How to cook beef stew meat?
Brown the meat by placing 1 layer on your stew pan. The pan should be hot and you should use Heat your stew pan (large heavy base pan/dutch oven/le creuset pot...etc..). Add oil to cover the base and a knob of butter. Toss your meat (which should be at room temperature) lightly in seasoned flour (flour+salt+pepper) Brown the meat on a high heat by placing 1 layer in the hot pan. Just fry the meat until it is brown all over. It shouldn't take too long as you are just searing the outside of the meat - it will not be cooked inside yet, that will come later. Do not crowd the meat. You may need to do this in several batches. put the meat aside. In the same pan fry diced onions, celery and carrots lightly. Add a little more oil if you need to. Add a large glass of wine to de glaze the pan and get all the nice brown bits off the bottom. If you don't want to use wine you could use a light unsweetened pure apple juice with tablespoon of vinegar. Let that reduce a little. Add the meat back into the pan along with any other vegetables you want in your stew eg. mushroom, potato, large chunks of carrot, parsnip, squash..whatever you like. Also add whichever herbs you want in your stew. Dried herbs are perfect for stews or 'woody' fresh herbs like thyme and rosemary. Stir it and add enough stock (meat or veg is fine) to cover the meat and veg. Season with salt and pepper carefully, remembering that stock is quite salty. You can always wait until it is cooked through and check the seasoning again. If you don't want to use stock you can use water. The stew will be lighter, which is fine. Just remember to season well. Cover and cook on the lowest possible heat on your stove for at least 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Alternatively you could cook it in the oven, again on a low heat for 3 hours. There is no need to open the lid or stir, just set a timer, find a good book and leave it alone. Stews are always best the next day so once your stew has cooked and cooled let it sit in bottom of the fridge overnight (or for up to 3 days) before serving. Reheat at the lowest possible temp in the oven or on your stove until it has come to a boil. This will take a little time but always make sure the food is piping hot through before eating. If you used potato, check them as they take the longest time to heat through. Hope this helps.
Raw Bones... Feed room temp or frozen? How long in freezer?
Yes sure, you can give raw marrow bones or any type raw meat to your dog. I've not tried giving raw marrow bones to my dogs yet but I give them raw cow hoofs & they usually get it straight from the freezer. It's harder for them to chew & it makes less mess than thawed meat unless you feed the dog outside on grass. Anything you put in the freezer can last a LONG time. If he doesn't finish it, it's better you throw it away & give him a new one unless it's winter right now then the bone will not go bad at all & you can keep it in the freezer after that & then give it to him again the next time. My country is hot & humid so I have to throw away the hoofs. They start smelling after a few hours. If your dog has not eaten any raw meat or meaty bones before, just be prepared that it might get diarrhea. This happens to some dogs but it's quite normal but I noticed that when I give my dogs red meat or the hoofs, they don't get diarrhea at all. Giving raw meat & meaty bones once in a while is good. ADD: Cow marrow bones are solid hard & it will be impossible for the dog to eat it up but ofcourse the dog can eat the marrow. You can also give raw cow hoofs, cow hocks, raw beef, mutton, any red meat. Some dogs including mine do terribly on raw chicken so I avoid giving them raw chicken, only cooked ones. Ofcourse no bones. But you can try just for fun but just be prepared for any mess. You can also give them cow ribs with the flesh still on it, oxtails, lamb heads & many more. I'm not sure which bones are not weight bearing because the whole point of giving big, hard, heavy bones to the dogs is that they will have to chew it for hours. The bones are not supposed to be too easy to chip off as well. The problem with giving raw chicken with the bones still in it is that the dog will chew & swallow it within minutes or seconds.
Can one still eat meat which stood at room temperature for 5 hours after cooking?
Let’s be sensible, folks. If you a) don’t live in a deprived area, b) have window/door screens, c) practice reasonable food safety, don’t worry. Food spoilage is a factor of time, among other things, and a covered bowl of steak tartare won’t be the worse for sitting. It just won’t have quite the zing when served, and will lose some color.Personally, as a matter of routine, I always plate and cover cooked or raw/prepared meat with plastic film. Unless it will be longer, I’d rather leave it at room temperature. Refrigeration will draw out moisture, which will toughen the meat.This is not in accord with USDA Federal Guidelines…but then, they forbid raw egg yolk in Caesar Salad, and require ground beef be cooked into hockey pucks (160° F). I don’t know a top-line restaurant that could survive that kind of treatment, so I assume they disregard the rules, but are rigorous in enforcing the basics (i.e., not leaving prep lying around or using yesterday’s food today).
How long can a refrigerated sandwich last outside in room temperature?
There are two critical factors:The first critical factor is freshness. If the ham is already slightly old then you are halfway there. If it is fresh ham then you have a better chance at survival. Deli sliced ham can have more bacteria on it. That's the issue. The second critical factor is temperature (see Food Temperature). This then means that there are two influencers that need to be considered:What is the temperature? If it is winter then you have a lower risk, but if it is summer then you have a bigger issue.Will the messenger bag be sitting in the sun, in which case the sandwich temperature will be even warmer.As a personal anecdote, I grew up in a city where it could reach 40°C (100°F) regularly in summer. I could make a sandwich in the morning and it was fine, but by 1pm it was history. Our school bags were often left outside in the sun and it is no wonder.If it is a warm day, and the bag is going to be outside, then consider putting an ice-brick in it. It's a quick and simple remedy that will minimise the risk.
How long does it take for a freezer to get cold enough for its proper usage?
If it's empty, it will take longer than if you fill it with frozen food. At first glance, that may sound backwards, but I assure you that I DID type that correctly. The frozen food will actually cool the inside of the freezer more quickly (with the help of the compressor) than the compressor acting alone on an empty machine. If it IS empty, then the answer will depend on the age of the unit, the efficiency, and the temperature that the inside of the freezer is, and the ambient temperature of the space it is working in. There is no one correct answer without knowing all of these things. It won't take days, nor will it be mere minutes, but depending on what items you are putting inside, and how much of it's capacity you are using, you could conceivably fill it 5 minutes after plugging it in. I would definitely plug it in and wait 5 minutes to be sure cold air begins to flow before putting anything inside it. It won't take too long for the air to reach the correct temperature, but it will cycle on and off more for the first few hours. Once the air is the proper temperature, it will cycle off. The inside walls will not be cold yet, so the air inside will warm up much faster than normal to the temperature at which it cycles on again.
Why are you supposed to defrost food in cold water?
Warm water would work more quickly. The problem is, it would also increase the amount of time that food spends in the food temperature danger zone (70 - 140 degrees Fahrenheit). In that temperature zone, bacteria grows quite rapidly. By defrosting in cool water (or in the refrigerator) you move the food from frozen to defrosted, but keep it under 70 degrees (ideally, you should keep food under 41 degrees until ready to cook).
What happens if you leave the fridge door open?
What happens if you left the fridge door open?I can't, for the life of me, figure out why this question keeps coming up. If you're old enough to ask this on a computer website, you already know the most obvious part of the answer: Your stuff gets warm. Depending on how long you left it open, you'll have to toss some of it, but don't get carried away -- maybe the milk's still good (take a sip; you'll know right away). Fruit? Probably ok. Same with leafy stuff. Bread -- no worries.Anything that's creamy (cottage cheese, chip dip, mayo, pretty much anything with eggs in it) needs serious examination. If it got to room temperature, toss it. Life is too short to spend two days on the can because of bad egg salad.Warm chicken? Out it goes. Same with ground meats. I'd have a real problem tossing a good steak -- you be the judge. Unopened sammich meat will probably be ok if it hasn't sat at room temp for more than a couple-three hours.The less obvious part of the answer is what happens to your fridge. Well, the cooling coils probably frosted up. When you finally sober up and remember to close the door, it's going to take a while to get cold in there again. Maybe a long time if the coils got completely ice-clogged (the fridge will have to go through a defrost cycle to cover up YOUR booboo). Don't worry too much about things like compressors, lightbulbs, fans etc. Those things are all overtemperature and overpressure protected. You didn't do them any good, you silly goof, but you probably didn't kill them either. Unless you bought a cheap piece of junk at a yard sale -- good luck with that.So while you're sitting there pondering the foolishness of you behavior, have a nice cold beer. Oh wait...