Q: What are the essential elements of certified organic meat?

A: No pesticides or chemical fertilizers are permitted in the growing of the animal’s feed; No genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) are permitted in the animals feed; No animal by-products are ever permitted in the animals feed; Third party verification and inspection are required by an accredited certifying body; The organic processor must maintain and update an organic processing and handling plan; The farm must monitor soil and water quality at all times

Q: I am looking for a source for raw dog food, do you offer chicken frames, necks, and other parts that I can feed my dog?

A: Thanks for thinking of Meat on the Beach, however, we do not offer the types of meat parts that dog owners interested in raw diets are seeking.  We can refer you to the following friends who are strong advocates for the raw diet and who offer the Bravo Raw Diet and other packaged whole bone parts:

Q: What is “Grass-Fed” Beef?

A: Cattle that have never eaten anything other than forages (pasture grasses and hay). The cattle spend their days entirely outdoors on pasture from spring to fall and eat hay during the winter months. This unique life style allow the cattle to live stress free lives that promote health and vitality as nature intended

Q: What size should I choose for a Turkey?

A: Rule of thumb is 1 pound of turkey per person. This will serve your needs and have leftovers

Q: Why is beef aged?

A: Beef is aged for two main reasons. The first is to make the meat tenderer. The second reason is to enhance the flavour. During the aging process moisture evaporates from the muscle creating a concentration of flavour.

Q: Why is thorough cooking so important for ground meat products such as hamburger?

A: Within the muscle there is no bacterial contamination. When the muscles are cut into steaks and roasts, the bacterial contamination will only occur on the cut outside of the meat. Cooking these meats rare to medium will create enough heat to kill off these bacteria. In ground meat, however, the surface where bacterial contamination occurs is spread throughout the product in the grinding process. The only way to be sure to eliminate the bacteria is to cook the hamburgers thoroughly.

Q: What does the aging do to meat?

A: Aging does two things to meat, notice everything here comes in twos. One aspect I just described above, the moisture evaporating, so we skip that and move to the second part, which is the natural tenderizer. Aging makes the meat tender. How does that happen? Well, as the meat hangs or is vacuum packed and stored for some time a change happens in form of enzymes, which multiply and begin to break down the fibrous tissue. Depending at the age of the animals, how they have been feed and how tender the meat is desired these enzymes are going to be busy between 7 to 26 days, any longer then that and the enzymes are beginning to die off turning in to bad bacteria and meat rot sets in.

Q: What breed of pig is best suited to make sausages?

A: There is no particular breed of pig that makes better sausages than another pig breed. In this regard, all pigs are equal. What is not equal is the cut of meat used to make sausages. The best cuts for sausage making are medium lean to fat. These cuts come from the pork neck, side of pork and pork shoulder (see meat cuts). Professional sausage makers use whole pigs to make in to sausages. The preferred pigs for this are fully crown or older and have medium fat which is added to the sausage to reach the necerssary fat content in the sausage.

Q: What meat cut shall I buy?

A: It happens sometimes, we want to prepare a special meal from a recipe but it does not say what meat cut to use for it. Meat is different, not every part of an animal makes good steak or roast. What to do?
Simple! Ask the butcher and explain to him what you want to make. Butchers are trained people, they can tell you what piece of meat is best suited for the dish or meal you have in mind. In a supperstore ask for the manager of the meat department, he is a trained butcher too. We butchers are happy to serve our costumers with good advice and quality products.