The Power of Poaching Can Save You Time and Money

Say what you will about cooking meat, but it is kind of a hassle. You have to worry about the temperature of your pans, the time that you keep your ingredients at room temperature, the length of cooking, and the overall safety of your kitchen to a much greater degree than you do for simple vegetables.

I actually like to eat meat, and I cook with it pretty frequently, so I have found a method that works for me.

I cook large batches of food, and store them for future consumption as a regular practice to save me some time and prevent me from running out to grab a ready made meal, so I usually have one or two cooking days a week, usually over the weekend.

On these days, I will poach the meat that I plan to eat over the course of the upcoming week. I boil it in hot water until thoroughly cooked, and then process it further into whatever form I plan on eating it in. I can quickly sear the sides of a piece of poached meat before slicing it up over some pasta, chop it up and toss it into a pan of fried rice or a pot of stew, or even just pour some sauce over it and freeze it for a future entree.

It really keeps the workload down, and I can poach whole pieces of meat, so I don't have to cut raw meat unless I'm receiving primal cuts from the butcher, which rarely ever happens.

Does anyone else out there poach their meats?

I realize that I might catch some flak from people that like to eat their meat anywhere below well done, but that is fine. I just prefer thoroughly cooked meat.