About MeatnMetal
What is MeatnMetal?
MeatnMetal is a small, independent website about meat cookery and butchery — how to choose a cut, roast or braise it, work out doneness and portions, and read about meat dishes and traditions from around the world. The core of the site is six free calculators, a set of cooking guides, and a Museum of Meat & Butchery built from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons material.
Who is it for?
Anyone standing at a butcher counter, in front of an oven, or over a fire trying to work out a practical number: what temperature is this roast actually done at, how long will it take, how much meat to buy, how long to thaw it safely, how much salt for a brine, or which cut fits a recipe. It is built for home cooks first, not professional kitchens.
What tools does the site actually have?
Six, and they are the same six listed on the tools page:
- Meat Doneness & Internal Temperature Guide — USDA safe minimums alongside chef doneness temperatures for beef, pork, poultry, lamb, fish, and ground meat, with carryover pull temps and rest times.
- Meat Roasting Time Calculator — estimates oven time from weight, cut, and doneness, with a suggested oven temperature, pull temperature, and rest time.
- Meat Portion Calculator — works out how much raw meat to buy per guest, accounting for bone-in vs. boneless and cooking shrink.
- Meat Thawing Time Calculator — estimates safe defrosting time by weight, refrigerator or cold water, with a reminder never to thaw at room temperature.
- Dry-Brine & Wet-Brine Salt Calculator — works out salt by weight (a default of roughly 1% for a dry brine) or by water volume for a wet brine, corrected for table vs. kosher salt.
- Meat Cut Selector — a filterable reference to common beef, pork, lamb, and poultry cuts, each with its primal, best cooking methods, and classic dishes.
How do the calculators actually work?
They run arithmetic and lookup tables on the numbers you enter — weight, cut, method, doneness target — against published reference ranges (USDA safe-minimum internal temperatures, common roasting-time and salt-percentage conventions used in home cooking). There is no sensor in your oven and no way for a calculator to know your exact piece of meat, your altitude, or how accurate your oven thermostat is. Treat every result as a starting estimate, not a guarantee, and confirm doneness with a calibrated meat thermometer.
Where do the museum and learn sections come from?
The Museum of Meat & Butchery and the Learn section are reference material — cuts and the tools that shape them, meat dishes from around the world, and the craft of charcuterie — with every entry, image, and fact sourced from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons rather than written from scratch. They exist to give background reading alongside the calculators, not to replace a butcher, a cookbook, or a recipe developer.
Is any of this professional advice?
No. Everything here is general informational content, not professional culinary, nutritional, or food-safety advice. For anything safety-critical — whether meat is safe to eat, how to handle it, or dietary questions — follow official food-safety guidance from a body like the USDA or your local food authority, and use a calibrated thermometer rather than relying on a calculator alone. MeatnMetal is not affiliated with the USDA, any food-safety authority, or any brand mentioned on the site.
Are the tools free, and how does the site make money?
Yes, every tool and article is free with no account or sign-up. The site is independently run and supported by on-page advertising, which is how it stays free to use and how the calculators and articles get maintained.
Who runs this, and can I get in touch?
MeatnMetal is run independently, not by a large editorial team or institution — there is no roster of bios to publish, and we would rather not invent one. If you spot an error in a calculator, want a cut or dish covered, or have general feedback, see the contact page.