If you're reading this, it's likely that you just received your frozen meat order from Cunningham Pastured Meats. We thank you for your patronage, and would like to offer some tips and procedures that'll ensure that your meat is thawed properly.
Receiving Your Meat
Upon receiving your packaged meat, you may notice that it has thawed on the surface but is still cold to the touch. This is perfectly normal, and meat in this state is completely safe to cook and eat, or be refrozen for later use. Frozen meat can last a year or more while thawed meat can last about a week in the refrigerator.
Thawing Your Meat
When you're ready to thaw your meat, we find that it's best to place it on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Standard procedure is to let it sit for 24 hours per pound of meat. However, if you don't have that kind of time you can place the product (still in its wrapping) in cool water. Just be sure to change the water every 15-20 minutes. While it may be tempting in a rush, do NOT try to thaw frozen meat by putting it in the microwave.
Cooking Your Meat
Once your meat is thawed and ready to cook, you'll want to use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature of your meat. Keep in mind that grass-fed meat cooks faster than grain-fed, so check more often to avoid overcooking. The goal internal temperatures of the various meats we offer are listed below:
Beef, Bison, Pork, & Lamb: 145˚F
Ground Meats & Fish: 160˚F
Poultry: 165˚F
Resting Your Meat
If you've ever cut into a steak as soon as it's done, you may notice that all the juice pools up on your plate. That's why this last step is the most important (in our opinion): Resting the meat. Once it's finished, you'll want to loosely tent it in aluminum foil. For thinner cuts like steaks and chops, 5-10 minutes will do. For larger cuts like roasts, you'll want to give it 15-20 minutes. Doing this allows all that juice to redistribute itself throughout the meat, resulting in each bite being more tender and flavorful.
As you can see, properly preparing your grass-fed meat not a terribly complicated process. Even so, it's important to take the correct steps in order to avoid unnecessary risk. We hope you found this article helpful, and we look forward to serving you again!
Happily Serving This Great Nation
...The flavor of the meats are definitely much better than what we have purchased in the stores. Knowing that these meats are so much better for us is huge to us. We are looking forward to many more purchases in the future with Cunningham Pastured Meats.
The meat is amazing. This is just what we have been searching for.
Very happy with the price, communication and quality of the meat purchases. We will be filling our freezer with Cunningham Meat from here on out!
