Beef Blog

Posted 4/8/2013 by Jennifer Harrold, Pennsylvania Beef Council

Ready…Set…RACE! Runners are Fueled with Beef for the 2013 Boston Marathon

It’s here folks! We’re in the final week leading up to the 117th Boston Marathon with race day next Monday, April 15. The Beef Checkoff, through the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI), will be exhibiting at the John Hancock Sports & Fitness Expo Friday, April 12- Sunday, April 14.

Alongside our staff, will be members of the National Beef Ambassador Team. Like our State Beef Ambassador, these enthusiastic youth attend events across the United States to promote beef as a part of a healthy lifestyle and to explain how beef is raised.

We are excited to have five Team BEEF runners this year for the marathon. Team members are required to wear a team beef jersey, participate in team beef media outreach and activities, will receive partial reimbursement for registration and of course LOVE BEEF! Please check out our team members on the NEBPI website. We are very proud to have such great advocates to promote beef on behalf of farmers and ranchers across America.

Throughout the marathon weekend we will have tons of exciting activities at the booth. Attendees are able to stop and make a cheer card to encourage runners on race day. The National Beef Ambassadors will be handing out 90% lean beef sticks to keep runners Fueled for the Finish, and don’t miss out on entering to win an “I Heart Beef” cowbell for tweeting #fuelupwithbeef. Attendees can also follow us on twitter or comment on the PA Beef Council’s Facebook page. A beef prize pack will also be raffled off for attendees who answer a short survey. The beef booth is sure to be buzzing with activity as more than 85,000 people are expected to visit the Sports & Fitness Expo this year!

If you’re in the area this weekend be sure to stop by! Please find our location and expo times below:

WHERE:
2013 John Hancock Sports & Fitness Expo, Booth #1726
John B. Hynes Convention Center
Level 2- Exhibit Halls C & D and
900 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02115

WHEN:
Friday, April 12, 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 13, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 14, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

And remember….GO BEEF!

Posted 3/15/2013 by Zach Frazier, 2012 PA Beef Ambassador

A Fond Farewell

Hey all!  It’s Zach, the 2012 Beef Ambassador again.  Sadly, my year as beef ambassador is coming to an end.  Wow, the year has gone fast and I can’t believe it’s over already!  The year may have flown by, but I have learned so much and had so much fun working with the PA Beef Council.

Let’s look at the year in rewind.  I started with my first event at the Penn State Altoona Ag Day with the past ambassador, Arika Snyder, and PBC staff member, Nichole.  It was a great place to “get my feet wet,” and learn what I would be doing in my new role.  From there, I got an amazing chance to attend the National Harbor Wine & Food Festival with the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI).  This was my first “big” event.  We were center stage the entire weekend!  While there, I got to meet John and Rossie, from last year’s National Beef Ambassador Team, and their advisor, Sarah.  I learned so much just from talking to them.

Later in May, Tanner, the Junior Beef Ambassador, my dad and I went to Fox Chase Farm, part of the Philadelphia School District, and participated in their Farm to Table Day.  Crazy to think I drove almost seven hours to get there and still managed to meet someone that lives only 15 minutes from me (I guess it really is a small world).  I got to take a break for a couple weeks and graduated from high school.  The week after graduation I drove to Lancaster County for Oregon Family Farm Days.  The event was huge – we had more than 14,000 public impressions (crazy huh?). 

The next week I drove all the way to Purdue (West Lafayette, IN) and registered for college – that was really exciting!  In July, I attended the Northeast Agriculture Educators Symposium in Hershey, PA, and got a really different perspective on promotion.  This was my first educators’ event rather than general public.  I went back home, then turned around and drove to Wylausing, PA, (never heard of it before that) with Nichole, two days later.  We participated in the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania tour of the Cargill Taylor Beef packing plant.  This was another great event that gave me exposure to the producer side of the industry.  My last event of the summer was the Pennsylvania Beef Council Board Meeting.  I got to address the board and talk about my experiences, as well as gain a better understanding of how the Beef Council works.  My absolute final event was helping staff the Today’s Ag Display at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.  It was an amazing exhibit that brought an extremely scaled down version of a farm, but had 99% of everything there.  This year was amazing and I would do it all again.

So, I almost excluded the biggest thing I got to do!  Last September, I was able to go to the National Beef Ambassador Competition in California.  It was a trip of firsts – first time traveling alone, first time flying into Denver, first time to California, and first time eating a Tri-tip steak.  All were amazing experiences!  I did not make the team, but I met a lot of great people and still keep in touch with many of them.  I learned a lot about industry promotion.  This past year as the Pennsylvania Beef Ambassador has been a great one and many thanks go out to all who made it possible, the Pennsylvania Beef Council, Beef Council Board of Directors, Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s Association, and all the Pennsylvania beef producers.

Posted 2/14/2013 by Bridget Bingham, Executive Director; Pennsylvania Beef Council

Cowboys VS Pirates…nothing short of an action-packed adventure at this year’s Cattle Industry Convention! 

The Beef Council staff, along with 70 other attendees from PA, had barrels of fun while spending some very meaningful time together in Tampa.  There was certainly no shortage of story lines! 

The more than 6,500 attendees from across the country enjoyed learning more about the Florida Crackers and the legendary Pirate Jose Gaspar.  We were enlightened about our global economy by the brilliantly wise and entertaining mind of Stuart Varney, Fox News, and we got to know Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, whose lives were chronicled in the bestselling book, The Blind Side, in an up-close and witty fashion that packed a powerful message.

The industry came together to put the revamped committee structure in motion for the first time.  The committee chairs all reported this to be a successful endeavor out of the gates.  The committees are now strategically aligned with the Long-Range Plan (LRP) and will work in tandem with that plan moving forward.   The goal being that our committees work will always be driving the industry toward achieving the goals of the LRP, so that all efforts will be synergistic in nature.

LRP Core Strategies and Goals:
• Improve Domestic Consumer Preference for Beef
• Capitalize on global Growth Opportunities
• Strengthen the Image of Beef and the Beef Industry
• Protect and Enhance our Freedom to Operate
• Improve Industry Trust, Openness and Relationships
• Position the U.S. Cow Herd for Growth

Four committees and two working groups that match-up with each of the core strategies:
• Domestic Consumer Preference:
    o Subcommittees:
          - Convenience
          - Safety
          - Value
          - Nutrition & Health
          - Taste
• Global Growth
• Beef’s Image
• Freedom to Operate
• Working Groups:
    o Market Research
    o Producer Communications

PA was once again in the national spot light with two National Beef Backer Award Winners.  Redner’s Warehouse Markets (42 stores) won the National Retail Beef Backer Award for the Mid-Size Retailer category while Hoss’s Family Steak and Sea House (35 locations) won the National Foodservice Beef Backer Award in the Chain Operator category.  Owners and staff from both organizations were on hand to enjoy the festivities personally.  We were thrilled to help two of our board members, Gary O’Brien of Redners, and Todd Hill of Hoss’s, celebrate their organizations’ incredible accomplishments.

The honors didn’t stop there.  Penn State University’s Quiz Bowl Team defeated Ohio State to bring home the top prize again this year.  Dr. Dan Kniffen was elected by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board to the Operating Committee for the 2013 year and Ann Nogan was named to American National Cattlewomen’s Executive Committee as the Region 1 Director.  Additionally, the PA Beef Council, in conjunction with the NY Beef Council, was awarded a $25,000 federation grant to execute a veal recipe contest in the Northeast.

All in all, a tremendous week in an absolutely beautiful location.  As I bring this blog to a close, I will borrow the words of our friends, and PBC board members, Jana Malot and Darwin Nissley, “Arrrrhhhh matey!”

Posted 1/24/2013 by Kristi Rooker Kassimer, Pennsylvania Beef Council

Bloggers "Open the Doors" to Today's Agriculture

On Friday, January 4, a group of Central PA bloggers, and their families, visited the Today's Agriculture Display at the anuual PA Farm Show. 

The VIP Blogger Tour led the group to each commodity exhibit area including the live cow/calf display coordinated by the PA Beef Council in parternship with PennAg Industries.  The National Beef Ambassadors were even on-hand to discuss beef nutrition, animal care and the BOLD Study.

Interested in learing what the bloggers had to say?  Find out by reading some of their blog posts!

Ellie: http://www.musingmomma.com/2013/01/the-pa-farm-showits-not-just-for.html
 
Erica: http://4thesakeofcake.com/?p=7426&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-night-at-the-pa-farm-show-part-1
 
Danielle: http://itsaharleyyylife.com/pa-farm-show-todays-agriculture/
 
Nikki: http://lifeafterswimming.com/2013/01/08/farm-show-blogger-meet-up/
 
Sarah: http://www.howipinchapenny.com/2013/01/visit-the-pa-farm-show/
 
Lauren: http://www.saywhatyouneedtosayblog.com/2013/01/08/todays-agriculture-and-the-97th-pa-farm-show/

Posted 12/17/2012 by Kristi Rooker Kassimer, Pennsylvania Beef Council

Countdown to Christmas…and the PA Farm Show!

Like most kids, I would anxiously wait for Christmas to arrive, counting down the days, crossing them off the calendar, one by one.  Then, what I waited an entire year for would fly by in a blur of wrapping paper, Christmas carols and cookie trays.  And while many spent December 26, wishing they could rewind the day prior, I would start a new countdown…a countdown to the annual PA Farm Show.

My Farm Show experiences date back not just years, but multiple decades.  Shortly after the holidays, my two older brothers and I would load up our 4-H heifers, lambs and hogs, and make the four hour trek to Harrisburg.  I vividly remember the blizzard of 1996 (which seemed fun at the time), eating at the original food court and countless hours spent in the showring.  Most of my life I’ve known Farm Show as an exhibitor and a spectator.  It’s only in more recent years that I’ve seen a whole other side.  

These days, the countdown to Farm Show starts a littler earlier, months earlier in fact.  Because, I’ve learned planning for the largest indoor agricultural event in the nation starts long before the holidays arrive.  This year, the Pennsylvania Beef Council has lined up multiple events during the eight-day show, January 5-12.  In particular, Wednesday, January 9, is Beef & Veal Day.  Several cooking demonstrations, will take place on the PA Preferred Culinary Connection Cooking Demonstration Stage in the Main Hall.  Teams will also compete for top honors during the Best Cheeseburger Showdown at 2 p.m.  Our staff will be on-hand distributing recipe brochures, cooking guides and hosting beef trivia.  We have some pretty awesome beef swag to give away, so be sure and stop by.

If you can’t make it for Beef & Veal Day, don’t worry.  We’ll be at the Today’s Agriculture exhibit, located in the Weis Exposition Hall, all week.  Today’s Agriculture, the innovative display that brings the farm to families, made its debut at last year’s Farm Show.  After a groundbreaking and successful first effort, members of the Pennsylvania Alliance for Livestock Care and Well-Being, are joining forces again to stage the second annual exhibit.

More than 13,000 square feet of indoor space will be converted into a modern livestock barn with adjacent fields of corn, soybean and cover crops.  There will be 10 x 20 feet of space dedicated specifically to the beef industry that will feature a live animal depiction of a cow/calf farm.  Beef Council staff, local producers and industry representatives will visit with consumers, answering questions and explaining the importance of proper animal care.  Make it a priority to visit the Today’s Agriculture exhibit.  It’s one-of-a-kind and definitely worth your time.  To learn more, visit www.todaysag.net.

Though my Farm Show involvement has changed over the years, one thing remains constant.  Whether I’m exhibiting, promoting or eating it, beef’s always center of the plate.

Posted 11/15/2012 by Jennifer Harrold, Pennsylvania Beef Council

Don’t Forget Beef At the Holidays!

Having only worked with the PA Beef Council for a little under a month now, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to our blogger crowd. My name is Jennifer Harrold and I am a 2012 Penn State graduate with a degree in Animal Science and a minor in Ag Business. While at Penn State I was actively involved in the Collegiate Cattlewomen’s Club, Block & Bridle Club, Dairy Science Club and Collegiate Farm Bureau.  Although I did not grow up on a farm, I was greatly involved in my local 4-H program raising sheep, rabbits, pigs, perfecting my gardening skills and becoming a master chef in my mother’s kitchen. I am originally from Latrobe, PA, (Yep, that’s the home of the first banana split! Cool, huh?) and have recently moved to  my fiancé’s dairy and beef operation in Belle Vernon, PA. I am currently the Director of Public Relations for the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI) and Programs Manager for the PA Beef Council. I am really excited about the new position and working on behalf of farmers and ranchers not only in Pennsylvania, but throughout the Northeast as well!

But what I think I’m most excited about is the upcoming holiday season. Thanksgiving, along with fall, is one of my favorite times of the year. We get to gather together as a family, eat TONS of delicious food and enjoy our time without of hassle of presents and shopping. I am very traditional and anything other than turkey on Thanksgiving would be uncalled for in my house! But,  there is only so much turkey someone can eat. So what do you do when turkey becomes too much?  Consider thawing out a small roast to compliment the other trimmings while you host guests over the long holiday weekend. There is nothing that I enjoy more than warming the kitchen with a roast in the fall. (I actually have one thawing in the fridge right now!) A red meat dish will keep your guests enthused about dinner together as a family. Available on our Beef It's What's For Dinner website is an array of recipes for that perfect holiday roast. You can also find the 3 Easy Steps cooking guide for selecting and preparing a range of different beef cuts. Remember to enjoy your traditional holiday meal with turkey, but don’t forget to add beef to the menu when pesky relatives come a knockin!

Posted 10/12/2012 by Zach Frazier, 2012 PA Beef Ambassador

The National Beef Ambassador Competition, What an Experience!

As your PA Beef Ambassador, I’m happy to share my experience at the National Beef Ambassador Contest, held September 27-30, in Sacramento, California. 

In preparation for the competition, I attended many consumer promotion events with beef council staff. I also conducted two media interviews with PA Farm Country Radio and worked with Butler County elementary students to educate them on the real beef story. While this may have seemed like a lot, each event also brought its own individual challenges. Early morning traveling, for example.  However, they all provided many great (and fun) opportunities to connect with the consumer side of the industry.

While in Sacramento, I competed alongside 21 other senior contestants. We all participated in a mock media interview, a mock consumer promotion, an issue response activity, and an interview related to our youth presentations. The contest also had many other events. On Friday, we had the option to tour either a local California Ranch or downtown Old Sacramento. From what I heard from other contestants the ranch tour was great. I participated in the Old Sacramento Tour and we had a lot of fun – from touring underground spaces and eating on a river boat to touring a railroad museum and even Sutter’s Mill. On Friday night, dinner took place in an Ag history museum north of Sacramento and we had some awesome tri-tip steaks from the award winning Buckhorn Grill. On Saturday, we took part in the competition all day, followed by a very nice dinner with multiple speakers from the local Sacramento area. The contest concluded on Sunday with a formal breakfast and the awards ceremony. Although I did not place on the national team, I had a great experience. The national team this year is made of Chandler Mulvaney, Alabama; Kathryn Emma Jumper, Arkansas; Erin Morrison, Minnesota; Jaqueline Brown, Oregon; and Katie Stroud, California.

Even now, there is still more to be taken away from the competition. It wasn’t just about experiencing California and promoting beef.  I also gained a very real experience for “jet lag.” It didn’t really hit me until the Tuesday after the contest, but when it came, it came full force.  Additionally, I met many individuals also interested in beef promotion, and this competition served as a great networking opportunity with highly influential people in the beef industry. I am very grateful for the experience the Pennsylvania Beef Council and Pennsylvania Cattleman’s Association provided me. In addition, I extend a sincere thank you to all who worked so hard to make the contest all it was.

Posted 9/13/2012 by Christie Brown, Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI)

Back to School with Beef!
Many youngsters, young adults and adults are starting the fall season by heading back to school. If you are not getting back into the classroom yourself, chances are you know someone who is! The back to school season is a great time to re-evaluate your family meals and menu planning. Are you sinking into a recipe rut and only making the same meals over and over again?  No worries, you’re not alone and we can help!

What is the Beef Checkoff doing this fall?
The Beef Checkoff, through the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI) has been gearing up for the launch of the first ever “Back to School with Beef” retail promotion, which officially launched on September 10.  In-store promotional materials include recipe booklets, shelf wobblers and an informational micro-site directing everyone to childhood beef nutritional information, kid-friendly recipes, and the chance to enter-to-win the grand prize sweepstakes. One grand prize winner will be selected to win $500 in free groceries and back to school supplies! A total of 106 northeast retail locations are participating in this promotion which ends November 2. Go to www.BacktoSchoolWithBeef.com and enter to win!

Buying Beef on a Budget!
Our hard earned dollars are becoming even more and more precious to us as the prices of food and fuel keep rising. It’s important to shop wisely and make sure we’re able to get the most bang for our buck in the meat case. Here are a few simple tips I use when purchasing beef on a budget:

1. Shop the weekly ad circular. More often than not, beef is on the front page of the weekly ad circular at a great low price. I take advantage of the sale and stock up on the cut featured that week. Those “Buy One, Get One Free” sales are always great too!

2. Consider buying in bulk. Retailers can set the price per pound lower as the quantity goes higher. The family packs of steaks or ground beef will be cheaper than the one pound portion.  Fresh beef steaks or roasts can remain in the refrigerator for three to five days while ground beef can remain in the refrigerator for one to two days. If you need to freeze your fresh beef to use at a later date, I like to portion out servings in freezer bags and squeeze as much air out as possible to ensure it remains fresh when I thaw it out.

3. Simpler is cheaper! The less labor that went into a particular beef item at the retail level, the cheaper it generally will be. For example, consider buying an entire subprimal and cutting it up at home using the Slice and Save program. Videos on how to cut these larger subprimals can be viewed here: Slice and Save Videos 

4. Convenience comes at a price! Pre-made stuffed peppers, gourmet burgers, pre-formed hamburger patties and pre-marinated steaks are excellent options when you need a quick and yummy meal but it will cost you at the cash register. If you need to reserve your dollars as much as possible, consider preparing these beef items at home. Beefitswhatsfordinner.com has a slew of great beef recipes for making anything from restaurant quality steaks to the perfect prime rib.  Have a little confidence in your cooking abilities and get started!

Remember, visit www.BacktoSchoolWithBeef.com and enter to win our grand prize sweepstakes and receive some new child-friendly recipes and nutritional tips!

Posted 8/20/2012 by Tiffany Cessna, Pennsylvania Beef Council

What Is a Prime Rib and How Do I Cook It?

Every time my husband and I go out to dinner, he gets so excited to order prime rib. Since I enjoy a cooking challenge, this prompted my curiosity. I would always think to myself, what is so special about this and why do we only eat it in a restaurant? So, I decided to do my research by checking different recipes and asking friends what they would do to prepare this wonderful cut of meat.

First let’s start off by talking about what a rib roast is. A rib roast is a cut of beef from the rib section of the animal. This rib roast is always juicy, rich in flavor and tender. It’s often misunderstood that “prime” is the grade of meat. However, this is not the case when you order prime rib. Regardless of the grade of meat, this cut is referred to as “prime.” The USDA acknowledges this by not requiring the cut to be derived from USDA Prime grade beef. I actually placed a call to our local grocery store butcher and he was very helpful. I had to special order this cut, since it wasn’t something they put out in the meat case on a daily basis. I also learned that the cuts of beef that come from the rib and back rib are the rib-eye roast and rib-eye steak. These are the only true steaks that can be called rib.

Some people often think a lean prime rib with less fat is the best to buy. But, that is a major mistake if you want a delicious and juicy tasting prime rib steak. The marbling, or fat, is what gives beef its wonderful flavor; when you remove the fat you are taking away the natural beefy flavor.  When shopping, you’ll want to look for a bright red prime rib with thin, white fat that is marbled throughout the steak. You also want the meat cut close to the bone, or with the bone still intact, as flavoring also comes from the bone marrow. This is the best way to judge a prime rib cut when all you have to go on is appearance.

Here is the recipe that I followed:

This is a great method for making the best medium-rare prime rib. Your seasonings can be changed according to your preference, but what's listed works perfectly. It's the cooking method that is most important. When I make my prime rib at home, I season my roast and let it sit no longer than two hours at room temperature. Letting the roast sit at room temperature does two things: first it allows the seasonings to marinate the meat, second it allows the internal temperature of the roast to rise so that there will be more even cooking.

To make the seasoning,  mix together 3 Tbs. sea salt, 1-1/2 Tbs. coarsely cracked black pepper, 1 Tbs. olive oil, 8 to 10 sprigs rosemary, 8 to 10 sprigs thyme, 10 medium cloves garlic (smashed and peeled), 3 Tbs. unsalted butter (cut into 1/2-inch cubes). Rub herb and butter mixture all over roast and let sit till ready to cook. Preheat oven to 500 degrees, position rack in the center of the oven. Roast the prime rib in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Your cooking times will vary depending on the size of your prime rib roast. To calculate your cooking time, multiply the exact weight of the roast by five. Round the resulting number to the nearest whole number. The rib is cooked at 500 degrees for exactly that many minutes. For example, for a six pound roast: 6x5=30, so cooking time is 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the roast in the oven with the door closed. Let the roast sit in the oven for two hours. DO NOT OPEN YOUR OVEN DOOR until the two hours is up! Remove roast from the oven, slice and serve.

Your family will love you for this and I hope you enjoy your prime rib at home as much as we did!

Posted 7/12/2012 by Kristin Wilkins, MS, RD; Pennsylvania Beef Council

Five Tips for a Safe Summer Picnic (and reasons my friends are afraid to invite me over for backyard BBQs)

Being a dietitian, my life completely revolves around food, not just eating it but reading about it, talking about it and occasionally, even writing about it. Food safety has always been a topic of interest to me ever since an eye-opening college class on food borne illness. Needless to say, this class has made summer picnics and any gathering with “pot luck” foods fairly nerve-racking for me. Since learning how bacteria and germs multiply and grow in certain conditions and the effect they can have on the body, I have become quite the food safety critic—just ask my friends, they will tell you!

None the less, proper food safety techniques are easy to follow and are essential to any summer picnic or backyard BBQ. Below are five simple, yet very important, food safety tips for any picnic…especially if I am on the guest list!

1. Start with the basics—hand washing. We have learned since we could walk and talk that hand washing is important. Most adults realize the importance of washing their hands after using the restroom; however, there are other instances when hand washing is equally as important, such as before you start preparing food, after touching raw meat and after touching or feeding your furry friends. While I am on the subject, putting your hands under running water for ten seconds does NOT count as hand washing.

2. Attention all grill masters: you do not have x-ray vision—use a thermometer! This second tip is the hardest one for me to not comment on when I am invited to a backyard BBQ—biting my tongue about food safety isn’t a specialty of mine, especially if hamburgers are on the menu. A thermometer should be the number one tool for anyone who is grilling; they are inexpensive and easy to use, so there is no excuse to not have one beside your grill. There are a few things to remember about temperatures and thermometers.
• All ground meat should ALWAYS be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
• Calibrate a thermometer before you use it. It is simple process and will take less than five minutes. If you are not sure how to calibrate a thermometer, check out this website for step-by-step instructions.
• Insert the thermometer at an angle so a large portion of the stem is in the meat, this will insure an accurate temperature reading.

3. A simple concept—keep hot food hot, and cold food cold. My personal rule-of-thumb is that if I arrive at a picnic late and everyone is already done eating but the food is still setting out on the picnic table, I politely decline. If I am unsure about how long the food has been sitting at room temperature, there is no use taking the risk. Letting hot or cold foods set at room temperature for more than an hour is never a good idea; it provides the perfect setting for harmful bacteria to grow. Below are a few tips for keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold.
• For cold dishes use a bowl that is slightly larger than the serving bowl and fill the larger bowl about half-way with ice. Set the serving dish inside the larger bowl.
• Have plenty of coolers with ice to store perishable food. Store drinks in a separate cooler so that the cooler with food is not being continuously opened.
• Use warmers to keep the hot food hot or keep the food in the oven on low and refill serving platter as need.

4. Raw meat etiquette 101. There are several points that I refer to as “raw meat etiquette,” and I hope that anyone who is grilling already knows these rules of thumb. If not, consider yourself lucky that you have not had a food borne illness!
• Defrost raw meat in the refrigerator. Plan ahead and allow 1-2 days for the meat to thaw. Marinating should also be done in the refrigerator.
• Do not cross contaminate. In simple terms, don’t let cooked foods come into contact with raw meat or surfaces where there was raw meat. This goes for the utensils at the grill. If you place a raw burger on the grill with a spatula, use a different utensil to remove the finished burger from the grill.
• Do not re-use marinades. EVER!

5. Wash all fruit and veggies—even if you are peeling, skinning, husking or shucking them! We all know that washing fruits and vegetables is important. What amazes me is the number of folks who do not wash produce that they are going to peel. Foods like melons, avocados, carrots and mangos all need to be washed. When your knife or peeler goes from the outside of the produce to the inside, the bacteria from the outside is transferred to the flesh of the produce that we eat.

Hope you all have a safe and fun summer; now, go buy a thermometer!

Posted 6/12/2012 by Christie Brown, Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI)

Fire up your Grill!
With Father’s Day weekend knocking on our door and the 4th of July following shortly after, the summer grilling season is about to really hit its stride.  I don’t know about you, but my family and I had some nice, juicy steaks on the grill for Memorial Day and we will definitely continue to as we welcome the remainder of the summer grilling season!

What is the Beef Checkoff doing this summer?
The Beef Checkoff, through the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI) and the PA Beef Council, has been putting the final touches on the 2012 summer grilling beef promotion in the Northeast region.  This summer we are reminding consumers to “Stay Home. Grill Out,” in an effort to encourage the purchase of fresh beef and veal in retail supermarkets.  In-store promotional materials include recipe booklets, posters, shelf wobblers, and a micro-site directing everyone to beef nutritional information, summertime recipes, and the chance to enter-to-win the grand prize sweepstakes of $500 in free groceries!  A total of 323 Northeast retail locations are participating in this promotion, running now through Labor Day.  Well, what are you waiting for?  Go to www.StayHomeGrillOut.com and enter!

NEBPI and the PA Beef Council will also be partnering with an additional 230 retail locations in the Northeast region on a retail coupon and recipe booklet featuring grilling tips and the Champagne Steak Salad with Blue Cheese.  A condensed version of this booklet “Get Grillin’ Days,” can be viewed here.

What is going on with beef prices these days?
Now, it is no secret that the price of beef, both on the hoof and at retail, has been on the rise.  The number one finding from the 2012 Power of Meat Study showed that price plays a huge role in making a purchase decision.  Price per pound takes the lead, followed by total package price.  In 2011, meat and poultry dollar sales increased by 2.5%, while volume sales decreased by 5.3%.  These current economic conditions certainly make for some interesting times in the beef industry, whether you’re a feeder, feedlot owner, packer, retailer, or even a beef lover like me!  While we know the price of beef to be on the rise, we have no significant indication that consumer preferences for beef have declined, and that is really where our hope remains. 

Consumer demand for beef is a combination of both willingness and ability to purchase a given quantity of a product at a given price.  “If there was a major demand issue, the price of all carcass primals would be declining,” said Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University agricultural economist in the April 24, BEEF Magazine article “What is Beef Demand Doing.”  The wholesale price for middle meats, the costliest cuts in the carcass, continues to sell for more than the previous year.  America loves their beef, no doubt!

Rest assured that beef demand and consumer preference is still alive and well, but we may see some shuffling around within the beef category this summer.  John Lundeen, Executive Director of Market Research with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association stated in “Consumer Beef Index Provides Years of Insight” that, “Consumers continue to report a range of frugal behaviors relative to beef consumption.  Both at home and in restaurants, consumers are rationing dollars by looking for deals, by trading down to lower priced beef options, including hamburger, or by using other beef “stretching” behaviors.”   Weekly beef sales promoted in the ad circular, buy one-get one opportunities, and ‘stuff your sack’ deals will be on the radar of many shoppers this summer – it sure is for me!

What about for you?  What will your family do to keep beef on the grill all summer long? If you’re interested, I just may know of some tasty grilling recipes and a sweet prize you could win at www.StayHomeGrillOut.com!