How To Prep Your Meat

So, you are in charge of Friday night family dinner, but you don’t know where to start.

Fear no more… With the help of these tips and tricks, prepping the perfect meat for your Friday night family dinner just became much less intimidating. You might even find your guest looking for the recipe in the trash can after dinner!

Why Do I Need To Prep My Meat?

To create a meal that is tender, flavorful, and delicious when served, the meat needs to be prepped properly – making it one of the most important part of cooking!

Depending on the type of meat and the type of cooking method envisioned, there can be many variations to how to prep meat. When it comes to using expensive meat cuts, not prepping your meat can put that money you spent to complete waste. However, there are some steps that go without saying no matter the meal.

Are There Steps To Meat Prep?

Yes, absolutely! There are 5 major steps to meat prep that you definitely don’t want to skip.

Step 1: Thaw the meat.

Before you can cook meat, it must be thawed. For frozen meat, it is best to place said meat in the fridge to thaw 24 hours before your designated cook time. It is important to remember never to thaw meat at room temperature, as bacteria and harmful allergens can form.

Step 2: Marinate the meat.

The second step to prepping perfect meat is marination. Meat can be marinated for any length of time, up to 12 hours. To marinate your meat, place it in an air-tight container with the marinade of your choice. Marinating your meat will first help tenderize the meat to make it easier to both cook and eat. But secondly, and most importantly, marinating your meat will add heaps of flavor and make it taste out of this world. It is important to note that marinating meat for longer than 12 hours can lead to the meat becoming soft and stringy.

Step 3: Take the meat out of the fridge.

Although this may seem like a very simple step, it’s critical to ensure the best flavor. The meat should be taken out of the fridge roughly 20-30 minutes before its designated cook time. Taking the meat out of the fridge prior to cooking time allows the meat to heat to room temperature to ensure it cooks evenly. Meat that is cooked straight out of the fridge may become unevenly cooked or overdone.

Step 4: Make it pretty!

The last step of prepping meat is important for both taste and appeal. Nobody enjoys getting a steak that is 90% fat, so be proactive and remove the excess fat. It is important to leave some fat for flavor and tenderness, but excessive parts can be removed.

Meat Prep Do’s and Don’ts

So now that you have got the process of prepping your meat down, let’s do a crash course of meat prep do’s and don’ts.

• Don’t thaw frozen meat at room temperature.
• Do take already thawed meat out before cooking to allow it to reach room temperature.
• Don’t marinade your meat for more than 12 hours.
• Do leave some fat on your meat in order to get the best flavor.

Now the final step to serving the perfect meal is saucerizing (yes, saucerizing!) your perfectly prepped meat in some delicious Allegro sauce. From Honey BBQ Sauce to Tennessee Whiskey Marinade, we have it all! Check out all of our products to spice up your next meal.