To answer the question of how much to cook beef, you first need to find out which part of the carcass to cook.
Even better, of course, at the same time take into account the grade and age of the carcass from which a piece of meat was taken.
The so-called "marble" beef, which has a significant part of the fat in the pulp, has a shorter cooking time than lean meat, with a denser structure of muscle tissue.
The density and rigidity of the pulp is influenced by a number of other factors: the age of the slaughter animal, and even its sex, conditions of detention, diet.
If it is possible to clarify these issues before buying meat, then it will be much easier to cope with the heat treatment and correctly distribute which of the pieces of beef to use for frying, and which should be cooked or baked.
The age of slaughter carcasses affects the stiffness of muscle tissue, and hence the duration of its heat treatment, due to the fact that in the carcasses of old animals the connective fluid in muscle fibers is much less than in young meat, which, of course, affects the cooking time.
Young beef is cooked much faster than the meat of older animals. The muscle tissue of young meat is more saturated with connective fluid, which gives juiciness and softness to the meat during cooking.
The carcasses of female individuals of any type of meat have a softer structure due to the increased content of fat cells in the layers of muscle tissue.
Feeding animals before slaughter with juicy herbs in a free range also affects the taste and density of meat.
How to cook beef - basic technological principles
Knowing these subtleties of growing meat breeds of cattle, we can begin to study the following question, which reveals the secrets of proper heat treatment of beef, but from the point of view of chemistry and physics, the protein reaction under the influence of temperature.
During cooking, muscle fibers of meat, which are proteins, are compressed at a temperature of 40º 40 and the flesh is compressed. At the same time, the connective fluid located between the protein fibers, which is nothing more than collagen, which during cooking turns into gluten and thereby ensures the juiciness and softness of the prepared meat. The readiness of meat occurs when the connective fluid is converted into meat juice, which has a liquid consistency, a transparent color, without a characteristic bloody color. There is much less connective protein in veal than in beef, so its readiness comes earlier.
It is not advisable to digest or overcook the meat, as this destroys the valuable elements contained in it. It should be noted that the vitamins contained in all types of meat have a higher stability in comparison with vitamins contained in other groups of products.
Cooking time depends on the weight of the product, the degree of grinding: semi-finished products from chopped beef, ground beef are subjected to less prolonged heat treatment than whole pieces of beef. It is impossible to specify a more specific time, due to all the above factors, but in any case, the preparedness of boiled beef is easily determined in a simple way: chop a whole piece of beef with a fork and lift it above the pan - if the meat slides freely from the fork, then it is ready. The readiness of smaller pieces or minced meat products is checked organoleptically.
Before cooking, the meat is washed, if necessary, the pulp is separated from the bone. For the preparation of jellied meat and in some other cases, the meat is kept in cold water to remove residual blood, which ensures the transparency of the broth. Water must be changed.
As mentioned above, the protein denaturation process begins already at 40ºϹ. In addition, during continuous cooking at 65ºϹ beef reaches a degree of full readiness. Therefore, there is no need to bring the temperature to higher values during cooking, although it is possible to speed up the process by initially boiling water and then lowering the heating to an average temperature. This will allow you not to miss the moment when you need to remove the foam, before boiling the meat. Before removing the foam, you should not add any spices and spices to the broth with beef: it is better to add the roots when the meat is boiled for a while, and lower the greens and spices into the broth 5-10 minutes before the meat is cooked, so that they do not boil, the aroma is preserved in broth and managed to pass meat.
Depending on the further processing of the meat and its use in the dish, various components for cooking are selected. There are many of them, so it makes no sense to list them in full. To a greater extent, the choice of beef additives depends on the recipe of the dish and the creative imagination of the cook.
Classic set, which was used by our grandmothers and great-grandmothers: onions, carrot roots, parsley, celery, parsnip, a traditional mixture of black and allspice, bay leaf.
Beef meat is used for salads, snacks. Beef and veal first courses are prepared. For broths used in soups, meat is cooked in water. To prepare second courses, beef is boiled or stewed in its own juice or with a small addition of water and sauce.
How to cook beef largely depends on the specific recipe, and this issue is more convenient to consider with examples of the preparation of some beef dishes.
Recipe 1. Jellied meat from different types of meat
This dish is prepared both from one type of meat, and using meat from different animals, poultry.
If pork, beef and poultry are taken for jellied meat, then the question of how much to cook beef is decided depending on the above criteria, as well as due to the fact that for jellied meat should be sufficiently cooked. In addition, it is taken into account that the duration of cooking beef is longer than pork, due to the lower fat content, and poultry meat is added to the pan last, especially if young chickens are used for jellied meat. From the moment of boiling to the end of cooking jellied meat passes at least 4 hours. Therefore, the first to be sent to the pan are large beef and pork bones, which, after digestion, will isolate the natural gelatin (collagen) contained in them, which will make it possible, if its content is sufficient, not to add crystalline powder for solidification.
Ingredients:
Rooster (gutted carcass, whole) 2.5 kg
Beef fillet 1.5 kg
Tail, beef 1.0 kg
Pork shank with skin 1.3 kg
Leg, pork 900 g
Bay leaf
Peeled Carrots, Whole 300 - 400 g
Black pepper (peas)
Onions, with peel 350 g
Allspice
Garlic 100 g
Salt
Celery Root 150 g (Net)
Cooking:
Choose a pan in which all the meat will fit, taking into account the full volume of water, which should cover the meat 10-12 cm above the level.
Wash all the meat, strip the skin, but do not cut the pieces: you need to cook them whole. Soak pork, beef and poultry separately. This is due to sanitary standards. Put it in different containers and fill it with cold water. Soak, changing water 2-3 times and rinsing until the meat brightens, and the water does not stop staining with blood.
Put all the meat in a large pan, fill with water to measure the volume of the required liquid. Take out the pork knuckle, beef and rooster fillets: they need to be added later when the bones are boiled out. Remove the rising foam with a slotted spoon, trying to collect it all and very carefully. Add the rest of the meat except the rooster. Continue to follow and remove the foam. How much cook the beef will depend on the age of the carcass at the time of slaughter: the older the animal, the more saturated the red color of the cut carcass. Therefore, the pork knuckle and fillet must be laid taking into account these nuances: first beef, and then pork and poultry, or beef and pork at the same time, and the bird later. Cook at a constant temperature of 65-70ºϹ. When the broth ceases to foam throw in it the washed and peeled roots of carrots and celery whole. Wash the onion together with the top husk, cut the root part and lower it into the pan: the top layer of onion husk will give the broth a beautiful golden color. Jellied preparedness is determined by how freely the meat is separated from the bones. When the meat is cooked, add a few peas of peppers, bay leaf and salt. Add salt to taste, but keep in mind that the dish is served cold and it will be impossible to add salt after cooking, and in cold broths the taste of salt is less pronounced. Turn off the stove, add the chopped garlic, leave the aspic to cool to 20-25ºϹ.
Remove the cooled meat, separate it from the bones and skin, spreading only pieces of pulp into portioned dishes. Strain the broth to maximum transparency and fill it with meat. In each portion of jelly, put circles of boiled carrots, fresh leaves of previously washed parsley or celery, and put the plates in the cold to freeze.
An important point:
At the end of cooking, make sure that after cooling the broth acquires a gelatinous consistency - take a drop in the palm of your hand or rub it with your fingers: if stickiness does not appear when you squeeze your fingers, then most likely you will have to add diluted gelatin, because there was not enough bone collagen. This is easy to fix while the broth is warm.
Recipe 2. Salad of boiled beef and beets
Ingredients:
Baked beets 300 g
Beef Tenderloin 500 g
Mayonnaise 100 g
Salt
Pepper
Cooking:
Wrap the whole beets in foil and bake in the oven at 200º 200. Check readiness by piercing it with a wooden skewer. Cool and cut into thin strips. Sprinkle any sliced beets with vegetable oil so that it does not stain all the ingredients of the salad, and, after mixing, let stand for about half an hour in a separate bowl.
After boiling 1 liter of water, put the washed beef tenderloin into it, reduce the heat. If you need a broth, then make sure it is transparent - remove the foam, add roots and spices for flavor. Cool the prepared meat and cut it with the same straws as beets and combine with it. Add salt and pepper if desired. Season the salad with mayonnaise before serving.
Recipe 3. Chopped beef dumplings with steamed cottage cheese
Ingredients:
Hip of beef (pulp) 300 g
Egg 1 pc.
Salt 1 g
Cottage cheese (18%) 270 g
Butter 50 g
Cooking:
Skip the meat and cottage cheese twice through a meat grinder, and, adding the egg and butter, beat in a lush mass. Pour water into the pan and install the wire rack. When the water begins to boil, use a scoop of ice cream or an ordinary teaspoon to collect the dairy mass, wetting your hands in water, form balls, carefully lower them onto a wire rack and steam.
Garnish: boiled rice or mashed potatoes.
Recipe 4. Mashed boiled beef with rice and vegetable puree
Ingredients:
Beef Pulp 700 g
Rice 100 g
Passioned onion 150 g
Spices 5 g (to taste)
Ghee 70 g
Salt 2 g
Garnish: squash or beetroot caviar; mashed potatoes
Cooking:
Boil the beef by lowering it in 1.5 liters of boiling water. From 100 g of rice, cook viscous rice porridge. Slice the onion and let it sit until transparent in butter. Combine the prepared ingredients, grind them twice into a homogeneous mass, add spices and oil; interrupt again to a lush consistency. Form balls of 40-50 g and steam them.
When serving, pour melted butter or cream sauce with chopped herbs.
Recipe 5. Chopped beef roll with steamed omelet
Ingredients:
Minced meat, beef 600 g
Ready omelet 400 g
Chopped green onions 200 g
Oil, melted 82.5% 80 g
Cooking:
On a damp silicone towel, lay a layer of 1.5 cm cutlet mass and smooth it. Lay the omelet slices evenly on top, stepping back from the edge of the stuffing 3 cm. Cover the omelet with a layer of chopped onion. Roll up the roll and lay it on the grill, seam down. Puncture in several places with a skewer and steam for 55-60 minutes. Serve by slicing and watering.
This dish is suitable for any side dish of cereals, pasta or vegetables.
How to cook beef - useful tips and tricks
If boiled meat is necessary for the preparation of the salad, then cook it in a whole piece to preserve the juiciness. When cooking, add any spices to give the desired taste to beef, but do not salt the broth so that the salt does not draw juice from the meat.
The smaller the pieces of beef, the faster they can be cooked during the cooking process.
To cook the beef pulp, it is enough to take water 1.5 times the mass of meat: for 1 kg of fillet - 1500 ml of water. If you cook meat on the bone, especially if the bones are tubular, as they say, “sugar”, then the volume of water should be increased accordingly, since the bones are boiled for quite a long time, as a result of which a significant amount of water is evaporated.
It is not recommended to add water during the cooking process, as this affects the taste of the broth. Such a technique is permissible only at the initial stage: if, for example, the moment of removal of foam was missed, then the addition of cold water will correct the situation. It is only necessary not to miss the next moment of boiling again and to remove the foam in time.
