Cooking Meat For Baby

As a parent you want children to enjoy meat just as much as you do, and it is never too early to start.

                          

If you have reached that perilous age where you are first introducing meats to your baby, then you want to feel confident that what they are eating is not only of the highest quality, but is thoroughly cooked.

 

When can my baby eat meat?

 

Professionals recommend introducing meat to your baby no earlier than 7 months, but limiting it to just turkey and chicken at first, before progressing to red meats.

 

Now if you are making your babies found yourself – good for you – then there are a number of steps you will need to take in order to make sure your baby is able to digest them.

 

This is particularly true of beef and lamb which will need to be correctly tenderised first before cooking and pureeing.

 

How to tenderise meat

 

Before cooking, remove all visible fat from your beef, and then place it between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.

 

To tenderise use a meat pounder, however if you haven’t got one of those on hand use a heavy rolling pin instead.

 

We suggest pounding it until it is ¼ - ½ inch thick.

 

Can I marinate the meat?

 

Milk and yoghurts are a great way to tenderise your baby’s meat, especially if they are not sensitive to dairy products.

 

Another delicious alternative is marinating their meat in apple juice and then leaving it to simmer in the juice whilst it cooks. Not only is it healthy, but it tastes great too.

 

Cooking

 

Unless you are pureeing the meat for your baby, it is important that you do not let your meat dry out too much during the cooking process, otherwise it will be too tough for them to eat.

 

Also it is essential that the meat is thoroughly cooked through and isn’t rare as this can make your baby ill.

 

Cooking methods we recommend you try to help tingle their taste buds include:

 

• Stews and casseroles – simmer your meat with diced veggies and stock, and you can create a whole meal in one go
• Frying – should you choose to fry use a hot pan to seal in the meat juices and keep it tender
• Moist cooking – cut out a square piece of foil and place your meat in the middle with a selection of diced vegetables and herbs. Wrap loosely and fold the edges to keep in the steam. For a chicken breast at 400F, it should be thoroughly cooked in 30 minutes.

 

Meats to avoid

 

Whilst it might be tempting to offer your baby processed meats like ham, frankfurters and deli meats, there are not good for them.

 

Not only are they high in salt, but many are filled with additives and dairy products which may trigger allergies.

 

Giving your baby quality meat

 

You want your baby to have the best start in life, so it is only understandable that supermarket meats leave you feeling hesitant.

 

Over the years they have acquired a reputation for injecting their meat with water and other unnecessary ingredients to help build up their bulk and save money.

 

Yet as a parent you don’t want your baby to be eating that.

 

But what can you do? With so many other things to buy now, paying for more expensive meats isn’t always an option…

 

Fortunately it doesn’t have to be this way…

 

It is now possible to buy affordable, farm assured meat that hasn’t been tainted by unnecessary ingredients, but has been raised on a healthy, chemical free diet before being brought to you in wholesale cuts.

 

Westin Gourmet for instance pride themselves on being able to offer gourmet quality meats at wholesale prices. And this is great news for parents as you can affordably offer your baby the best forms of meat and give them the best start in life.