On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 289

frozen meat will keep for millennia, as has been demonstrated by the discovery of mammoth flesh frozen 15,000 years ago in the ice of northern Siberia It’s best to keep meat as cold as possible The usual recommendation for home freezers is 0ºF/– 18ºC (many operate at 10–15ºF/–12 to –9ºC) Freezing will preserve meat indefinitely from biological decay However, it’s a drastic physical treatment that inevitably causes damage to the muscle tissue, and therefore diminishes meat quality in several ways Cell Damage and Fluid Loss As raw meat freezes, the growing crystals protrude into the soft cell membranes and puncture them When the meat is thawed, the ice crystals melt and unplug the holes they’ve made in the muscle cells, and the tissue as a whole readily leaks a fluid rich in salts, vitamins, proteins, and pigments Then when the meat is cooked, it loses more fluid than usual (p 150), and more readily ends up dry, dense, and tough Cooked meat suffers less from freezing because its tissue has already been damaged and lost fluid when it was heated Cell damage and fluid loss are minimized by freezing the meat as rapidly as possible and keeping it as cold as possible The faster the meat moisture freezes, the smaller the crystals that it forms, and the less they protrude into the cell membranes; and the colder the meat is kept, the less enlargement of existing crystals will occur Freezing can be accelerated by setting the freezer at its coldest temperature, dividing the meat into small pieces, and leaving it unwrapped until after it has solidified (wrapping acts as insulation and can double the freezing time) Fat Oxidation and Rancidity In addition to inflicting physical damage, freezing causes chemical changes that limit the storage life of frozen meats When ice crystals form and ... by freezing the meat as rapidly as possible and keeping it as cold as possible The faster the meat moisture freezes, the smaller the crystals that it forms, and the less they protrude into the cell membranes; and the colder the meat is kept, the less enlargement... after it has solidified (wrapping acts as insulation and can double the freezing time) Fat Oxidation and Rancidity In addition to inflicting physical damage, freezing causes chemical changes that limit the storage life of. .. colder the meat is kept, the less enlargement of existing crystals will occur Freezing can be accelerated by setting the freezer at its coldest temperature, dividing the meat into small pieces, and leaving it unwrapped until