Kosher Beef | Kosher Meat | Kosher Steaks | Kosher Chicken | Kosher Rules

Everyone knows the miraculous healing powers of chicken soup. Not only does it make us feel great, but also with the New Year coming soon, kosher chicken soup is perfect for shedding a few extra pounds. It is low calorie and still delicious. It is a favorite amongst the kosher recipes because of how easy it is to make. It serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

• One whole kosher chicken
• Two roughly chopped stalks of celery
• 1 cup of chopped carrots
• Cilantro
• One small bag of dry egg noodles
• Fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper

Preparation:

First, clean your chicken. Now place the entire chicken into a plugged in crock-pot. Next, you want to fill the crock-pot with water, to the point where the entire chicken is submersed. Add the salt and pepper, half cup of chopped carrots, fresh parsley, cilantro, and one of the stalks of chopped celery. Let the chicken simmer until the meat starts coming off the bone. Take the chicken out of the crock-pot and let it sit for a while as it cools down.

Take the meat off the chicken and chop it into bite-sized pieces. Next, you want to strain the stock you made in the pot and place the strained stock into the crock-pot again. Now that you have the strained stock in the crock-pot, it is time to add the remaining celery, carrots, and the chopped meat. Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper where necessary. Once it has achieved the right flavor for you, add in the egg noodles. Make sure you cook until both the carrots and noodles are tender and serve.

This meal is not only simple, but also delicious. If you are in a hurry it is easy to place the chicken into the crock-pot in the morning and when you come home from work it should be ready to take out. A true ‘feel good’ meal also makes enough to have leftovers. If you do not have the luxury of a kosher butcher shop nearby, you can have the chicken delivered to your home. Websites like TheKosherExpress.Com deliver certified kosher meat to your doorstep.

Keeping kosher away from home can be difficult but with some preparation, it doesn`t have to be.  The problems arise usually when one is away on a trip in an area devoid of a Jewish population, and hence lacking in kosher food.  First of all, it is important to remember that (in America at least) it is possible to find some kosher products in almost every large grocery store.  Simple products such fruits and vegetables, do not need to be certified kosher and can be found universally.

It is important to remember as well, that you will need to either bring your own dishes or buy disposable dishes.  In a hotel, for example, you cannot use any of the utensils provided and especially if you plan on cooking, you should come prepared with kosher vessels from home.

Finally, and most importantly, kosher meat will be almost impossible to find in rural areas and it will be difficult to bring our own kosher meat from home especially if you are flying. Grocery stores will not stock kosher meat if there is no consistent desire for it, though if you are lucky, you may be able to find kosher meat at a health-food store.

This process, however, is made much easier by shopping for your kosher meat online.  Through thekosherexpress.com, your kosher meat will be delivered to your destination, anywhere in the U.S.A., within only a few days.  The meat will come in a Styrofoam container packed with enough dry ice to ensure your meat stays frozen until you open it.  In order to plan ahead, place an order to arrive the same day as you and will be guaranteed to have kosher meat away from home.  Additionally, if you plan on driving to your destination, ordering a pre-packaged box of exactly what meat you need, will remove all the hassle of going to the butcher and trying to package the meat yourself.

Jewish tradition has a chief guiding principle when dealing with animals and that is, it is forbidden to do what is called tzar balei chayim, to inflict harm upon animals.  That being said, God also gave us laws governing how we slaughter our meat, to ensure we do this in the most humane way possible.

The process of shechita, then, is meant to minimize pain to the animal and has been proven to be a more humane alternative than stunning.  Stunning is the procedure by which the animal is (ideally) rendered unconscious until death.  Stunning is used in many non-kosher slaughterhouses as a way of subduing the animal before slaughter, and aims at placing the animal into a more controllable state.

Several types of stunning may occur in the beef production, captive-blot shooting, is one example.  However, in this type of stunning, it usually takes several shots to stun the animal, causing the animal a great deal of pain.  Another method of stunning is with electric tongs, a process which paralyzes the animal instead of anaesthetising it.  In this process, though, the animal feels more pain but will be unable to show it due to its paralyzed status.

On the other hand, the shechita process for obtaining kosher beef both stuns and slaughters the animal in the same instant, severely minimizing pain. According to animal rights organizations, there should be no more than 15 seconds between the stunning and the slaughtering of the animal, rarely a reality with non-kosher meat.

With its simultaneous stun and slaughter, shechita has been scientifically proven to be the most humane way of slaughtering an animal.  The shochet will, in one motion, sever the trachea and esophagus and only after death will the animal be hanged upside down to drain excess blood.  In many non-kosher plants, both birds and cows are often hung upside down prior to slaughter, unlike kosher slaughter which insists that animals are held steadily in the calmest position possible.

Usually, the top priorities of non-kosher slaughter houses are speed and efficiency.  In the process of obtaining kosher meat, though, the focus is on minimizing pain and sanctifying the animal.

Kosher beef is slaughtered and prepared according to Jewish dietary laws, or kashruth. Cattle used for kosher beef are the same animals used for general consumption. They may or may not be organically fed. Kosher beef cattle are slaughtered in a different manner than beef prepared for general consumption.

The Jewish ritual slaughter is known as shechita. Cattle are not stunned before slaughter but are killed by a deep, quick, smooth, cut across the throat with a sharp knife, known as a chalaf. The knife must be inspected before and after the cut, to be sure it is sharp and even.

This method causes the animal to lose consciousness immediately. This avoids unnecessary suffering to the cattle. If this process is not completed properly, the meat will be declared unkosher. The blood is completely drained from the carcass. In order to assure this, the carcass is soaked and salted several times to completely remove any traces of blood. The entire carcass and organs are inspected and cleaned under the supervision of a Rabbi, or his representative. He then places a mark on the forequarter of the carcass to identify the meat as kosher.

In America, only certain cuts of meat are considered kosher. Meat is taken from the shoulder, leg, the rib, under the rib and behind the front leg. The back half of the cow is not considered Kosher in America, although it can be found to be kosher in Israel. In the US, Kosher meat markets sell square cut chuck, brisket, plate and shin.

USDA beef grades are based on U. S. Federal standards of quality as outlined by the Department of Agriculture. Prime grade has lots of marbling and is sold in upscale butcher shops and restaurants. Steaks and prime roasts are two examples. Choice grade beef has less marbling, but is still a very high quality meat.

The process of making an animal permissible to eat under Jewish law is complicated and can only be performed by a knowledgeable shochet. The first obvious step is that the animal pegged for slaughter must be a kosher animal.  This includes cows, bison, deer, or any bird for whom there is an agreed upon tradition.

Next, the animal will be fully examined for irregularities such as injuries or disease any of which would render the animal non-kosher. Additionally, the shochet will constantly examine the knife (also known as chalaf or sakin) for nicks or scratches to ensure that the animal is killed in one clean strike to the neck.

The next step in the process of kosher certification is the actual slaughter, which is done carefully and swiftly.  In one back and forth motion the shochet must sever the animal’s trachea and esophogus, a process which minimizes pain and instantly kills the animal.

Immediately following this, the animal’s carcass is hung upside down, allowing the blood to adequately drain and making it easy for the shochet to check for any irregularities on the lungs.  If anything is found on the lung, the animal is rendered not kosher, and will not be certified.

Once rinsed of all blood, the meat will be divided into different cuts and soaked for around a half hour before it is salted.  According to halacha, it is forbidden to eat blood, and the salting process ensures that no blood is left on the meat.  Other parts of the animal are forbidden as well, such as the chailev, (which refers to some of the fats) and sciatic nerve.

After the salting, the meat is rinsed three times, completing a process that must be done shortly after the initial slaughter.  It is interesting to note that the majority of animals slaughtered as kosher do not actually make it to the final stage and receive kosher certification.  Many are found with small irregularities in the lungs or other organs, and these meats end up serving the non-kosher markets.