I found a diagram and a chart about buying and cooking meat while looking through my old class notes from my college days. One summer I audited a cooking class and it was that class that really gave me the confidence to try new recipes and experiment a bit.
I still struggle with buying and cooking meat though. I’m not a huge meat lover, and beef kinda grosses me out. I’ve heard too many stories from people-who-know-people who worked in a meat department in a grocery store. The stories always involve hacking off the green parts and grinding up the rest to sell as ground beef. Hughl.
Anyway, I have found these two documents useful, especially when I have need to buy beef.
The first one is a diagram of all the different beef cuts and what part of the cow each cut comes from. (Beef Cut Diagram)
The second is a document outlining the minimal internal temperatures a cut of meat must reach to be considered safe to eat. (Safe Internal Meat Temperatures)
These two documents have helped me to feel much more competent as a cook, so I now pass them on to you. Enjoy!!
