Many people like chops, be they from chicken, pork or other meat. Everyone knows that in order to cook tasty meat, you need to not only select the necessary spices or marinade for it, but also properly process it beforehand. To make the product soft and juicy, you need to beat it off before cooking. To do this, you need a special kitchen hammer. However, there are situations when it is absent. In such cases, you don’t need to immediately get upset, because the situation can be saved by learning how to beat meat without a hammer with other improvised items.
How to beat off
Beginners in the kitchen who are going to cook tasty and juicy chops for the first time will have a pretty hard time. To do everything right, they will definitely need some tips on how to beat meat without a hammer or with it:
- It is best to beat off fresh meat that has not been frozen before. Such chops turn out juicier, because they will not lose juice when defrosting. If, after all, the meat was frozen, then before processing, you need to wait for it to completely thaw. Otherwise, the frozen product will break during beating.
- Old meat with veins is less suitable for beating. It is best to choose slices of young meat, not lean, but not too fat.
- Before cooking, the meat must not be washed. If it was nevertheless washed, then in order to prevent the dish from turning dry, it must be dried.
- Before beating meat, it is not advisable to season it. All necessary seasonings should be used immediately before frying.
- The product must not be beaten too thinly, otherwise you can make holes in it or the chops will turn out to be very dry.
- Fry prepared pieces in a very hot pan to make them tasty and juicy.
Why meat is beaten
Since meat consists of muscle fibers, ligaments and tendons, it has a rigid structure and retains it. This stiffness remains after heat treatments. Therefore, a dish that is prepared from not beaten meat can be very tough, and it will be much more difficult for the body to process it. For this, the digestive system will consume much more resources, which negatively affects the body as a whole.
As you can see, dishes from pre-prepared meat are not only more tender and juicier, but also will not hamper the digestive system.
Meat beating technology
To beat the meat, you need a few devices:
- special kitchen hammer;
- cutting board;
- seasoning to taste.
It is better to prepare all these devices in advance so that you are not distracted by anything during the cooking process.
So, step by step instructions for beating:
- Fresh or previously thawed food must be cut into thin slices.
- Next, you need to take a slice and apply uniform strokes throughout the piece. Having beaten off on the one hand, you should turn it over and do the same on the other.
- Repeat this process with all the slices.
- After all the pieces are beaten off, they need to be placed on a well-heated pan and add all the necessary spices.
- The duration of the chop can be different. It depends on whether it is chicken, pork, veal or another product.
How can you beat meat without a hammer?
There are times when there is no kitchen hammer at hand. In such situations, you do not need to immediately abandon the idea of preparing chops. Many people do not know how to beat meat without a special hammer, and they even cannot imagine that ordinary improvised devices can help in this.
So, for example, an ordinary knife with a thick blade can be an excellent substitute for a kitchen hammer. With this device, making chops is very simple. Blows on slices of meat must be done with the blunt side of the knife. Many cooks do not recognize kitchen hammers and beat the product that way.
And here is another life hack, how to beat meat without a hammer. An ordinary glass bottle can become a replacement for a kitchen hammer. Using it, you can make a soft and juicy dish by tapping on it with the neck of a bottle turned upside down.
Also good helpers are a device for making mashed potatoes and a rolling pin for dough. With their help, you can quickly loosen the meat.
If there is no kitchen at hand, but suddenly a regular hammer is found, then he, too, can become an assistant in the preparation of chops. To do this, you need to stick an ordinary plug with tape or electrical tape and beat off with this side. Great replacement.
As you can see, the question of how to beat meat without a hammer is not so complicated. There are different ways, and every housewife can find one that she likes.
Benefits of Beating Meat
The meat structure becomes softer when beaten. Therefore, as already mentioned, it will be easier for the body to absorb the fats and proteins it contains.
The deposition of proteins in the stomach and their subsequent decay is one of the causes of diseases of the stomach. This process can trigger the development of various diseases, ranging from poisoning to colorectal cancer. That is why many people refused to eat meat and became vegetarians.
When eating chopped meat, this risk of protein deposition is minimized. A gross product also causes significant damage to the teeth, because it is rather difficult to chew.
As can be seen from the foregoing, not beaten meat is harmful, and therefore, if there is no special device at hand, you must definitely find what to beat meat without a hammer.
Disadvantages of chopped meat
However, in addition to the advantages, beaten meat also has disadvantages. So, for example, during beating, the product loses some valuable substances in the form of proteins and fats. Also, a lot of liquid is released from the chopped meat, which contains useful mineral salts and vitamins.
In order for this to occur as little as possible, it is necessary to find an appropriate degree of beating.
Few secrets
There are some more tips on how to beat meat without a hammer or with it:
- It’s not a secret for anyone that when beating meat, splashes from it fly in all directions and dirty everything. To avoid this problem, the product must either be wrapped in a bag or wrapped with cling film.
- Many housewives do not cook chops, because a lot of noise is created. To make this process quieter, put a towel under the cutting board.
- Thick pieces of meat must be beaten with large teeth of a hammer. The edges of the slices must be beaten harder. This is done so that when cooking the chops do not change their shape.
- A wooden cutting board must first be moistened with cold water so that it does not absorb liquid from the meat. By the way, for chopping it is better to use wooden cutting boards.
- The meat should be beaten carefully to prevent the appearance of holes.
What to cook from chopped meat
Naturally, the most popular and simplest dish is regular chops. A more complicated dish is meat rolls, which can be stuffed with any products. For example, pork rolls with prunes are very popular. In general, everything that the imagination allows can be made from chopped meat. You can easily come up with new recipes yourself.
Little conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways to beat meat. In the article we indicated the most common of them. All the devices for this can be found in every house, therefore, after reading no one’s questions about how to beat meat without a hammer, it should not arise.