The Ministry of Religious Affairs has decided that Eid al-Adha 1442 H falls on 20 July 2021. As is well known, one of the events that are important on this big day is sacrificial worship.
Therefore, to fulfill its obligations as an academic institution, the Department of Arabic Literature, Faculty of Cultural Sciences of UGM held a webinar entitled ‘Safe Worship in the Month of Zulhijah: The Urgency of Sacrifice Worship and Procedures for Its Implementation during the Pandemic’ on Saturday (17/7).
This webinar invited an expert on livestock production from the Faculty of Animal Science of UGM, Dr. Panjono, who gave a talk about sacrificial worship, including the procedures for storing and processing or cooking the sacrificial meat.
Panjono hopes that the community will cook the meat immediately after the sacrifice. However, if the sacrificial meat has to be stored, then he recommends doing the following:
- Do not wash fresh meat.
According to Panjono, the meat should not be washed before storing because, if you wash it, diseases that come from raw water can enter the meat.
- Grind or cut the meat into small/medium sizes according to the cooking plan.
- Divide the grind/cut of the meat following the estimated need for one cooking.
- Pack the ground beef/pieces that have been divided into a plastic bag or tightly closed container, even better when vacuumed.
The second, third, and fourth steps will make it easier to use the stored meat later.
- Put it in the chiller for a while, then store it in the freezer.
Panjono explained that meat will last a long time when frozen in the freezer, but before that, we must also pay attention to the fifth step to keep the structure of the meat stable and even more tender.
During the cooling process, the meat will undergo a rigormortis process (convulsions). Therefore, it should be put in a chiller with a temperature of 2oC – 5oC, so that the cooling process can take place evenly and the freezing (meat is put in the freezer) also occurs immediately.
“Sudden and uneven freezing can damage the structure of the meat,” said Panjono
- Transfer from the freezer to the chiller before processing.
And vice versa if the meat stored in the freezer is about to be used or cooked. The meat should be transferred to the chiller first so that the thawing process can also take place slowly and evenly. In this way, the meat’s structure can always remain good when used.
“If the thawing is sudden, usually the meat’s structure is damaged and a lot of drips (water and the contents of the plasma cells) come out,” added Panjono.
Panjono also gave tips related to how to process or cook the meat. First, the meat must be properly cooked to kill any diseases that may be present in the meat. Second, if the meat is roasted, such as satay, Panjono advised removing the burnt parts or crust from the grill.
Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21397-tips-menyimpan-dan-mengolah-daging-kurban
