How to cook meat: useful tips and tricks

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

Meat products are distinguished by excellent taste and high nutritional value. Despite the widespread use of the product, not everyone knows how to cook meat correctly. To get a juicy dish that has retained its useful qualities, you should follow certain rules.

How to choose meat for cooking

The time of heat treatment of meat products largely depends on the part of the carcass prepared for cooking. To cook meat faster, you should take a piece from the shoulder blade, sacrum or tenderloin. Such a product is considered more tender, but its taste may not be pronounced enough. A cut from the sternum or thigh will cook much longer, the muscle tissue of these parts is more developed.

How much you need to cook meat also depends on the age of the animal. The younger it is, the less time the cooking process will take. Beef intended for boiling should be a pleasant red color, without dried edges and weathered areas. The flesh should be elastic and quickly fill the hole after pressing with a finger. high quality, youngpork has a delicate pink color, has a pleasant aroma. Greyish or yellow streaks of adipose tissue may indicate long-term storage of meat in the wrong conditions.

The right technology

Many housewives are faced with the question of whether it is possible to cook meat that has been frozen without first defrosting. In the process of heat treatment, animal products lose their useful qualities. If you cook fresh meat, the protein of the top layer quickly folds, keeping valuable substances inside.

The frozen piece will gradually thaw under the influence of temperature, releasing more and more protein into the broth. At the exit, the dish may turn out to be tasteless and tough. Before cooking, the meat must be thawed at room temperature or on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, only after complete thawing they proceed to cooking.

To make the product juicy, with a rich taste and delicate aroma, you should follow simple rules.

1. Meat must be put into boiling water in a whole piece. This will prevent the loss of nutrients and keep the juices inside.
2. If making broth, the water should completely cover the meat. After boiling, you need to remove the foam, reduce the heat and cover the pan tightly with a lid.
3. S alt the product and add spices before the end of cooking, then the meat will be tender. To improve the taste, 30 minutes before completion, onions, carrots, parsley root can be added to the broth.
4. It is unacceptable to add water during cooking, thiscontributes to the deterioration of the quality and taste of the finished dish.
5. The finished meat is left in the broth for 15-20 minutes, after which it is taken out and wrapped in foil. Before serving, cut into portions and lightly sprinkle with broth.

How much to cook meat depends on the age of the animal and the size of the piece. For young pork, 40-50 minutes of low boiling is enough, beef needs to be cooked for 1.5-2 hours.

Nutritional value

Despite the beneficial substances contained in meat products, they all differ in their calorie content and nutritional qualities. Pork is considered the fattest, however, in terms of the content of vitamin B and iron, it significantly exceeds poultry and beef. For diet food, boiled meat from the shoulder or carbonate is more suitable.

Chicken breast is the least nutritious. Before cooking poultry meat, it must be cleaned of skin and fatty layers. In this case, the product will be not only nutritious, but also dietary. A large amount of useful substances is contained in beef, in boiled form it is perfectly absorbed by the body, replenishing the necessary balance of protein, phosphorus, calcium.

Boiled meat in dietetics

The value of meat in a he althy diet and weight loss is due to the absence of carbohydrates in it. Therefore, lean pieces of a boiled product can become the basis of many diets. The calorie content of meat products largely depends on the method of its heat treatment. Nutrition experts do not recommend eating meat fried withadding fat. The taste of such dishes is high, but the cholesterol content makes it less useful.

For a diet menu, skinless chicken, beef and rabbit meat in boiled, baked or stewed form are most suitable. These products go well with vegetable salads. You should avoid combining animal protein with a side dish of cereals, potatoes, legumes. Not only the taste, but also the quality of the product depends on how much beef meat was cooked. Long cooking contributes to the loss of valuable substances, therefore, during the heat treatment process, it is necessary to check the degree of readiness.

Beef cooking time

To get a tasty and he althy product, you must not only follow the technological rules, but also accurately calculate the cooking time. Many do not know how much to cook beef meat with a whole piece. This factor depends on the part of the carcass and the age of the animal. So, young, fresh meat from the shoulder area or tenderloin should languish at a low boil for 70-90 minutes.

Cuts from the sternum or thigh are cooked for at least 1.5 hours, while the meat of an old animal must be kept for 2-2.5 hours with a tightly closed lid over low heat. This time is enough to cook a whole piece of meat. If you cut it into pieces, the cooking time will be halved.

How to cook meat quickly

If there is no time to cook a meat product according to all the rules, the process can be accelerated by small secrets of experienced housewives.

1. Beef will cook faster if cut into small pieces and beat lightly with a hammer.
2. Before you cook the meat, you can pierce it with a knife in several places and sprinkle with lemon juice. This will soften the fibers and shorten the cooking time.
3. Meat will boil faster if, after boiling, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vinegar, or dry mustard. The powder will make the broth slightly cloudy, but the taste will be refined and savory.

During the cooking process, a teaspoon of vegetable oil is added to the water to shorten the cooking time. In addition, it makes the meat especially tender and juicy.