How to Store Sausages, Sandwiches, Burgers for Faster Thawing

You may have kept your chunk of raw meat processed product in the freezer for an unreasonably long time because you always get bored of removing the whole chunk and isolating just what you need.

It is quite some pain to try separate your frozen sausages, burgers, sandwiches and etc. The quickest option is to get the entire package and thaw it on the microwave. Another slower option is letting the frozen product stand on your kitchen top for about an hour or so to ease the separation or moving it from the freezer compartment to the fridge section overnight. Others still thaw their frozen meats by placing under running water to allow the ice to melt away.

These processes can easily make you want to "postpone" cooking the delicacies to a another day when you will have enough time to use any of the thawing options above. Funny, the postponing keeps recurring and 6 months down the line, you are still looking for some good time to thaw your spicy sausages.

Clearly, this is not possible to achieve if your product is frozen as a whole and this is why am about to show you how to store your frozen meats in just the amounts you need to consume so you don't need to keep thawing and re-freezing. Having so many postponed scenarios, I decided to think around this!

Items Required

• Your Product-separated when still fresh from the shop
• Light weight plastic packaging tubs
• Cling film
• 7*12 plastic packaging bags, ziplock bags, cling films
• Large tray
• Kitchen scissors
• Cut-out product labels from the former product packaging
• Sanitize hands or wear kitchen food type gloves

Buy your usual 1kg pack of Sausages, Burgers, sandwiches, hams etc. Normally, you buy these from the cold section of the supermarket when they are still fresh (just chilled);maybe 1 week or so after date of manufacturing. There is usually a timeline when you can keep them chilled; usually a month without going bad. But if your consumption is low, the product may extend over a month and will thus require freezing to preserve the freshness.

Step I

If you anticipate to have your product stay long, this is where the tip comes through. On your large clean tray, separate your chilled sausages by cutting the cords that join them using the kitchen scissors . For burgers, you just need to separate the pieces from each other. For Sandwiches, hams, you know how much you consume per serving e.g 2,3,4 layers etc per serving and separate those as a group. Remember not to toss the top label indicating product name and expiry dates. You must have the plastic packs (those where your cookies, beef, chicken, etc are served). You may decide to have new packs or re-use from finished products.

Step II

Place each serving size in the 7*12 packaging bags or the zip lock bags or cling film whichever you have and squeeze out air while rolling out the unused length of the paper or locking for the ziplocks

Step III

Place on the plastic tubs or foam tubs. By the way, you can also use any plastic tubs as long as they are freezer safe. Arrange the servings in the tubs and on one far end, place the product identity label together with the product expiration dates. Finally roll a cling film over to cover.
From here on, you can quickly grab what you need. thaw it whatever fashion while keeping the rest of the product safe. Since its a small in size, it will be easier and faster to thaw too!!

FOOD FACT

Did you know that food scientist do not recommend refreezing thawed raw meat products? Studies have shown that thawed food is likely to become contaminated or have higher chances of growing food bacteria which when consumed can cause illness and food poisoning. Additionally, re-freezing thawed meat causes the meat to loose its quality and flavor.  Thus, your best bet to avoid food poisoning  is to freeze your meats and consume the entire batch once you thaw.

Wholesale Meat Markets in Nairobi

Buying in bulk always gives you the advantage of paying less for more. This is especially so for meat lovers who feel their local butcher is not giving them a fair price for prime cuts. Estate butcheries are particularly expensive and meats are marked-up with a high margin.

If you have a large freezer where you can stock your meats or will have an occasion that require a lot of meat, your best bet is to look where you can have a bargain and save a few coins. Nairobi have a few slaughter houses where you can walk in and buy a whole animal to take home. This type of shopping is common for buying mbuzi for Nyama Choma.

Alternatively, you can sample the few meat markets in Nairobi and choose from already slaughtered animals where you can ask for cuts in kilograms. The last option is if you are interested with processed meats or value-added meat products.  I will give you 2 examples for each i.e ready meat markets, Slaughter houses and processed meat products

Dagoretti Slaughter House

Dagoretti  Slaughter  house in located in Dagoretti Corner and serves the people on Waiyaki way, Karen, Kikuyu, Kawangware, Ngong Road, Langata Road. It main products are sheep, goat, lamb and beef meats. If you live around these areas, it is most probable that the butcher stocks meat from this slaughter house. The place is usually quite busy with the major focus being customers who buy for retail i.e. your local butcher. It is also worth noting that prices are a little on the higher side owing to the up market target of consumers but it will not be off course anything close to that of our local butcher. Unlike the However, you are still able to haggle your way and have a whole animal.

Kiamaiko Slaughter House-Mathare

This one is located in Mathare area, off Thika Road at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies. It is a favorite for lamb and goat meat. Kiamaiko is sandwiched between 2 slums i.e Mathare and Huruma and this often makes potential customers shy away. But to your surprise, non of the scary slum business happens at the slaughter house and its relatively safe to go and buy your whole mbuzi without a scuffle.

Burma Meat Market

This is a market located in Shauri Moyo off Jogoo Road Nairobi. It is a meat market that stocks variety of meats ranging from beef, goat, chicken etc. However, the market is a huge turn-off owing to its largely neglected hygiene maintenance. The market has had several cases of closure due to the filth and stench. There are plans underway to improve the hygiene condition at the market aimed at attracting more customers and preventing food related illnesses.

City Market

The city market is located along Muindi Mbingu street in Nairobi’s CBD. The city market is not only a meat market, but also known for flowers, curios and fresh fruits and vegetables. Until recently, the market was a huge turn off for consumers due the accumulation of municipal waste and such. The city County of Nairobi has renovated the market and put a bout of freshness to the market where it is attracting more consumers.

City market is a favorite for many locals and tourists alike. The fondness to the market is because of the variety of meats sold here. An assortment of meats including whole fish, fish fillet, fish balls, nuggets, high quality lamb, beef, goat, whole or assorted chicken are available.

Kenya Meat Commission-Landhies Road Outlet

 

PhotoCourtesy

This is a meat outlet by the government owned “slaughter house”. KMC as its popularly known was established by an act of parliament in 1950. In Nairobi, its main operations are at the Athi River Slaughter House. They however have a couple of consumer outlets and one of them is at Landhies Road on your way to Jogoo Road from Muthurwa Roundabout. It is popular with those interested in large scale processed meats like sausages, burgers, sandwiches, samosas, meat balls, corned beef etc. You can also buy pork, ham, bacon, assorted chicken eg drumsticks, breasts, legs, wings, necks, liver etc.

Farmers Choice Outlet Kamiti Road

Farmers Choice was initially aimed at pork products but have since taken over other meat products including beef and lamb. Farmers Choice distinguishes itself as an award winning meat processing company whose products meets international standards of quality and hygiene. It thus has a huge following and has built trust among its comers.

Courtesy:Farmers Choice

It has a consumer outlet along Kamiti Prison Road in Kahawa 44 area. Among the renowned products from Farmers Choice are Sausages, Smokies, Brawns, Ham, Loins, Bacon, Meat Balls, Viennas, Lamb and Chiecken/Capon, Cheddar Cheese. Apart retail, Farmers Choice offers consumers free recipes for their various products. You can check the scrumptious recipes on the FarmersChoice Website here. They also offer a free Pig Production in Kenya Manual for interested farmers.

How to Bake a Flat Topped Cake

So you worked very hard to ensure that the cake comes-out just perfect. The right balance of ingredients, carefully measured out to bring forth that tantalizing cake. But at the back of your mind, you have a hanging nightmare; that that dome will appear once more, maybe higher than ever before.

Hey relax, I have a solution; to help you bake a relatively flat cake and forget overturning your cake to frost or decorate it on the flatter side. Baking strips are the best things that ever happened to baking; especially round cakes. Trust me on this, I know how it feels to peep through the oven glass door and not see that sickening dome. Its like a burst of fresh air!

Why do Cakes Form a Dome?

Ever wondered why cakes form a dome? When in the oven, the baking pan gets very hot on the sides thus leading to a quick setting process of the batter on these areas.  This temperature is not as high near the middle of the baking pan and thus setting takes time at the center and rising is gradual and consistent . While the cake has finished developing at the outer lining near the baking tin walls, the process of rising is still ongoing at the center, leading to more and more rising thus forming the domes.

Baking Strips-The Solution For Flat-Topped Cakes

Baking strips are your absolute solution to getting end results of  flat topped cakes. Baking strips are basically fire resistant cloth strips specifically designed to wrap around baking tins. They are normally wet before use to ensure their effectiveness in reducing the baking tin/pan wall temperatures as well as reduce the risk of burning. The effect is having a relatively balanced temperature on the batter near the sides and that in the middle of the pan leading to even setting of the cake.

The next question you may have is where to buy these marvelous strips. Well, it is easy to get them at Amazon and E-bay and they can get shipped to you. However, for us living on this side of the planet; read Kenya, it would mean a long wait and some taxes at KRA. Thus, am here to show you how to make some baking strips at home; as good and functional as those you find at Amazon.

How To Make Baking Strips at Home
Items you will require:

• An absorbent old Towel (For me, I bought a Floor Mopping cloth from Tuskys and disinfected it overnight)
• A pair of Scissors & Measuring Tape
• A Needle and Sewing thread
• 1 Button

NOTE: Make sure the length of the cloth you choose can go-round your baking pan.

Steps

1. Lay your cloth of choice on a flat surface e.g. a kitchen table
2. Measure the Height of your Baking Pan (the width from the base to the top of the pan)
3. Measure the circumference of your pan and give few centimeters allowance.
4. Form one end of your cloth, place this measure lengthwise and on the width side. 
5. Cut out with the scissors this strip and duplicate the cut strip on the cloth if you want several (this can be done by simply placing your first strip on top of the cloth and cutting through)
6.  On one side of the strip, make a button hole and hem it round it to prevent running
7. On the other side, sew-on your buttons to create a Lock n Open option on your strip. Ensure that the button hole and button are placed in such a way to ensure a tight lock!
8. Slip the locked strip on your baking pan to see whether it fits!

NOTE: For me, my strips are just open  (no buttons) and I "lock" when baking using a ball head pin  like the ones below: