Post by BBQ Butcher on Mar 30, 2008 6:15:38 GMT -5
08/05/07
“The Barbecue Butcher”, by Steve Graves, number 2
It would be lax of me to leave this pet subject of mine for later. There is no better time to bring it up than right now. Home/Kitchen Sanitation….I cannot stress this enough. At one time or another, most of us most of us have suffered through a couple days of the ‘stomach flu’, the ‘bug is going around’, the ‘trots’ and what ever else name you want to call it, and thinking nothing about it. Nine times out of ten it was a food borne bacteria that could’ve been prevented. Here are some simple steps to avoid “the bug”.
Home Kitchen Sanitation
A basic refresher on sanitation is a must if you are going to be preparing meat and poultry at home…..well, any where for that matter.
#1 wash your hands, and equipment, FREQUENTLY with hot water and soap. Dry your hands with a paper towel.
I also like to use an instant hand sanitizer, such as Purell©, before and after coming in contact with meat, poultry and vegetables. You don’t need a lot…probably a squirt in one hand about the size of a dime and rub in until your hands are dry….approximately 15-20 seconds. In as little as 15 seconds it will kill 99.99% of most common germs that can cause illness.
The use of latex/nitrile gloves is also useful in the handling of meat, especially if you are prepping with any vegetable oil or other messy substances. Make sure to buy the gloves with NO powder. These can be purchased in quantity at a reasonable price at most membership box stores and restaurant supply houses.
#2 the next area of concern is CROSS CONTAMINATION in your food prep area. Proper cleaning procedures and common sense prevail here and will prevent you, your family and your guests from any unpleasant food bacteria related illnesses. I can’t stress this enough.
I suggest using a different cutting board, preferably made of a plastic type or Teflon material, for your three main categories of food prep. One for meats, one for poultry and one for cutting fresh vegetables. These are inexpensive and can be bought cheap in most discount/department stores. Some people buy them color coded….red for meat, yellow for poultry and green for produce. Or, you can just label them. Make sure they are NSF approved. What ever you do, clean those properly after each use and you should not have any problems.
Wash in hot soapy water, making sure to loosen any meat particles stuck to the surface with a brush, and rinse in hot water. Now, make a sanitizing solution* of bleach and COLD water. Hot water will kill the sanitizing benefits of bleach. I recommend using a ration of one ounce bleach per one gallon of cold water. Or, ½ oz per ½ gal water, etc. Rinse the board thoroughly and let air dry. Before each use, I suggest dipping a paper towel in a fresh solution of the bleach/water mix and wiping the cutting board to make sure to kill any airborne germs that may have accrued during storage.
Follow the same above procedure with any other equipment, or counter surfaces, that have come in contact came with the meat. Wipe your knives dry as soon as sanitizing, as bleach may stain or rust certain steels.
* Two new items have hit the market lately. Lysol Food Surface Cleaner© and Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface©. Both come in a 22 oz spray bottle for $2.99. They are scent free and kill 99.9% of harmful bacteria on hard, non-porous surfaces such as cutting boards, counters, metal and plastic kitchen tools. No rinsing required.
“Is chicken graded the same as beef?”
Practically ALL chicken sold at retail level is Grade ‘A’. Chicken in this category will be firm, full breasted, meaty, with no blemishes, no broken skin or broken bones.
Grades ‘B’ and ‘C’ can have any or all of the defects listed above. As a rule, when supermarkets feature a loss leader item, such as .39 or .49¢ lb Leg Quarters, .99¢ lb bone-in Breasts or $1.77 lb Boneless Breasts, they are Grade ‘B’ or ‘C’ and the grade label may or may not even be listed at all. If the word "blem" is mentioned, consider it ‘B’ or ‘C’.
There is nothing wrong with a Grade ‘B’ or ‘C’ chicken, they make great chicken salad, soups/stews, barbecued chicken and what have you. Save some money, stock up and freeze it for later use.
“What is that large roast beef that I see sitting on a country clubs buffet table’s carving station? How can I duplicate it at home?”
That particular cut of beef is called a "Steamship Round". It is the whole Round (hind leg) of the cow with the Top Round, Bottom Round and Eye Round included. The heel and one of the leg bones are taken out, as is the Rump, so that it can sit upright on the carving table. They can weigh any where from 30-50 lbs. They are quite hard to carve, because now we have the grains from several muscles running different directions. A good Chef (or knifeman) can cut nice thin slices of beef, against the grain, starting at the top of the meat and working his way down.
Obviously, these "Steamship Rounds" are not home 'friendly', as they are too big for most home ovens. However, you can duplicate part of it by buying a whole, or half, Top Round from your butcher. In fact, I saw some whole ones 'in the bag' the other day at Costco. These will weigh 10-15 lbs, approximately.
I would season the roast at least one day in advance. Here is what I did in my deli for roast beef. Rub the roast all over with a liberal amount of Dale's Sauce (available in the grocery store in the barbecue sauce section. Or use Moore's, almost the same thing). Now sprinkle the roast with Kosher Salt, black pepper and granulated garlic....all equal parts. Put the roast on a rack in a roasting pan (to catch the juices) and put into a pre-heated 450° oven, or grill, for approximately 20-30 minutes; lower the oven temperature to 325° and finish cooking until the internal temperature of the meat is about 125-130°. Take out of the oven, cover with foil for 10 minutes and then prepare to carve. You may want to remove some of the fat, as it makes it easier to see the grains (lines) in the meat, plus making it more appealing and attractive looking. Slice thin against the grain with a sharp knife and enjoy.
You can use this same method with an Eye Round, if you like. The key is 'thin thin thin', to make it tender.
“The Barbecue Butcher”, by Steve Graves, number 2
It would be lax of me to leave this pet subject of mine for later. There is no better time to bring it up than right now. Home/Kitchen Sanitation….I cannot stress this enough. At one time or another, most of us most of us have suffered through a couple days of the ‘stomach flu’, the ‘bug is going around’, the ‘trots’ and what ever else name you want to call it, and thinking nothing about it. Nine times out of ten it was a food borne bacteria that could’ve been prevented. Here are some simple steps to avoid “the bug”.
Home Kitchen Sanitation
A basic refresher on sanitation is a must if you are going to be preparing meat and poultry at home…..well, any where for that matter.
#1 wash your hands, and equipment, FREQUENTLY with hot water and soap. Dry your hands with a paper towel.
I also like to use an instant hand sanitizer, such as Purell©, before and after coming in contact with meat, poultry and vegetables. You don’t need a lot…probably a squirt in one hand about the size of a dime and rub in until your hands are dry….approximately 15-20 seconds. In as little as 15 seconds it will kill 99.99% of most common germs that can cause illness.
The use of latex/nitrile gloves is also useful in the handling of meat, especially if you are prepping with any vegetable oil or other messy substances. Make sure to buy the gloves with NO powder. These can be purchased in quantity at a reasonable price at most membership box stores and restaurant supply houses.
#2 the next area of concern is CROSS CONTAMINATION in your food prep area. Proper cleaning procedures and common sense prevail here and will prevent you, your family and your guests from any unpleasant food bacteria related illnesses. I can’t stress this enough.
I suggest using a different cutting board, preferably made of a plastic type or Teflon material, for your three main categories of food prep. One for meats, one for poultry and one for cutting fresh vegetables. These are inexpensive and can be bought cheap in most discount/department stores. Some people buy them color coded….red for meat, yellow for poultry and green for produce. Or, you can just label them. Make sure they are NSF approved. What ever you do, clean those properly after each use and you should not have any problems.
Wash in hot soapy water, making sure to loosen any meat particles stuck to the surface with a brush, and rinse in hot water. Now, make a sanitizing solution* of bleach and COLD water. Hot water will kill the sanitizing benefits of bleach. I recommend using a ration of one ounce bleach per one gallon of cold water. Or, ½ oz per ½ gal water, etc. Rinse the board thoroughly and let air dry. Before each use, I suggest dipping a paper towel in a fresh solution of the bleach/water mix and wiping the cutting board to make sure to kill any airborne germs that may have accrued during storage.
Follow the same above procedure with any other equipment, or counter surfaces, that have come in contact came with the meat. Wipe your knives dry as soon as sanitizing, as bleach may stain or rust certain steels.
* Two new items have hit the market lately. Lysol Food Surface Cleaner© and Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface©. Both come in a 22 oz spray bottle for $2.99. They are scent free and kill 99.9% of harmful bacteria on hard, non-porous surfaces such as cutting boards, counters, metal and plastic kitchen tools. No rinsing required.
“Is chicken graded the same as beef?”
Practically ALL chicken sold at retail level is Grade ‘A’. Chicken in this category will be firm, full breasted, meaty, with no blemishes, no broken skin or broken bones.
Grades ‘B’ and ‘C’ can have any or all of the defects listed above. As a rule, when supermarkets feature a loss leader item, such as .39 or .49¢ lb Leg Quarters, .99¢ lb bone-in Breasts or $1.77 lb Boneless Breasts, they are Grade ‘B’ or ‘C’ and the grade label may or may not even be listed at all. If the word "blem" is mentioned, consider it ‘B’ or ‘C’.
There is nothing wrong with a Grade ‘B’ or ‘C’ chicken, they make great chicken salad, soups/stews, barbecued chicken and what have you. Save some money, stock up and freeze it for later use.
“What is that large roast beef that I see sitting on a country clubs buffet table’s carving station? How can I duplicate it at home?”
That particular cut of beef is called a "Steamship Round". It is the whole Round (hind leg) of the cow with the Top Round, Bottom Round and Eye Round included. The heel and one of the leg bones are taken out, as is the Rump, so that it can sit upright on the carving table. They can weigh any where from 30-50 lbs. They are quite hard to carve, because now we have the grains from several muscles running different directions. A good Chef (or knifeman) can cut nice thin slices of beef, against the grain, starting at the top of the meat and working his way down.
Obviously, these "Steamship Rounds" are not home 'friendly', as they are too big for most home ovens. However, you can duplicate part of it by buying a whole, or half, Top Round from your butcher. In fact, I saw some whole ones 'in the bag' the other day at Costco. These will weigh 10-15 lbs, approximately.
I would season the roast at least one day in advance. Here is what I did in my deli for roast beef. Rub the roast all over with a liberal amount of Dale's Sauce (available in the grocery store in the barbecue sauce section. Or use Moore's, almost the same thing). Now sprinkle the roast with Kosher Salt, black pepper and granulated garlic....all equal parts. Put the roast on a rack in a roasting pan (to catch the juices) and put into a pre-heated 450° oven, or grill, for approximately 20-30 minutes; lower the oven temperature to 325° and finish cooking until the internal temperature of the meat is about 125-130°. Take out of the oven, cover with foil for 10 minutes and then prepare to carve. You may want to remove some of the fat, as it makes it easier to see the grains (lines) in the meat, plus making it more appealing and attractive looking. Slice thin against the grain with a sharp knife and enjoy.
You can use this same method with an Eye Round, if you like. The key is 'thin thin thin', to make it tender.