Very often, ordinary customers in everyday life have to use frozen meat for cooking. What is the peculiarity of this product, and how should it be cooked?
Description of product storage methods
The diet of most people necessarily includes meat products. The exception is vegetarians, of whom there are not many among us. It's no secret that the most useful for the body is fresh meat, but few people have the opportunity to use it daily for food. Such products are usually produced in large quantities and then stored appropriately to prevent possible spoilage. As a rule, the most popular option is used for this - refrigeration processing. There are several types of it:
- Cooling. In this case, the meat is stored at a temperature of 0 to +4 degrees. A slightly dried crust forms on its surface. In this case, the elasticity of the tissues inside is preserved.
- Freezing - a method of processing at low temperatures, in which the product freezes outside by no more than 25 percent.
- Freezing. The meat is cooled to such an extent that the temperature inside the piece does not exceed 8 degrees.
Most often, it is necessary to use frozen meat. There are explanations for this. Firstly, such a product is stored longer. Secondly, it costs much cheaper than fresh. But this does not mean that it is worse. The main thing is that certain conditions and sanitary standards are observed during storage.
Good frozen meat can be identified even by external signs:
- It should have a saturated red color. Dim gray spots indicate a violation of the regimes.
- The presence of pink crystals inside the fabric, as well as snow and ice on the surface, is unacceptable.
It is better not to buy low-quality products in order to protect yourself from possible problems.
Defrost rules
Some believe that frozen meat is a product from which it is no longer possible to cook a really good and tasty dish. After thawing, it can become loose to lose its former juiciness. But this opinion is erroneous. Such consequences can occur only if the meat was not stored properly or the mandatory conditions for defrosting it were violated. To prevent this from happening, you need to know in advance what to do and what you should not do. You can, of course, put the frozen piece in the microwave or in the sink under a stream of hot water. But it is best to do as experts advise. First, the selected piece must be removed from the freezer and put it on the shelf of the refrigerator. Here the temperature is usually above zero. The process should be slow. It will take at least a day, depending on the size of the piece. In the course of thawing, moisture will necessarily be released, so it is better to lay the product on a plate.
Culinary secrets
Very often, novice housewives ask the same question. They are interested in how to cook frozen meat? After all, you can do two things:
- Thaw the selected piece first and then boil it until it is fully cooked.
- Immerse the meat immediately in boiling water.
Any experienced chef will confirm that the first option is considered more preferable. There are objective reasons for this.
Firstly, the frozen product will cook longer. This will significantly degrade its quality. Indeed, in meat, as you know, contains many useful substances that have the ability to collapse under the influence of high temperatures. The longer the product is in such conditions, the less of these same substances will remain in it after cooking. Secondly, it is necessary to take into account the fact that as a result of a sharp temperature drop, the meat fibers are damaged. They simply burst and the juice, which was previously inside, flows out. After cooking, such a product will be dry. He will lose his natural juiciness and become tasteless.
How to store meat products?
Before talking about cooking methods, you must first ensure the conditions for the proper content of the products.
Storage of frozen meat is a special process that has its own rules:
- All products must be neatly stacked. This facilitates the possibility of their accounting and use if necessary.
- It should be noted that during long-term storage, frozen pieces of meat, as a rule, lose weight. This is due to the ventilation and dehydration of the external surfaces. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to pack each individual piece in a special cloth or plastic bag. Such actions will help prevent unwanted moisture loss without adversely affecting product quality.
- It is necessary to reduce the speed of air circulation inside the chamber, if possible, while increasing relative humidity.
- Observe storage periods. It must be remembered that over time, irreversible changes occur inside the product. As a result of rancid fat, the meat becomes unpleasant. Under the action of crystals of solidified liquid, deformation and destruction of muscle fibers occurs. Vitamins are also exposed. This reduces the nutritional value of the product.
Expert Advice
There are several important points and little secrets with which you can learn how to cook ice cream meat. They must be strictly observed. Only then will it be possible to achieve the desired result. From a sufficiently large number of such secrets, several of the most important can be distinguished:
- Do not pre-defrost the product in water. It must first be washed slightly, and then put in a closed container and put in the refrigerator for several hours.
- It is necessary to cut off exactly the amount of product that is needed for cooking. Repeated freezing is very harmful. It leads to a loss of quality and subsequent damage.
- To prepare the broth, the meat should be put in cold water. This will make it more rich. But for the second dish, it is better to put it immediately in boiling water. The broth will not be so saturated, and the meat will turn out soft and juicy.
- To prepare dishes from frozen meat, time is required one and a half times more.
- For work, it is better to use small pieces. This will significantly speed up the process.
There are many more useful tips, but first you need to remember the most important of them.
Cooking Conditions
Some housewives do not know how to cook frozen meat, and at the same time make many significant mistakes. In this matter, firstly, it is important to consider which product is processed. Secondly, it is necessary to understand what exactly will need to be prepared from it.
For example, beef should be boiled for no more than one hour. This time will be enough. For pork, it takes 1.5-2 hours. Moreover, one must take into account the age and condition of the product. There should be enough water in the pan to completely cover the meat. This will ensure the boiling of all its parts. Salt must also be added wisely. This component prevents the transfer of juice from meat to broth. If you add it at the very beginning of cooking, the product will be soft and aromatic, and the decoction will be empty. This is usually done in cases where it is necessary to prepare the product for subsequent processing and use as a second dish. If you need to cook the soup, then it is better to salt it at the very end.