. Buying enough for 3-5 days at a time will help ensure you don’t lose money.

Mold
Moldy foods can be tricky and are sometimes a matter of preference. If cutting a green fuzzy corner off a block of cheese doesn’t gross you out too much, then you can save and eat the rest.

However, mold can also be dangerous, depending on how much and what food it appears on. If mold is covering the majority of the surface of the food, be safe and throw it out. Any meat in your refrigerator that has any sign of mold should go in the trash right away.

Watch out for mold on bread, jams, yogurt, nuts, and most pre-cooked leftovers. With these foods, it is better to say goodbye than to get sick.

Meat
The best way to judge if the meat in your refrigerator is safe, is to check the expiration date. Even meat that looks, smells, and tastes fine could be dangerous. Steaks and other red meats should not be consumed more than four days past the date on the package.

Frozen meat lasts longer, but never thaw and re-freeze it.

Use common sense. If meat is slimy, smells funny, or has a strange color, it should definitely be thrown away.

Freezer Burn
Freezer burn does not make foods unsafe, but it does change the taste and quality of the food. Having food in the freezer too long makes the water molecules extract and freeze, which can make it taste dry and lose flavor and color, even when thawed.

Everything from freezer-burned meat to ice cream can be safely eaten. The freezer burned sections of the meat can be trimmed off before or after cooking. Ice cream from the top of the tub, which can have heavy freezer burn, can be scraped off and the remaining ice cream should taste fine.

Fish
Wondering whether you should throw away ‘fishy smelling’ fish can be irritating, because of the expensive price tag in most grocery stores.

Fresh raw fish has a very short shelf life, lasting only 1-2 days in the fridge. Cooked fish leftover from a night at your favorite restaurant should last 3-4 days, but make sure you heat it thoroughly before you finish it.

If you can’t remember how long it’s been since you bought it, a sure sign that your fish has gone bad is a strong smelly odor in your refrigerator. Fish should smell like fish, but should not be overpowering.

Eggs
If the sale at the grocery store allows you to buy a lot of eggs at a time, go for it!

The term ‘rotten egg’ has led people to believe that eggs are inedible much faster than they really are. Eggs last up to five weeks after purchase.

And does anyone know the verdict on eggs that happen to freeze?

Dairy
Milk is one of the more straightforward foods to tell if it is past its prime. If it smells sour, then toss it. Still not sure of the smell? The consistency should give a clue-any lumps or flakes means it needs to go.

Cream, cottage cheese, and sour cream can be a little tricky, but generally stay safe for about 10 days past the date stamped on the label.

Yogurt can still be eaten a few days past the expiration date, but loses its flavor and nutritional value as it gets older, so it is probably worth throwing out.

Cheese and butter last the longest, but it is best to finish them before they are four weeks old.

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Mmmm... Wait, LOL

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The Importance of Resting Meat

Instructions on how to be a man: Start large fire. Cook large steaks over large fire. Rip steaks from fire with bare hands, bite down, and allow succulent juices to dribble down chin.

Instructions on how to be a smart man: Start large fire. Cook large steaks over large fire. Rip steaks from fire with bare hands, allow steaks to rest in a warm place undisturbed for 10 minutes. Bite down, and allow succulent juices to dribble down throat.

This week at The Food Lab, we're going to explore the importance of resting meat. Asides from over/under-cooking/seasoning, not resting meat properly is probably the cooking blunder that we are all most guilty of.

You mean I have to wait before I can tuck into that perfectly charred ribeye? Unfortunately, yes.

Here's why:

This is a picture of a steak that was cooked in a skillet to medium rare (an internal temperature of 125°F or 51.7°C). The steak was then immediately placed on a cutting board and sliced in half, whereupon a deluge of juices started flooding out and onto the board.

The result? Steak that is less than optimally juicy and flavorful. This tragedy can be easily avoided by allowing your steak to rest before slicing.

Continue reading..

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