How to choose beef: tips for choosing different parts of the carcass

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Many novice chefs and housewives are thinking about how to choose beef so that the purchased piece of meat is of high quality and is juicy and tasty. And to do this, oddly enough, is not at all difficult, the main thing is to clearly find out why beef is bought. Let's discuss some of the subtleties of choosing this type of meat.

Choice of meat according to its purpose

First of all, before choosing beef, you should decide for yourself why you are buying meat and what you want to do with it. After all, it depends on its purpose which piece of carcass you have to choose, and how it should look. And first of all, for this you need to understand that the softest meat is the muscles that are least involved in the cow during its movement, and the hardest is the muscles that are constantly in motion. Therefore, if you plan to roast meat, for this purpose you should take the upper part of the cow carcass, starting from the back. If you want to taste a boiled dish, then you need to take the lower part of the cow carcass, and the middle one is suitable for stewing.part.

Well, or you can remember that you can fry a rump or fillet, fillet or tenderloin with a fatty layer is suitable for baking, and for stewing you need buttocks, thighs or brisket. Every housewife knows that a rich broth can be made from a piece of meat with bones, tendons and cartilage.

Market or supermarket

Many confidently believe that it is best to buy beef in the supermarket, where it is already packaged and frozen. However, this is not at all the case, because store-bought meat most often does not breathe, and during the time it is under the plastic wrap, it loses many of its useful properties. Therefore, it is better to go to the market to buy meat. However, despite the fact that the bazaar is the best place to buy this product, when deciding how to choose beef in the market, it is important to be aware of a few nuances. And above all, it is better to go around the counter, where next to the meat you will see puddles of water that are formed due to the fact that the sellers sprinkle it with beef to make it look better. So they mask the loss of quality. But if the meat looks slightly dried, then this is not at all scary and will not affect the quality of the product.

Beef selection rules

So, you have already decided on the choice of part of the carcass of a cow and the place of its purchase. Now it is very important to remember how to choose the right beef among the many cuts of meat, so that later you will not regret your decision.

1. In no case should you choose meat, focusing on its low cost, becausea good quality product cannot be cheap, and for the highest quality marbled beef, you will have to pay a tidy sum.
2. You should take a good look at the product, as its appearance can tell a lot about its quality.
3. It is advisable to sniff the piece of beef offered to you by the seller to make sure of its pleasant aroma, otherwise it will indicate that the meat has gone bad.
4. If possible, touch the beef to determine if the meat is loose and try to choose the piece that will be the most elastic.

How to choose beef by appearance

The main thing you need to pay close attention to is the appearance of the piece provided to you. First of all, the color of the meat should be even, without all sorts of dark spots and greens, which indicate a deterioration in its quality. The color itself should be bright red, which will confirm the freshness of the beef, while the red-brown color of the meat will signal to the vigilant buyer that the beef is already old and not at all fresh. It is also important to look at the fat layers, which will be white in a fresh piece, the yellowish color of the layers will tell you that the cow has lived to a ripe old age. Plus, you should definitely check that there are no crusts on the meat, which indicate that it has been sold unsuccessfully for a long time, which means that you cannot take such beef.

How to choosemeat by smell

When buying meat, it is very important to smell the piece. The beef should smell good and not have any off-flavours. After all, if the smell of onions, vinegar, various spices comes from the meat, then this indicates that its expiration date has expired, and they want to sell it as soon as possible. The absence of at least some smell from meat should also alert, because this suggests that the cow was raised with the help of harmful chemical additives that accelerate its growth, which means that such a product will be very unhe althy. And, finally, in no case should you take beef, from which a rotten smell emanates, because such meat has deteriorated a long time ago, which means that you need to leave the counter as soon as possible.

Select meat by touching a piece

If you have not been able to make a choice just by sniffing or looking at a piece, then the last option on how to choose beef meat on the market can be considered touching it. To do this, you just need to touch the beef with your finger, and immediately walk away if the meat is sticky or wet. In addition, it is important that the finger-mark on the beef immediately smooth out, which will show the high quality of the beef to the vigilant buyer. If the dent does not smooth out, then this meat is already old, and after cooking the beef will be very tough.

Choice of meat for steak

When choosing meat, the most difficult thing is to find a suitable piece for cooking a steak, even in the oven, even on the grill, even at the stake. Therefore, if you decide to cook this deliciousdish, it is important to remember how to choose meat for beef steak so that when it is ready, it shocks everyone with its unique taste, aroma and appearance.

First of all, you should pay attention to the cut of meat, if it is perfectly even, then everything is in order with the beef, but if it resembles a ladder, then most likely the piece of meat was cut frozen, lost its taste, so it will cook unevenly, lose more moisture than necessary, and be completely inedible. You also need to pay attention to the color of the beef for the steak, which should be natural, not have pale or dark spots. The pale color of beef, which is similar to pork, is absolutely not suitable for us, because the steak will be fried too much. You should also pay attention to the thickness of the meat piece, which should vary between 3-5 cm.

Meat storage

Now that you already know how to choose good beef, it is very important to remember how to store this meat. So, after the purchase, it is very important to put the meat in the refrigerator without cutting it, and you can keep it there for three to four days. It is very important to put the beef in the refrigerator, wrapping it in a paper bag or a waffle towel. But meat should not be wrapped in a plastic bag, and it should also not be stored wrapped in a film, because in this way bacteria can start in it. The maximum shelf life in the refrigerator at a temperature of 0-7 ° C is one week, and in the freezer - up to six months. However, keeping meat in the freezer for a long time is extremelynot recommended as it will lose its taste and all its beneficial properties.

Note to the hostess

And finally, since we now know perfectly well how to choose beef and how to store it, finally, we need to remember a few more rules for handling meat, which, if they are strictly followed, will greatly help culinary specialists and meat-eaters.

1. The fatter the meat, the faster it will cook through.
2. When frying beef, you can’t put many pieces of meat in the pan, because they will all release juice, and then the meat will not be fried, but stewed.
3. In order for the meat to be covered with a beautiful ruddy crust, before baking it on the grill, in the oven or in the pan, you should dry it with a paper towel.
4. When frying the meat, do not turn it too quickly to the other side, let first one side be covered with a golden crust, and then the second one.
5. It is best to defrost meat directly in the refrigerator at a temperature of +5 ° C.
6. Due to boiling and frying, you should clearly calculate the amount of meat you buy, because after boiling its weight from one kilogram will become 600 grams, and after frying - 650 grams.
7. When you fry the meat, you can not pierce it with a fork to test, otherwise all the juice will flow out of it, and as a result, the finished dish will be tough, it will be impossible to chew.
8. If you add tomato paste or tomatoes to the kitchen pan, the beef will stew much faster.
9. Stew the meat should be on a slow low heat, avoiding stormyboiling.
10. In order for the broth in which the meat is cooked to be transparent and it can be used for cooking first courses, beef should be poured with cold water.