Tips for cooking the meat until it is perfectly cooked so you don't get poisoned

Some people cook steak with varying levels of maturity, ranging from medium well (half cooked) until well done (mature). However, cooking your own meat at home is actually quite risky because it is difficult to predict whether the meat is safe for consumption or not. Check out the reviews below for tips on how to cook meat to avoid the risk of poisoning.

Why is undercooked meat bad for health?

Undercooked meat contains a variety of bacteria in it, such as E. coli, salmonella, and listeria. What are the health problems that can arise if a person is infected with these bacteria?

E. coli

If you don't cook the meat properly, you risk some symptoms of E. coli infection, such as diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramps.

E. coli bacteria are usually found on the surface of raw meat. So, cooking the surface of the meat should be enough to kill the bacteria.

However, some meat that is stored in supermarkets or markets is not stored at the right temperature, which can cause bacteria to potentially enter the interior of the meat.

Therefore, it is important for you to know the right tips for cooking meat to avoid the risk of bacterial poisoning.

Salmonella

Apart from E. coli, other bacteria that land on raw meat is salmonella. The symptoms that appear after you eat meat with salmonella are stomach cramps, fever, and diarrhea.

These symptoms have the potential to develop into more severe conditions, and can even cause death if your body does not have a good immune system.

Listeria

Although listeria bacteria are more commonly found in ready-to-eat meats, they can also appear in undercooked meat.

Symptoms that you may feel after being infected with these bacteria are fever and muscle aches. In addition, pregnant women are also at risk of experiencing problems with their pregnancy, such as having a miscarriage.

Then, what are the tips for cooking meat to get the perfect doneness?

So, in order not to experience this risk, you must know how to process meat with the right level of maturity. Here are some raw meat cooking tips that you can follow so that you avoid the risks above:

1. Store the meat properly

When you buy raw meat at the market or supermarket, the meat is usually not stored in a sterile environment. Therefore, immediately store the meat in the refrigerator.

Place the meat in a plastic bag or tightly closed container. If you are going to cook the meat within 2-3 days, keep it under the refrigerator.

However, if you plan to store the meat for a long time, put the meat inside freezer. The resistance of raw meat when stored inside freezer is about 3-4 months.

2. Avoid defrost meat at room temperature

Another tip before cooking meat is to pay attention to the process defrost. Defrost is the process of "thawing" the meat that was just taken out of freezer. In doing defrost, it's best to avoid putting the meat just like that at room temperature.

Quoted from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service website, when meat is left at room temperature, between 4-60 degrees Celsius, to be precise, the meat will become an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. In other words, bacteria will grow very quickly at that temperature.

You can try defrosting meat by placing it in the lower refrigerator, cold water, or using microwave. With this, the bacteria will not multiply in the meat quickly.

3. Cook at the right temperature

The most important tip when cooking meat is to ensure the temperature of the meat. The safest way is to use a food thermometer.

You can stick a food thermometer into the meat while the meat is cooking. Most bacteria die when the temperature inside the meat reaches 62-82 degrees Celsius.

It's best not to rely on a rough estimate of whether your meat is completely cooked or not. By using a food thermometer, you can determine the temperature in the meat accurately and you will avoid the risk of food poisoning.