I am going to make cevapcici -- they are little 'sausages' made of
ground beef, lamb and pork or just beef and lamb, about 3 inches long,
to be broiled or fried. The recipe calls for refrigerating them for
two hours after forming them just to set the form. Is there any reason
not to do them the day before, refrigerate them for 24 hours and then
cooking at the last minute? i'm trying to do as much ahead as I can.
Thanks for suggestions!

On 08/04/10 08:22, blue wrote:
> I am going to make cevapcici -- they are little 'sausages' made of
> ground beef, lamb and pork or just beef and lamb, about 3 inches long,
> to be broiled or fried. The recipe calls for refrigerating them for
> two hours after forming them just to set the form. Is there any reason
> not to do them the day before, refrigerate them for 24 hours and then
> cooking at the last minute? i'm trying to do as much ahead as I can.
> Thanks for suggestions!

Shouldn't be any issues unless you've frozen the meat since being
ground. Once ground, meats take on a much higher chance of containing
dangerous microorganisms - and freezing the microorganisms then kills a
good portion of them, leaving the ones that are resistant to cold climes.

As such, once ground meat has been thawed, those bacteria wake up and
start reproducing in the area left behind - which if you then put into
the freezer/refrigerator makes it as healthy as simply leaving it on the
bench - except that then the cats can't get at it.

Regular meats (other than chicken and fish) do not have as much risk -
it's being ground that causes it to become a real danger zone. So if you
are making cevapcici, tartare, whatever - make sure that the ground meat
is fresh, not frozen.

On Apr 7, 6:49*pm, Benji Z-Man > wrote:
> On 08/04/10 08:22, blue wrote:
>
> > I am going to make cevapcici -- they are little 'sausages' made of
.............<>.......................
>
> Shouldn't be any issues unless you've frozen the meat since being
> ground. Once ground, meats take on a much higher chance of containing
> dangerous microorganisms - and freezing the microorganisms then kills a
> good portion of them, leaving the ones that are resistant to cold climes.
>
Thank you for answering so quickly. I was afraid my question was too
dumb to post!!!

"Benji Z-Man" > wrote in message
...

>
> Shouldn't be any issues unless you've frozen the meat since being ground.
> Once ground, meats take on a much higher chance of containing dangerous
> microorganisms - and freezing the microorganisms then kills a good portion
> of them, leaving the ones that are resistant to cold climes.
>
> As such, once ground meat has been thawed, those bacteria wake up and
> start reproducing in the area left behind - which if you then put into the
> freezer/refrigerator makes it as healthy as simply leaving it on the
> bench - except that then the cats can't get at it.
>
> Regular meats (other than chicken and fish) do not have as much risk -
> it's being ground that causes it to become a real danger zone. So if you
> are making cevapcici, tartare, whatever - make sure that the ground meat
> is fresh, not frozen.
>

So if the same meat can be frozen safely before being ground, where are the
microorganisms coming from? The grinder?

On 08/04/10 10:28, Cheryl wrote:
[ Snip ]
> So if the same meat can be frozen safely before being ground, where are
> the microorganisms coming from? The grinder?

Yeah. Plus the counter, your hands, utensils, the air, everywhere
actually. Unlike what popular cleaning adverts will prescribe, it's
impossible to have a pure, sterile environment short of full cat-5
biohazard facilities!

I'm fairly tired so I can't explain 100% right now, but it's best
described as that the more surface areas that are exposed to the air,
the higher chance of contamination. Ground meat has pretty much 100%
surface area, making it the highest chance of applying vectors for
contamination.

Then you factor in that the ground meat has air pockets woven into it
that aren't present in the pre-ground meat - those pockets are little
oases for microorganisms such as bacteria, algae, amoebae, fungi... the
list goes on. As disgusting as it sounds, fortunately, they need time to
become problems on the fresh, ground, dead meat you've just coated them in.

A typical hygienic kitchen (clean counters, washed utensils, fresh
foods, clean hands, hair tied back, etc) will be able to work with
good-quality ground meats without hazards at all; just be aware that by
grinding the meat, you've reduced it's safe 'shelf life' from months
(including freezing) to mere hours. Before then, the ground meat is as
good to use as any other 'cut' or preparation style.

Freezing ground meat is fine, I do it all the time without issues. But
you cannot -refreeze- it, nor chill it, after it's been frozen. Cooking
it straight away means you can officially freeze the produced product,
but personally I'm a little iffy about doing that.

Ground meats purchased from the store (ie; prepackaged ground beef) can
usually be counted as being safe. Being refrigerated is not the same as
freezing - just remember to ask the store what their policy is regarding
freezing ground meat products; if they store them frozen, they need to
stay that way until used. Same goes for any ground-meat products
(sausages, cevapcicis, etc).

I have seen stores however that will store their pre-ground meats
frozen, then thaw them to put on the shelf, then put them back into the
freezer for storage... they get a nice big "avoid" stamp on my books. It
may even be illegal in your country/state/county to refreeze ground meats...

Anyway, I prattle. Another sign that I'm tired >_<

As one final thing - preservation techniques do work on ground meat as
well as any other. So smoked sausage will keep as well as smoked bacon.
Pickled mince will keep as well as well... pickles. Just be aware of the
time limit for using the raw product and you'll be fine.

If you need any more info, JGI - there should be info out there about
safe handling of ground meats, salmonella, food poisoning, etc. Just
don't let it bother you to find out what you're eating - you've been
doing it for years without problems, aye?

In article
>,
blue > wrote:

> On Apr 7, 6:49*pm, Benji Z-Man > wrote:
> > On 08/04/10 08:22, blue wrote:
> >
> > > I am going to make cevapcici -- they are little 'sausages' made of
> ............<>.......................
> >
> > Shouldn't be any issues unless you've frozen the meat since being
> > ground. Once ground, meats take on a much higher chance of containing
> > dangerous microorganisms - and freezing the microorganisms then kills a
> > good portion of them, leaving the ones that are resistant to cold climes.
> >
> Thank you for answering so quickly. I was afraid my question was too
> dumb to post!!!

Oh, heavens, no! It wasn't even in the top 50! "-)


--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller
Updated 4-2-2010