What makes beef soft. What to do if the meat is tough

Soft and tender beef - this dish deserves admiration and praise, but not everyone manages to cook it successfully. There are many reasons why beef is tough and not juicy. In this article, we will look at the most common mistakes. We will also present several ways to tenderize beef and cook perfect dishes.

It is better to buy beef in butcher shops, in the market or in large supermarkets, where, as a rule, they offer proven and high-quality products. It is good if there is an opportunity to touch the meat, smell it, check the freshness. Unfortunately, not all stores provide such an opportunity, more often meat is sold in vacuum packs. The principles for choosing beef are as follows:

• It is best to give preference to a fresh rather than a frozen piece of meat. Most often, fresh local products are sold in the markets; frozen meat can be of foreign production.
• When buying beef in supermarkets, don’t pay attention to discounts, they won’t sell it just like that cheaply. This means that this product is of poor quality or the shelf life is coming to an end.
• Before you put the meat in the basket, you need to carefully look at it, pay attention to the color and smell.
• To make the dish soft, you should avoid parts of the meat that are full of tendons. The most tender meat is always tenderloin.
• An important role is played by the color of the meat, it can range from light red to burgundy. A yellowish or even brown color will indicate that the meat is spoiled.
• The younger the slaughtered animal, the softer the meat in cooking. Young beef will be soft and juicy, however, less rich.
• Fresh meat should smell like blood. All other smells can be considered foreign, it is possible that the piece was treated with a chemical composition.
• Pay attention to appearance. There should be no weathered areas on the piece, a uniform color is welcome.
• Do not be afraid to buy meat with fat, it should be dry, but not slippery.

If you do not plan to cook the purchased piece of beef within 5 hours, it is better to freeze it. Defrost it in the refrigerator - this does not allow you to lose its nutrients.

How to make beef soft and juicy when stewing

The parts of the cow that require long-term processing are best suited for stewing - neck, rump, thigh, shoulder blade and brisket. The extinguishing process includes the following steps:

1. Frying meat over high heat with a small amount of fat. The main thing is not to overcook the beef, otherwise it will turn out dry, this mistake is very common. The pieces should be slightly browned, they need to be constantly stirred, fried without a lid.
2. According to the recipe, onions and vegetables are put to the meat. Onion should be given the main role, it is he who makes the meat soft. Why is it customary to put a lot of onions in barbecue? The answer to this question is obvious, the onion makes it juicy and soft.
3. Broth or water is added to the fried meat, and then stewed under a lid over low heat. Even the toughest meat will become soft if these very important points are not overlooked. The cooking time for stewing depends on the meat, usually it takes no more than an hour.

Try to cook beef stew according to the classic recipe. Having mastered this technique, you will always get delicious meat.

Required products:

• beef (shoulder or thigh) - 1.3 kg;
• onions - 400-450 g;
• carrot;
• 2-3 tbsp. l. tomato paste;
• 1.5 cups of broth;
• frying oil, fat.
• salt, spices, bay leaf, paprika, garlic.

Cooking:

1. Heat the oil in a cauldron or saucepan with a thick bottom. Sliced ​​meat lightly fry.
2. Add not finely chopped vegetables, bring them to a slight ruddy.
3. Mix the broth with tomato paste, pour the contents into the cauldron.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Put bay leaf, simmer for 15-20 minutes.
5. Next, remove the foam formed on top of the meat, add salt and spices to taste.
6. 5-7 minutes before readiness to enhance the taste, add a little garlic.
7. Cover with a lid, turn off the fire. Let the meat rest.

Tough beef, how to make it soft when cooking

The success of cooking tender beef depends on the right marinade. If you soak it in advance in the marinade, it will definitely be soft. Even the toughest (old beef) can be cooked to the point of licking your fingers. The key to the perfect dish is cooking the meat, as it cooks, it will definitely soften. The main thing is to follow the sequence and not rush, it can take some time.

If chicken soup is cooked quickly, beef broth loves time and slow simmering. Cooks prefer two ways of laying meat in the broth. Some are placed in cold water, others in boiling water. There are plenty of disputes about this, below is a recipe for laying meat in boiling water. If you decide to cook differently, the taste of the meat will not be affected.

Required products:

• hard beef (peritoneum, brisket, meat on the bone) - 1.5 kg;
• large onion;
• 1 carrot;
• bay leaf, spices, salt, water.

Cooking:

1. The meat can be boiled whole or chopped. Before cooking, it must be washed, cut off the veins.
2. Boil 3-3.5 liters of water. Place the piece in a saucepan, cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Until the water boils, the meat must be monitored, otherwise the broth will not be transparent.
3. As soon as the boiling process is noticeable, the fire is reduced to a minimum, covered with a lid and boiled for about an hour.
4. Then they remove the foam, wipe the side walls of the pan and continue to cook over low heat.
5. Put salt, spices, whole onion and peeled carrots. After 25 minutes or even earlier, the meat will be ready.
6. The meat according to this method will smell great and melt in your mouth, you can make soup or borscht from the broth.

Cooking delicious goulash

Required products:

• 0.5 kg - beef tenderloin;
• 2 onions;
• red bell pepper;
• hot pepper, spices;
• 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste;
• water - about 0.5 liters;
• a spoonful of flour;
• frying oil.

Cooking:

How to make meat soft and juicy when frying

A reliable way to soften beef when frying is vinegar, it weakens muscle tissue. It is better to choose white or wine vinegar, they will not affect the color of the meat. Balsamic vinegar works well too. When marinating beef, it is better to give up salt, then the meat does not give valuable juice. After two hours of marinating, the beef is ready for frying. Salt it directly on a frying pan or grill.

Required products:

• beef - 900 g;
• onion - 900 g;
• olive oil;
• vinegar 2-2.5 tablespoons;
• 2 tablespoons of flour;
• spices with salt.

Cooking:

1. Preparation of beef for frying begins the day before. It is good if she lies in the marinade for several hours. The beef is cut into cubes or strips.
2. Then place the minced beef in a bowl, add chopped onion, pepper, add olive oil, vinegar. Put in the refrigerator to brew.
3. After that, throw the beef into flour and quickly fry in a cauldron with oil.
4. When the liquid evaporates, reduce the heat slightly, cover the cauldron with a lid. The meat should be fried and languishing at the same time. Readiness is checked with a knife and fork.
5. If, for some reason, the meat is tough, don't despair. Place it on a foil-lined sheet, wrap, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Soft beef skewers

Required products:

• beef tenderloin (loin, neck) - 2.6 kg;
• onions - at least 2 kg;
• bunch of parsley;
• spices for barbecue with salt;
• coriander, Provence herbs;
• vegetable oil;
• 0.5 lemon;
• 1 kiwi.

Cooking:

1. Peel the beef from the hymen, wash, dry with napkins and cut into pieces.
2. We cut the onion into half rings, mix it with meat, without sparing we press our hands.
3. Add chopped parsley, spices, oil to the meat, squeeze the lemon juice, mix well.
4. Salt the kebab 15 minutes before frying. Regarding kiwi, there is also an important point, it is added 1.5 hours before frying the barbecue, otherwise the meat will not be tasty. Kiwi is peeled and finely chopped, rubbed with meat and sent to a cool place.
5. To get a delicious barbecue in a short time, put it under oppression, then it will marinate faster.

Delicate beef stroganoff meat

Required products:

• 500 g fillet, beef tenderloin;
• 2 large onions;
• 1 pepper;
• 250 ml (or more) broth;
• 2 spoons of tomato paste;
• 2 tablespoons of flour;
• 2 teaspoons of paprika and hot pepper;
• salt, pepper, oil, seasoning for meat;
• 1 carrot.

Cooking:

1. The meat is cut into strips, breaded in flour, pepper and paprika.
2. Fried in oil, well browned. Add onion rings, carrot slices and sweet peppers.
3. Fry everything together, add the broth with tomato paste. Mix everything well, season with seasoning, cover and let the meat sweat for half an hour.

How to make beef soft and juicy when roasting

Required products:

• beef steak - 1.5 kg;
• seasoning for meat -1 package;
• dry wine - 40 ml;
• French mustard - 45 g;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• sprigs of rosemary;
• olive oil - 15 ml.

Cooking:

1. Prepare the marinade. Combine French mustard, grated garlic, wine, spices and olive oil. Rub the meat well with this sauce.
2. Wrap the piece of meat in foil with rosemary sprigs, the remaining sauce will come in handy.
3. Bake for about half an hour at a medium oven power. Then you should remove the foil, pour the sauce on top and bring the meat in the oven until golden brown.
4. Before serving, cut the meat into slices. The priority is chilled meat, suitable for slicing and snacks.

When looking for information on how to stew beef so that it is soft and juicy, you will find many recipes, but not many of them will help you make the dish the way you would like it to be, that is, soft and tasty. Beef is a very tasty meat. It is not loved only by those who do not know how to cook it. And you can cook it in different ways, for example, in tomato juice or with vegetables.

What way of cooking this meat will make it soft and juicy?

Roast beef usually comes out dry. To make it juicy, you have to spend time and money preparing special marinades.

Beef cooked in the oven also comes out not very juicy and the same story is repeated as with fried beef.

The best way to cook this meat so that it is soft and juicy is stewing. In this case, beef will be not only tasty, but also useful for the human body.

How to choose the right beef

Choose the cut of beef that shows the fewest veins.

How to cook beef stew

The meat pieces should be beaten a little so that the meat is soft.

After that, you need to chop the onion and fry it in a pan. Then add beef to the onion and fry for 10 minutes.

After that, add vegetables and water to the pan.

Stew beef for 45 minutes until fully cooked.

Recipe for stewed beef in a pan with vegetables and tomato juice

Ingredients we need:

• 500 grams of fresh beef;
• 2 medium onions;
• 1 large carrot;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• 1 bell pepper;
• 200 grams of cauliflower;
• 1 eggplant;
• 500 grams of tomato juice;
• Ground black pepper;
• Salt;
• Chilli.

Clean and cut the onion. Send it to fry in a pan.

Cut the beef into medium pieces and beat it lightly. When the onion is golden brown, add the meat to the skillet.

Fry meat with onions for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, peel and cut into medium-sized pieces all the vegetables and after 10 minutes add them to the meat. Mix thoroughly, add salt, ground black pepper and chili pepper.

Add tomato juice, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 45 minutes.

After this time, turn off the heat, sprinkle the dish on plates and serve.

Stewed beef goes very well with boiled potatoes.

The output of the dish is 5 servings. Very tasty beef stew is obtained in a slow cooker, so keep another good recipe:

Stewed beef in a slow cooker with champignons

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of fresh beef;
• 300 grams of champignons;
• 2 medium onions;
• 1 large carrot;
• 2 medium eggplants;
• Salt;
• Ground black pepper.

Peel and fry the onion in sunflower oil.

Cut the beef into small pieces and beat lightly.

Cut mushrooms in half.

Cut carrots into rings.

Cut the remaining vegetables into small pieces.

Meat and vegetables, as well as fried onions and mushrooms, put in a multicooker bowl and mix with a wooden or plastic spoon.

Add ground black pepper, chili pepper and salt. Mix again.

Turn on the multicooker in the network and select the "Extinguishing" mode.

Now you can go about your business while the slow cooker prepares your delicious dish.

After 40 minutes, the mushroom stew will be ready.

The output of the dish is 4 servings.

This dish goes well with baked potatoes.

Knowing how to stew beef so that it is soft and juicy, you can cook this dish on the festive table, which will surprise your guests. After all, few people get such tasty and juicy beef, but now you know the secret.

Each hostess has her own. Of course, a lot depends on what kind of meat it is and how it will be cooked. Perhaps beef is the most difficult type. Not everyone knows the secret of how to achieve its softness. Therefore, we propose to deal with this together.

Answering the question of how to cook juicy beef, it must be said that what part of the carcass the piece was taken from is of great importance here. It is best to take the neck or tenderloin. In this case, simply cut across the fibers and, for example, fry.

Buy only and not frozen. Fresh beef smells like milk and has a delicate pink or red color. When pressed, it quickly restores its original shape.

Another important point in the pan, without turning it into a rubber sole, is to beat the meat, and then grease with mustard. You can soak the beef for fifteen minutes in the juice of one kiwi. The amino acids it contains will soften tough veins. Then heat the oil well and only then put the pieces. By the way, you need to salt after the formation of a crust, so that all the juice does not leak out.

The advice on how to keep it soft after cooking is very simple. First, in no case do not cut a large piece into smaller ones. Secondly, the fire must be medium. Thirdly, put the meat in the pot when the water boils. After about two and a half hours, it will turn into a very tender one.

The method of how to cook beef so that it is soft during stewing is also simple. Before the main process, fry the pieces in butter at a temperature of 110 - 120 degrees. This will help "seal" all the juice inside. Then add a lot of onions to it. It won't let the meat dry out. The perfect recipe for beef is beef stroganoff. The dish involves a long languishing over low heat. As a result, the meat melts in the mouth.

Beer or wine can be used as a broth for stewing. If you are preparing boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes for a side dish, do not rush to pour out the water in which the potatoes were boiled. It is also perfect for this purpose. A winning option would be stewing in a ceramic pot or cast-iron cauldron. Just do not take otherwise it will be irretrievably damaged.

Pre-marinating can be a good way to cook beef so it's soft and juicy. For example, take kefir, add spices to it to taste and refrigerate overnight. Some cooks use mineral water for these purposes. You can also use lime, lemon or apple cider vinegar.

Roasting in a sleeve or foil is how to cook beef so that it is soft and tasty. You can try to do it on a baking sheet as well. Lay the meat on top of a thick layer of onions. Stuff the pieces yourself with lard. From time to time they need to be watered with the allocated juice.

Cook with pleasure, experiment. And you will definitely succeed! Invest a part of yourself in the cooking process, and then any dish will be incomparable! Enjoy your meal!

Beef is useful and necessary for every person, but sometimes, due to the fact that the meat turns out to be tough, not every housewife will start cooking. After all, beef is capricious meat and does not always turn out as juicy as we would like.

How to cook soft beef - choose the right meat

In order to start cooking, you must first select the beef. It is known that not all parts of the carcass will be soft and tasty. Some parts can only be boiled, from others it is best to make cutlets, some can only be fried or baked. The whole secret is in the density of the connective tissue. For example, there is a lot of such tissue in the neck, tendons and films are present, it is better to cook cutlets from such a product. You can cook and stew, only it will take several hours to cook.

If you want to fry a whole beautiful piece of meat, then choose the tenderloin, as well as the upper part of the hind leg. This meat cooks amazingly quickly. But even here there are secrets that every hostess should know about.

How to cook soft beef. Sharing secrets

To cook delicious meat, you need:

• buy young beef or veal. The meat will be soft, even visually it differs from "aged" beef. In color, such meat will be lighter, with the same light fat (very little of it) and small fibers;
• as for old beef, it is dark in color, with yellow fat. Such meat will not go for frying, because it will be harsh. But it will make an excellent broth, very fragrant and tasty. Only it will take a very long time to cook such beef;
• to fry a piece of meat, choose the back or meat separated from the spine;
• portioned and small pieces learn to cut across the fiber so that they cook faster;
• before you start frying, you need to thoroughly wash the piece of meat, wipe it with paper towels;
• when to salt? If you are going to fry beef, then in 30 minutes, then you can save not only the juiciness, but also the original color of the beef;
• if the meat is tough, before sending the beef to stew or fry, the meat must be marinated. Wine (dry), sour cream, lemon juice, vinegar or kefir are taken as a marinade. The acid softens hard fibers. Salt, spices, onions and carrots must be added to such a marinade, the marinade is boiled (kefir and sour cream are an exception), cooled to room temperature. The exposure time of beef in such a marinade is from 3 hours;
• it is better to beat off hard pieces with a hammer so that the meat is better fried;
• the mustard will soften the sinewy part, you need to rub the piece of meat with mustard abundantly, leave for 2 hours, then you can bake or fry;
• beef is always fried over high heat so that the juice does not flow out, otherwise the meat will be dry;
• if baked, then only in foil to preserve juiciness.

How to cook soft beef

To cook meat, take:

• beef - 1 kg;
• onions - 2 pcs.;
• carrot - 1 large;
• vinegar - 2 tablespoons;
• garlic - 5 cloves;
• salt, bay leaf, other spices - to taste;
• tomato paste - 1.5. st.l.

How to cook beef:

• Rinse a piece of meat thoroughly under a tap, remove excess liquid with paper towels.
• Cut the meat into pieces, size 4 by 4 cm.
• Pour frying oil into a frying pan, heat well.
• The fire during frying should be strong - carefully lower the pieces of meat into the hot oil, fry on all sides until a golden crust forms.
• The meat is fried and immediately put into a thick-walled pan, pour boiling water (1 l), add vinegar. Waiting for it to boil.
• As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid, leave to simmer on low heat for 1.5 hours.
• Then add chopped vegetables and bay leaf (if you like), simmer again, topping up with a little hot water if necessary.
• After 20 minutes, salt, put spices and chopped garlic, as well as tomato paste, mix. Simmer for another 10 minutes, turn off the fire.

Beef is one of the main products of a harmonious and complete menu of a modern active person. There are many ways to prepare this meat for a holiday, everyday food, for dietary and baby food. However, almost every woman at least a few times in her life faced a failure in cooking - cooked beef was tough and dry, tasteless. It's always a shame, because. cooking meat takes time, food, effort - and it's all wasted in vain! In this article, we will discuss how to make beef tender, what techniques and products exist for this.

All recipes for cooking soft beef can be divided into 3 groups:

• Cooking by baking a whole large piece.
• Cooking entrecote, steaks, langets, etc. - meat cut into large chunks.
• Preparation of finely chopped meat - beef stroganoff, azu, shish kebab, meat in pots, etc.

How to make beef soft by roasting a whole piece

To obtain soft beef baked in a large piece, several methods are used, the choice of which is determined by the meat itself.

1. Rigid (old) can be smeared with mustard on all sides and kept for 2-3 hours before baking or frying. Mustard will prevent the disappearance of the juice from the meat and flavor it.
2. Old meat, the most difficult to cook, can be soaked in a marinade, which consists of water and 3% vinegar, 0.5 liters each, 0.5 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, bay leaf, cloves, juniper berries, 2 each -3 pieces, ground black pepper and peas. Boil spices for 10 minutes, add salt, sugar, vinegar, bring to a boil, cool and filter. Pour beef with marinade and keep in a cold place for 2-3 days.
3. Beef of medium hardness can be marinated in various sour marinades on kefir, lemon, wine and with various spices. The marinade can be cold or hot.
4. On a lean piece of beef, cuts should be made on all sides, into which pieces of lard and sour apples are inserted. For a piece of meat, weighing 800 g, you need 50 g of fat.

Prepared meat can be baked in the oven in foil, sleeve, or open, after frying in butter until a crust forms. Open beef should be watered all the time with the juice that stands out.

Video recipe

How to make beef tender by cooking it in large chunks

1. Chunks of beef are cut only across the muscle fibers. The thickness of the pieces can be from 1 to 3 cm.
2. Each piece must be put in a plastic bag and carefully beat off over the entire surface on both sides with uniform blows with a wooden hammer, so that the fibers do not tear, but flatten and the thickness of the piece decreases. A plastic bag will not only protect the kitchen from possible splashes, but also protect the meat from losing juice.
3. Then each piece must be cut around the perimeter to a depth of 5-8 mm.
4. If there is any doubt about the quality of the meat, it can be marinated with a dry or liquid marinade for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator. As a dry marinade, you can use finely chopped onions mixed with spices and a small amount of refined vegetable oil.
5. Prepared slices should be rubbed with salt and pepper and fried in breadcrumbs (crackers, egg) or fried in a hot pan and stewed in a brazier.

Video recipe

How to make beef soft by cutting it into small pieces

To cook beef in pieces with any name (a similar dish is in all national cuisines), it must be cut into slices of the desired thickness, beat off in a bag on both sides, if necessary, marinate for 1 hour. Then each slice must be cut into strips or cubes, put in a roasting pan and simmer over medium heat for 1.5-2 hours, adding your individual ingredients for each recipe:

• - sour cream;
• azu in Tatar - tomatoes or tomato sauce, pickles;
• classic goulash - gravy from onions and fried flour;
• beef in pots - and vegetables.

For beef skewers, meat with small streaks of fat must be cut into portions and marinated. Most often pickled for 1-2 days in layers, alternating it with onions, tomatoes and spices and add dry, vinegar or lemon juice. This is best done in glassware. When frying, it must be watered with marinade.

Video recipe

Let's sum up some results: to make the beef soft, it must be marinated, beaten off and, when frying, make a crust so that the juice does not flow out. However, if there are doubts about the quality of the meat - it is not cut across the fibers or is very old, then it is better to cook it and make it with meat, potato cutlets or use it for minced meat and make cutlets, zrazy, but as an elegant dish - galantine, because nothing can poison the mood in the same way as a tasteless or spoiled dish, especially on a holiday.

What do you cook with beef?