Meat products are distinguished by excellent taste and high nutritional value. Despite the wide distribution of the product, not everyone knows how to cook meat correctly. To get a juicy dish that has retained its useful qualities, you should adhere to certain rules.
How to choose meat for cooking
The heat treatment time 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 sufficiently pronounced. The cut from the sternum or thigh will be cooked much longer, the muscle tissue of these parts is more developed.
How much meat you need to cook 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 pulp should be elastic and quickly fill the hole after pressing with a finger. High-quality, young pork has a delicate pink color, has a pleasant aroma. Grayish or yellow streaks of adipose tissue may indicate prolonged storage of meat in the wrong conditions.
Right technology
Many housewives are faced with the question of whether it is possible to cook meat that has undergone freezing without preliminary defrosting. In the process of heat treatment, products of animal origin lose their beneficial qualities. If you cook fresh meat, the protein of the upper layer quickly collapses, preserving valuable substances inside.
Under the influence of temperature, the frozen piece will gradually thaw, releasing more and more protein into the broth. At the exit, the dish can 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 proceed to cooking.
To make the product juicy, with a rich taste and delicate aroma, you should follow simple rules.
- The meat must be laid in boiling water in a whole piece. This will prevent the loss of nutrients and preserve the juices inside.
- If the broth is being prepared, the water should completely cover the meat. After boiling, remove the foam, reduce the heat and cover the pan tightly with a lid.
- Salt the product and add spices should be before cooking, then the meat will be tender. To improve the taste 30 minutes before completion, onion, carrots, parsley root can be added to the broth.
- It is unacceptable to add water in the cooking process, this contributes to the deterioration of the quality and taste of the finished dish.
- Ready meat is left in the broth for 15-20 minutes, after which it is removed 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 weak boiling are enough, beef must be cooked for 1.5-2 hours.
The 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, but in terms of vitamin B and iron, it is significantly superior to poultry and beef. For dietary nutrition, boiled meat from the shoulder blade or carbonate is more suitable.
Least calorie is chicken breast. Before boiling 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 number of nutrients is found 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 with a healthy diet and weight loss due to the lack of carbohydrates in it. Because lean slices of boiled product can become the basis of many diets. The calorie content of meat products largely depends on the method of heat treatment. Nutrition experts do not recommend eating meat fried with added fat. The taste qualities of such dishes are high, but the cholesterol content makes it less useful.
For the diet menu, chicken without skin, beef and rabbit meat in boiled, baked or stewed form are most suitable. These products go well with vegetable salads. Avoid combining animal protein with a side dish of cereals, potatoes, and legumes. Not only the taste, but also the quality of the product depends on how much the beef meat is cooked. Prolonged cooking contributes to the loss of valuable substances, so during the heat treatment it is necessary to check the degree of readiness.
Beef cooking time
To get a tasty and healthy product, it is necessary not only to observe the technological rules, but also to accurately calculate the cooking time. Many do not know how much to cook beef meat in a whole piece. This factor depends on the part of the carcass and the age of the animal. So, young, fresh meat from the scapular region or tenderloin should languish with a weak boil for 70-90 minutes.
Slices 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 the lid tightly closed over low heat. This time is enough to cook a whole piece of meat. If you cut it into slices, the cooking time will be reduced by half.
How to cook meat fast
If there is no time to cook a meat product in accordance with all the rules, the small secrets of experienced housewives can speed up the process.
- Beef will cook faster if you cut it into small pieces and beat it slightly with a hammer.
- Before cooking 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.
- The meat will boil faster if, after boiling in the broth, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vinegar, or dry mustard. The powder will make the broth slightly cloudy, but its taste will be refined and piquant.
During the cooking process, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the water to reduce cooking time. In addition, it makes the meat especially tender and juicy.