Hormones and Antibiotics
Fifteen Seconds of Flame - A Steak's Own Story
Hot Off The Grill - Be Cool-Chill Out!

Hormones and Antibiotics Hormones are implanted into the cattle when they enter the feed lots, approximately when they are 120 days old. This promotes faster growth and adds weight much faster to the animal. What most consumers don't realize is that by the time the animal goes to slaughter, virtually all of the hormones have been flushed through their system. In fact, the USDA does random tests on cattle and the criteria is that the animal must have less than .002 % hormones left in their bodies. When processed, most cattle are virtually hormone free. Many of the foods we consume have much higher hormone content, including eggs which have .12% per egg. Cattle are administered antibiotics to ward off any potential diseases much like humans who are given shots in their childhood for the same reason. Companies that raise natural beef don't use hormones, but most do use antibiotics for the above mentioned reason.

15 Seconds Of Flame - A Steak's Own Story Every cook knows that when you cook a good steak, you have to make painful compromises. You learn to blast it at high temperatures (a) because you need more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit to produce a crust with those rich, caramelized flavors that form like magic from the meat’s natural sugars and amino acids. (Scientists call this process the Maillard reaction, named for the French physician who almost a century ago was the first to investigate similar reactions between proteins and sugars in the human body.) But you don’t want the steak’s interior to go much above 135 degrees, because that’s the temperature at which it stays juicy and rare. Above that, the strands of proteins in the muscle fibers contract so much that they start to squeeze out their juices (b)—and beef has tons of juices before you cook it; it’s more than 60 percent water. Renowned food science author Harold McGee shocked the cooking world in 1984 when he used these principles to demonstrate that searing meat at high heat does precisely the opposite of "sealing in" those juices—it starts to dry them out. So what usually happens when you throw your steak on the fire? You end up with a great Maillard crust, a juicy rare or rosy center—and then there’s a dry, chewy "gray zone" in between. McGee had a hunch that computers could figure out a satisfactory solution. He knew that Silicon Valley scientists had used mathematical simulation software to help them study how electrons move through silicon chips, so he figured they could modify the software to study how heat moves through meat. They could. McGee ran hundreds of simulations, in effect asking the computer: What’s the best way to get heat to diffuse through the meat so it cooks as fast and evenly as possible? The computer told them that chefs are cooking their steaks, well, wrong. McGee aims a laser pointer at his computer’s simulation of beef, up there on the screen: The screen shows a simulation of the inside of the cooking steaks as sedimentary layers of purple and green and yellow, each color representing a different amount of accumulated heat. (c) And they show that when you throw a steak on the fire and just let it sit there, sizzling away, and then you flip the meat only once before you serve it, you’re messing with the heat diffusion. There’s such a huge difference between the temperatures on the side that’s facing the fire and the side that’s turned away that the heat inside your steak fluxes all over the place. (This applies only to beef.) "But," McGee says, "the computer model shows that if you keep flipping the meat as you cook it, the heat diffuses through the meat much more evenly, so it cooks more evenly. Our study suggests that the optimum flipping time is every fifteen seconds." Every 15 seconds? Can McGee be serious? "Maybe that’s a little extreme; it might be a inconvenient," McGee says, laughing. "The computer model shows that flipping the meat every thirty seconds will work almost as well." And it’s nice to know that another recent study, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, shows that frequent flipping makes steaks more healthful, too: It reduces the amount of carcinogenic compounds that can be generated when you cook over high heat by as much as 75 percent. Which means that short-order cooks have been doing things right all along. --D. Z. (Article found in Gourmet Magazine, October 2001.)

Hot Off The Grill - Be Cool - Chill Out! Harmful bacteria grow most rapidly in the Danger Zone—the unsafe temperatures between 45° F and 140° F—so it’s important to keep food out of this temperature range. Cold temperatures prevent most harmful bacteria from growing, so be sure to refrigerate or freeze foods quickly and follow these tips! The Top Three Chilling Tips 45° Fahrenheit, That’s Right! Make sure the temperature in the refrigerator is 45° F or below and 0° F or below in the freezer. Check the temperature regularly and ensure each refrigerator/freezer has an accurate thermometer. Avoid the Pack Attack Don’t over pack the refrigerator. Cold air must circulate to help keep food safe. Keep it Cool Rule When using ice to keep food cold, the ice level must be equal to or greater than the food level to keep foods at the required temperature. Work quickly when preparing food to minimize time spent in the temperature danger zone. Ensure salads and other similar potentially hazardous foods are prepared using ingredients that are prechilled to 45° F or lower. Just the facts, Ma’am Here are some interesting misconceptions about refrigeration and defrosting, along with just the facts: Myth: It will harm my refrigerator or ruin other foods if I put hot food inside, so I should let food cool at room temperature first. Fact: Hot food will not harm your refrigerator nor ruin other foods. In fact, prompt refrigeration of foods will keep you and your food safer. Foods cool at a food depth of 2 inches or less, uncovered in a walk-in refrigerator. Cut large pieces of meat into 4 pound pieces before refrigerating. Do not cover or transfer the food to a greater food depth until it is 45° F or lower. For even faster cooling consider installing a blast chiller. Myth: I can safely thaw food on the counter at room temperature. Fact: Remember, bacteria grow rapidly at room temperature and you should avoid keeping foods in the Danger Zone—the unsafe temperatures between 45° F and 140° F. To keep food safe, always follow the Thaw Law: Never defrost food at room temperature. Thaw food in the refrigerator. You can also place food in a food preparation sink submerged under cold running water or thaw food in the microwave if you’ll be cooking it immediately.   Compliments of Customer Service Dept.

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