Chicken. Chicken. Chicken.
Those competing against this animal protein know full well that chicken strategists have mastered a list of consumer must have's in today's fast-paced world.
- For novice cooks, chicken is pretty difficult to mess up.
- Chicken is convenient to make.
- And chicken is perceived by most consumers to have a good health profile.
For those who cook, you know that thawing ground beef can be messy and uneven, unless you plan ahead. To take advantage of the five-minute defrost, the ground beef must be stored flat in freezer-friendly packaging . . . not the round packaging of yesteryear.
At thaw time, take the frozen beef from the freezer and place the microwavable-safe package of ground beef into the microwave and give it a one-minute heat blast. In order for this to work, your microwave must have a moving turntable.
Next, pull the beef out and massage it. Then give it another 30-second blast. Repeat the massage-blast process until your beef is ready.
I can speak firsthand that this process is extremely easy and effective. The Beef Innovation Team at the Beef Checkoff developed it.
Easy-to-use ground beef is critically important to future sales as the product anchors the beef case, holding down a 42 percent share. What's more, 62 percent of that beef ends up in the freezer and must be thawed.
Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series on new research from the Beef Checkoff's Beef Innovation Group.
