Results tagged “meat” from iVillage - Supermarket Guru
So read those labels!
The original standards for beef were created in 1916 and provided a framework for quality standards based on the age of the animal, the marbling [amount of fat interspersed with the lean meat throughout the cut] and its firmness, color, and texture. Since that time, grade specifications have been constantly changed and improved, with the most recent change made in 1997. And with this summer's higher-than-ever prices, it might be the time to look carefully at just which grade of beef is best for you.
There are eight grades of beef, but for the average consumer the choices in the supermarket are just three: Prime, Choice and Select. According to the USDA, the breakdown of what we consume is approximately 53% of Choice, 35% of Select and 3% of Prime beef with the other cuts making up the difference.
The standards are complex - but a rule of thumb to follow is that the younger the beef with a "slightly abundant" degree of marbling is graded as Prime; and the most expensive at retail. The older the beef - with the least amount of marbling is the least expensive.
Choosing which grade is right for you does not have to be complicated, but you need to develop your own decision-making matrix.
- How are you cooking the beef? If it's on the BBQ, you may want to buy a more marbled piece to be the juiciest.
- How much does it cost? Look at the prices carefully and think about the recipe usage (obviously, the taste of the meat when just grilling a steak is different than when making a glazed or marinated pot roast). You may be able to use a less expensive grade without much flavor difference.
- Check out that nutritional panel! While marbling does make meat taste better - it also means the fat content is higher.
- Ask the butcher! Whether you are buying your meat in an Albertson's, Whole Foods or Costco - most stores have on-staff butchers who do have extensive training and can make recommendations based on your recipe, budget and nutritional desires. Do not hesitate to ask questions - or ask for special cuts.
Get more information and tips on Today Show on iVillage!
More from Phil Lempert:
Can you believe it? Last week, the Bush administration urged a federal appeals court to stop Creekstone Farms, a Kansas meatpacker, and other companies from testing all of their animals for BSE. You probably are asking yourself why the federal government continues to fight attempts by independent meatpackers to test their products for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), better known as Mad Cow Disease. Certainly I do.
My obsession with Mad Cow began that day when I was one of the guests on Oprah, when Howard Lyman (the cattle rancher turned vegan) exposed the practices that could lead to a Mad Cow outbreak and shocked Oprah into saying she would never eat another cheeseburger again. Today, more than ten year later, less than one percent of all slaughtered cows are tested for BSE under current US guidelines.
The White House opposition to the Creekstone plan is based on the administration's belief that such independent tests not performed by federal agencies could result in "false positives" that could needlessly alarm consumers. Larger meatpackers also have objected to Creekstone's plans, saying that it could create unfair pressure on them to test all their animals for BSE, which could result in higher costs and, ultimately, higher consumer prices.
But what goes unsaid in the back and forth discussion is what we as the consumer want: a 100% safe food supply. No one wants to take a chance of biting into a burger and winding up in the hospital with BSE – or even eColi or any other harmful bacteria. Late yesterday yet another ground beef recall was announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service; this time it is 22,481 pounds of ground beef because the product might contain pieces of plastic. (For more information on this recall, visit the USDA Recall site )
Increased testing for BSE is a good thing, it gives both the industry and consumers more information – and will increase the amount of trust we have in our food supply. In the most recent SupermarketGuru.com Consumer Panel survey, twenty-seven percent of our panel said that our “food supply is not safe”.
The good news for consumers is that so far, at least, the courts seem to be siding with Creekstone; the company already has won this case in the lower courts, and, not a surprise, the Bush administration is trying to get that ruling reversed.
What do you think?
More from Phil Lempert
We’ve all seen it – we open our freezer door and see those dry patches of white stuff under the plastic of our foods, or even on the top layer of our ice cream. Yeeech. The good news is that freezer burn wont make us sick, but it can make our foods taste bland and chewy. It is created when food is exposed directly to cold air. You can prevent it! And prevention starts as soon as you get home from the supermarket.
Keep all frozen foods in their original sealed packages, then place in another plastic freezer bag. Push as much of the air out of the package as you can.
If you want to open a package and divide into smaller portions and freeze those separately, remove the pieces from the original package – then wrap the individual portions tightly in a plastic cling wrap – again try to remove all the excess air. Then wrap in aluminum foil, then place in a plastic freezer bag.
Freezer burn seems to just love those pints of ice cream. To keep it out, make sure that you put a piece of plastic cling wrap or aluminum foil over the top of the container then replace the lid.
As with all frozen foods, be sure you write the date that you first put your foods in the freezer on the outside of the package. And while most people realize that foods won’t stay forever in there, we have a tendency to forget that after 6 months or so there will be a loss of flavor and texture.
