Most nutritionists and doctors suggest people buy fresh meat from the market and stay away from any kind of packaged meat that is full of preservatives. However, after buying meat from the market, even if it is fresh, one has to make sure that it is free from any kind of germs or blood clots. Not paying attention towards cleaning the meat properly can give rise to a lot of health-related problems that should be avoided at any cost.
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Cleaning the meat ensures that any kind of contamination is taken care of, and doesn't get transferred to the cooked food. Mutton is one of the most famous varieties of meat that is used to make a lot of intricate and special dishes. If you are planning to make something from mutton at home, here are some steps that will help you ensure that the meat is properly clean
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* Washing With Cold Water
One of the first steps a person has to do after bringing fresh meat home is to wash the meat under cold water properly. This step will help in ensuring that any kind of dirt particles or blood clots that might have remained on the skin of the meat are taken off. Most of the time mutton is kept openly at the butcher's shop. Thus it becomes an epicentre of breeding germs and other sources of contamination. So it becomes indispensable for a person to wash the mutton properly before using it to cook a particular dish.
* Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is acidic and germs tend to stay away from anything acidic. Simply cleaning up the meat with lemon juice by squeezing the juice on the top of the skin can be a great idea to make sure that the mutton is free from any kind of germ infestation or possible bacteria. This step should be done after a person has properly cleaned the mutton pieces with water and they have been dried. There is also no need to wash the mutton pieces after properly covering them with lemon juice as it will also impart an extra flavour.
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* Salty Water
If one feels that the mutton that they have bought from the market has a lot of dirt particles, then giving it a saltwater bath can be a good idea to make sure that all the germs and bacteria are taken out. One has to take lukewarm water and add a little bit of regular salt to it. Now the pieces of mutton should be immersed in the water and the solution should be let to rest for at least two hours. After a couple of hours, the person can take out the mutton pieces from the water and wash them under a tap. Make sure that the pieces are properly washed to eradicate all the flavours that they might have acquired because of the saltwater bath.
* Vinegar
Vinegar is already a very well-known disinfectant that is used to clean different parts of the kitchen and house. It is also used to extend the shelf life of a particular food item by the process of fermentation. Another use of vinegar is cleaning meat and killing any kind of bacterias and germs that might be present on the surface of the mutton. A person has to simply take a container and add lots of water to it. Now add 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar depending upon the quantity of water. In this one should keep the pieces of mutton immersed and wait for a couple of hours for the vinegar to do its magic. All the germs will be killed in the time duration and the meat will be fit to be consumed.
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* Cross Contamination
While storing meat at home, one has to be extra careful as meat is highly likely to acquire germs from other unhygienic food items or utensils that are kept near them. One has to take extreme care of cross-contamination and keep mutton in a place where it is away from any other kind of food. The storage container should also be properly clean and one must ensure that it doesn't have any kind of stains from the previous food that was stored in the container. While cooking mutton at home, a person has to make sure that the utensils being used are also clean. Avoid touching mutton again and again with bare hands that have not been washed recently.