The first step in preparing a delicious meal is to buy good food. Experienced housewives always choose the freshest vegetables, fruits and herbs, natural milk and butter, and meat of young animals and poultry. It is from young pork, beef or lamb that you can cook the most delicious dishes. In addition, you do not have to spend much time in the kitchen, as tender meat will reach the preparedness faster.
But sometimes the chef has to work with what is. And sometimes you need to figure out how to quickly cook meat is not the best grade. What should be done in such a situation? In fact, there are several ways that you can quickly cook hard meat. They are quite simple, but can save a lot of time and effort.
How much to cook meat
Meat is the main source of protein in our diet. Of course, there are those who do not eat food of animal origin at all, or who prefer to see fish on their plates. However, most people on the planet are meat-eaters. And they are not able to refuse stew or well-done steak.
So how long does it take to cook meat? It all depends on its origin, and the age of the animal, for example:
- Beef comes to readiness in 1.5 hours. Veal - in one hour. If the meat is from an old animal, then it may take 2-2.5 hours.
- Lamb is cooked for two hours. The meat of a young animal is 1.5 hours.
- The camel comes to readiness 1 hour after boiling.
- Pork is cooked for at least two hours. Pork from a young animal - 1.5 hours.
- Horse meat is considered quite tough and fibrous meat. In order to make it softer, it must be stewed or cooked for at least two hours.
- The rabbit in the form of a whole carcass is cooked until ready for 1.5 hours. If rabbit meat is cut into pieces, then the whole process will take 45-50 minutes.
- Beef tongue is cooked whole for 3 hours. And only then they clean and cut it.
- Veal tongue is a more delicate and delicate product. It will cook in 1.5 hours.
- Pork tongue is cooked in the same way as beef - 2-3 hours, depending on the age of the animal.
- Beef and pork lung. This offal needs to be cooked only 25 minutes.
- Beef udder. It is prepared infrequently, previously soaked in cold water for at least 3 hours. Then cook one hour.
- Beef kidneys. Offal with a characteristic unpleasant odor. The kidneys need to be soaked for at least 3 hours. And during cooking, change the water 2-3 times, each time washing the offal under water. Cooking time is one hour.
- The beef heart is cooked until cooked for 1.5 hours in its entirety. Veal - one hour.
- Beef liver, cut into large pieces or whole, reaches readiness in 30 minutes. Soaking time - 30-40 minutes.
- Pork liver is cooked for 40 minutes. Soaking time - two hours.
- Whole chicken is cooked for at least an hour. Pieces - 40 minutes. If the bird is free-range (rural), then the cooking time should be doubled.
From the foregoing, it can be understood that old meat needs to be cooked 1.5-2 times longer. Of great importance is the size of the piece - the smaller it is, the faster it will reach readiness. How to quickly cook old meat? There are several cookery tricks that can help in this matter.
Slicing thickness
To understand how to quickly cook beef, pork or lamb meat, you need to carefully inspect a piece before buying. Young meat - pink or red, with white layers of fat. Dark meat with yellow veins indicates that either the piece was lying on the counter, or it was obtained from an old animal.
If old meat is already bought, then you have to work with what to eat.
The first thing that comes to mind is to cut the meat into small pieces. The smaller they are, the faster they cook, and the more tender the texture will be. This is a good way, but it is not suitable for all dishes. Since sometimes it is necessary to boil the meat with a whole, rather large piece.
Using a pressure cooker
The older generation of cooks can easily answer the question of how to quickly cook meat. To do this, just use a pressure cooker!
Pressure cooker is a unique kitchen unit. In fact, this is an ordinary pan, but with a tight sealed lid that does not let off steam. Because of this, the pressure rises in the tank, and the temperature of water from ordinary 100 100 during boiling rises to 121 ⁰. Consequently, all food in a pressure cooker cooks faster. It has been experimentally established that it will take 50-70% less time to cook meat.
A modern analog of a pressure cooker is a multicooker. It also has a tight sealed lid and a large number of different programs, so that it can quickly bring pork or beef to readiness.
Meat in onion sauce
How to cook meat fast? Experienced chefs advise you to marinate it in some sauce first. We are not talking about sharp and too expressive refueling. You need to use any one product, such as onions. To do this, a piece of meat, previously thawed, you need to send in a bag with onions, chopped in large rings and half rings, and close it tightly. Onions and meat will give juice, which will become a marinade. The exposure time is 7 hours, that is, you can marinate the meat at night.
Then the pork or beef is peeled from the onion and washed under running water. After that, the piece goes to the pan. Thus, cooking time can be halved.
Mustard dressing
How to cook meat fast? Instead of onion sauce, you can use mustard. She is coated with pork or beef, and also sent to the refrigerator for the night. Then the mustard is washed off or left. This seasoning is very appropriate in many dishes and enrich their taste.
Egg marinade
There is another way to quickly cook meat. A piece of stiff beef or pork should be soaked in a raw egg. The exposure time is from 5 to 12 hours. As a result, it will become very tender and will literally melt in your mouth. However, the eggs must be washed off before cooking. Otherwise, they will be welded and there will be ugly inclusions in the dish.
Quick meat soup
How to cook soup with meat quickly and tasty? If the beef or pork on the bone is also tough and old, then it will take a long time to cook. But when cooking the fillet, it can be divided into small pieces - so they reach readiness twice as fast. In order for the broth to be rich, the meat must be put in cold water.
The quickest way to cook soup with meatballs, that is, process pork and beef into minced meat. The twisted product comes to readiness in 10-15 minutes.
However, experienced cooks are not advised to use old meat for cooking soup. It is more suitable for prolonged stewing or baking.