On Food and Cooking

so its development limits how long we can
age and store meat. Unsaturated fats are most
susceptible to rancidity, which means that
fish, poultry, and game birds go bad most
quickly. Beef has the most saturated and
stable of all meat fats, and keeps the longest.
Fat oxidation in meats can’t be prevented,
but it can be delayed by careful handling.
Wrap raw meat tightly in oxygen-
impermeable plastic wrap (saran, or
polyvinylidene chloride; polyethylene is
permeable), overwrap it with foil or paper to
keep it in the dark, store it in the coldest
corner of the refrigerator or freezer, and use it
as soon as possible. When cooking with
ground meat, grind the meat fresh, just before
cooking, since dividing the meat into many
small pieces exposes a very large surface area
to the air. The development of rancidity in
cooked meats can be delayed by minimizing
the use of salt, which encourages fat
oxidation, and by using ingredients with