Many individuals were scrambling to find an animal to sacrifice in preparation for the forthcoming Feast of Sacrifice. Meat is a significant dietary item that includes numerous vitamins and minerals in addition to its high protein content. It also contains microbes. Inst. Eda Sensu Demir, Food Engineer at Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU), Istanbul Gelisim Vocational School (IGVS), Department of Food Technology, stated that hygiene and sanitation rules should be considered in the cutting and storage stages in order not to increase the microbial load on meat.
“The person performing the cutting procedure should wear clean, appropriate clothing and exercise good hand hygiene.”
There are things to consider before, during, and after cutting in order to produce a quality cut of meat. Stating that the environment where the animal will be slaughtered and the tools to be used should be made hygienic before slaughter, Food Master Engineer Instructor Eda Sensu Demir said, "The person who will perform the slaughter process should wear clean clothing suitable for the slaughter and pay attention to hand hygiene. In this approach, the quantity of germs in the meat may be controlled, and contamination from various environmental bacteria can be avoided. Another factor that will affect the quality of meat is the stress of the animal during slaughter. When an animal is under stress, it burns off the body's stored glycogen, leaving no nutrients for the environment to employ in scent and flavor creation responses. The animal should be brought to the slaughter point 1-2 days before slaughter and rested. Seeing slaughtered animals or smelling blood will also cause stress. This should be prevented as much as possible.''
“The cut meat should be brought into contact with some air”
After the animal is slaughtered, it must be rested properly to provide the desired aroma and flavor. Stating that the animal must complete 3 different stages in order for the muscle tissue to turn into meat, Demir said, "The first phase is the hot meat phase that lasts between 6-8 hours. In this process, meat should be kept at +16 degrees. Afterwards, it should be stored at +4 degrees and then lowered below +4 degrees to ensure the maturation of the meat. One of the important issues that we should mention is that the cut meat is in pink-red color. In order to achieve this desired color, the cut meat should be brought into contact with some air. That is, if we put it in the bag as soon as we cut it, the meat will turn dark brown. For this reason, open containers that can receive fresh air should be preferred while carrying the meat."
“We recommend consuming meat within a period of 6-8 months”
If there is a large amount of meat and it will be stored for a long time, the freezing method, which is the best quality and healthy preservation method, should be preferred. Stating that the point to be considered in this process is not to try to freeze a large amount of meat at the same time, Instructor Eda Sensu Demir said, “In order to obtain a quality frozen food, the freezing process should be carried out quickly. For this reason, meat can be frozen in small portions and a rapid freezing can be achieved. In addition, even if frozen foods have a long shelf life, there is a loss of aroma and taste when kept for a long time. We recommend consuming meat within a period of 6-8 months. The most important point is that frozen products should not be frozen again after thawing. This is especially dangerous for meat. Apart from freezing, it can also be stored in the form of roasting by applying heat treatment.”