How to fry beef soft and juicy. Beef fried in a pan recipe

It still remains unclear why the internationally popular traditional dish of Russian cuisine bears the English name “beef stroganoff”.

“Meat Stroganoff” is considered a symbol of Russian cooking all over the world, so we must be able to cook it, but first we’ll learn how much and how to stew beef in a frying pan.

Cow meat is not as simple a product as it might seem, but we will reveal all its secrets and tell you step by step how to prepare a delicious Stroganov treat.

  1. The age of the cattle directly affects the cooking time. Naturally, no one will ask the seller about Burenka’s date of birth, and this is of no use, because the color of the fillet will “tell” everything about the age of the meat.
  • Adult meat(from 3 years and older) has a bright red color with fatty layers that create a marbling effect. This type of meat takes the longest to cook - from 1.5 to 3 hours.
  • Young meat(age from 3 months to 3 years) should be simmered for 60 minutes to 1.5 hours. The fillet in this case has a reddish-pink hue with fine muscle grain and mild marbling.
  • Pinkish milky veal(2 weeks - 3 months) will be ready in 30-50 minutes. Veal meat is more similar in appearance to pork, but there is almost no fat on this fillet.
  1. The part of the carcass chosen for cooking will help you navigate the time of beef stewing.

  • Shoulder, brisket and shoulder more suitable for stewing in small pieces, for example, with gravy. Cooking time is 45-60 minutes.
  • Rump and rump(upper hind thigh) - this is a great meat for making beef stroganoff (meat sticks in sour cream sauce). The stewing time for this meat is 1.5 hours.
  • But the best parts of meat for braising, both large portions and small slices, are the most tender - cervical and lumbar region(clipping). They only take 20-40 minutes to cook.
  • Beef liver simmer for 30-40 minutes.
  1. The stewing vessel also plays an important role in the speed of cooking beef. In this case, the frying pan must be thick-walled, preferably cast iron, in which the heat is distributed evenly over the entire surface and is retained for a long time. This will allow you to reduce the stewing time and achieve excellent cooking results.

How to stew beef in pieces

In order for beef stewed in a frying pan to be a success and to be tender and melting in your mouth, you should follow some rules for its preparation:

The best way to cook beef is to stew small slices in sauce, gravy or with vegetables in its own juice. This way the meat turns out to be really soft, aromatic and tender.

Beef stew with aromatic spices

  • The easiest way to stew beef is in water with spices. If we decide to stew beef with classic onion-carrot sauté and water, then in this case it would not be amiss to add a standard set of herbs to the marinade: dill, parsley, onions, basil and thyme.
  • A little clove (1-2 inflorescences) can also enrich the taste of beef. Bay and black pepper are practically essential components for cooking any type of meat, including beef.
  • For stewing beef in tomato sauce (3 tbsp tomato paste + 1-2 tbsp flour + 1-2 tbsp water), the most suitable spices are oregano, marjoram and rosemary. Sometimes, a pinch of sage and paprika (1 tsp) is also added to such a dish.

The classic way to stew beef with onions

One of the most popular methods of stewing beef - in onions - is also the simplest, not only in terms of cooking technology, but also in terms of the amount of spices.

For 1 kg of meat, in this case, you should take 1 tsp. salt, 3 large heads of juicy onions and 10 pieces of black peppercorns.

  • After frying the meat, put the onion, chopped into half rings, into the frying pan, which should first be mashed a little with salt until the juice appears.
  • Next, add pepper, salt and simmer the meat over low heat under the lid until cooked. In this case, you can even do without adding water.
  • The onions release enough juice to saturate the meat. This beef turns out very tasty, juicy and aromatic.

Beef stew with potatoes

A great option to stew beef with potatoes. This very easy to prepare dish simply has a hypnotizing effect on men. And how to prepare a traditional dish of Russian cuisine is described step by step in our previous article.

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

  • — 300 g + -
  • - 1 PC. + -
  • — 30-40 g + -
  • — 50-80 g + -
  • - 2 pcs. + -
  • — 3 g + -
  • — 8 pcs. + -
  • — 50 ml + -
  • - 1 tsp. + -

How to stew beef in a frying pan

Our step-by-step recipe will help you prepare delicious beef at home, just like in a real French restaurant. The most tender meat slices in a fragrant sour cream sauce will conquer any gourmet.

This method, although not very fast, is quite simple, and what is especially important is that it allows you to make the most delicious meat dish you have ever tried.

  1. If necessary, rinse the beef under running water, cut off all the veins, dry it with napkins and cut into elongated thin pieces.
  2. Pepper the meat slices with ground pepper, add a little salt and fry over high heat in oil until red, then remove from the frying pan.
  3. In the same oil, in an empty container, fry the onion half rings until light brown and also remove them to a dish.
  4. To prepare sour cream sauce, dilute in 1 tbsp. water flour, add sour cream and salt to taste. Mix the resulting homogeneous mass.
  5. Place the fried meat on the bottom of the frying pan, distribute the fried onions on top and pour sour cream sauce over everything. Then add laurel, peppercorns, and ground basil. If the meat is not completely covered with the filling, then you can also add water so that its level is 1-1.5 cm above the meat.
  6. Over medium heat, bring the dish to a boil and reduce the flame to low. Cover the pan with a lid. Simmer beef in sour cream in a frying pan for 1 hour.

We determine the readiness of meat by its softness. Ideally, the fillet should be easily separated into fibers.

You can serve your homemade treat with any side dish: boiled rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, as well as stewed, steamed, fresh or boiled vegetables.

Bon appetit!

There are many ways to fry beef. But in order for this dish to turn out truly tasty and nutritious, you should learn more about the characteristics of this type of meat and familiarize yourself with proven recipes for its preparation from the treasury of world cuisine. How to properly fry beef will be discussed further.

How to properly fry beef

Before frying beef, you should select and prepare the right piece of meat for frying. Young beef or veal are best suited for cooking in a frying pan. The selected piece of meat must be thoroughly cleaned of films and tendons and, if necessary, trimmed off excess fat.

In order to deliciously fry beef in a frying pan, you can use the simple recipes below. The following products will be required:

  • beef meat - 200 g per serving;
  • vegetable oil (sunflower or olive);
  • salt pepper;
  • a mixture of aromatic herbs and peppers for fried meat (to taste);
  • onion (optional).

Recipe 1: how to fry beef in a frying pan

  1. The cooked piece of meat should be cut into pieces measuring 10-12 mm across the grain.
  2. Lightly beat the chopped beef pieces with a hammer.
  3. Sprinkle the chopped meat with salt and spices to taste.
  4. Fry on both sides in a frying pan heated with oil until a brownish crust forms (the degree of frying can be different: strong, medium, medium-rare or rare).
  5. Cut the onion into half rings, fry it separately from the cooked meat or together with it.

Recipe 2: How to Fry Tender Beef

  1. The cooked piece of meat must be cut into thick slices (20-25 cm) across the grain.
  2. Lightly beat the chopped pieces.
  3. Salt, pepper, sprinkle with other spices as desired.
  4. Fry the portioned pieces on both sides until a crust forms.
  5. To fry soft beef, you need to add a little water to the pan with the meat. The fried pieces should be sprinkled with water and placed in the oven directly in the frying pan (at a temperature of 200 - 220 degrees).
  6. Keep in the oven for another half hour, pouring over the released juice.

How to fry beef steak

A classic steak is a piece of beef, 3 cm thick, fried on both sides. For steak, beef is taken from the intercostal part; it is best to take fresh meat, then the steak will be tender and flavorful. Before frying a beef steak, you need to determine the degree of its readiness: at low level, the meat has an internal temperature of 45 to 50°C. with medium, this temperature ranges from 55 to 60°C, and for a deep-fried steak - 65-70°C. This temperature is checked with a culinary thermometer, but if it is not there, then the degree of frying is determined by the color of the steak using an experimental method. Most often, a medium-rare steak is prepared, which should have an even brown color and ooze pinkish juice when pierced.

How to fry beef in butter

This recipe includes:

  • 800 gr. - 1 kg of beef;
  • 50 gr. butter;
  • salt and ground black pepper (to taste).
  1. Rinse the piece of beef and dry it with a paper towel.
  2. Cut into several portions 3 cm thick and pepper.
  3. Melt butter in a frying pan.
  4. Place the steaks in the pan and fry them alternately on each side (4 minutes per side for medium doneness).
  5. Salt steaks before serving.

The following tips are intended to help novice cooks prepare roasted beef dishes. In addition, recipes and tips for properly frying meat can be found here: How to fry meat.

  1. Beef meat for frying should be cut across the grain to ensure uniform heat penetration into the thickness of the meat during cooking.
  2. When frying beef on coals, you should take into account that their temperature is higher than in a frying pan, so the meat must first be fried on both sides to form a crust (so that the juice does not leak out), and only then continue further frying.
  3. The oil in a heated frying pan should not smoke when frying meat - this will make the meat tough. The temperature of the heated frying pan should be such that a hissing sound is heard when placing meat on it.
  4. After removing the beef steaks from the heat, let them sit for 7-10 minutes. This will allow the juices that rise up during frying to be distributed throughout the entire piece, and will make the taste of the steak more tender.

Of course, these are not all known ways of how to deliciously fry beef, but only the most famous and accessible of them. However, having mastered them, you will learn to do a lot intuitively, and perhaps invent your own recipes.

Even more interesting

How to deliciously fry beef in a frying pan step by step video recipe

We have also prepared a video for you to fully understand the step-by-step cooking process.

Looking at the tips on how to deliciously fry beef in a frying pan, you can easily prepare this dish at home, having all the necessary ingredients.

Even more delicious recipes:

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how to fry beef, how to fry beef in a frying pan, how to fry soft beef, how to fry beef steak, how to fry beef deliciously, how to fry beef correctly, tasty frying beef in a frying pan, how to fry beef meat

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Beef is a dietary meat that is well absorbed by the body. When prepared correctly, it turns out very tasty. In order for the product to be soft and juicy, you need to adhere to a certain recipe.

You need to choose young beef for frying. The best cuts to use for cooking are the tenderloin (fillet), thin edge or entrecote (thick).

You will need:

Secrets of juicy beef

  • Before you start cooking, put a frying pan on the fire, pour in a small amount of butter, and cook for 2-3 minutes. fry the oil at 120 degrees. Only then start cooking.
  • Try to cook dishes from fresh or fresh meat. Then there is a greater chance of achieving softness and juiciness. Frozen beef may not be easy to handle and will remain tough.
  • It is advisable to choose tenderloin, it is considered the softest part.
  • But different parts are more suitable for a particular dish:
    – steak – tenderloin;
    – stew – the shoulder part or the back of the thigh;
  • Buy meat from a young animal. You can identify it by the color of the fat: white – young, yellow – old.
  • To prevent the dish from turning out rubbery, salt it just before serving.
  • If you need tomato paste for cooking, you should also add it at the end. Otherwise, you will not achieve softness and juiciness.
  • To get soft meat, it can be lightly beaten on both sides.
  • If the product is pre-immersed in the marinade for a while, it will be softer. The main thing is that the marinade matches the recipe.

Chops

Wash the meat and cut it across the grain into portions 1-2 cm thick. Place each piece on a cutting board and beat it on both sides with a hammer - this will make it softer.

You can grate it with ground black pepper or place it in a mixture of spices and oil.

You can also marinate in wine - it is believed that this will make it more tender.

It should be marinated for 15-30 minutes, after which it should be fried on both sides in a hot frying pan using oil.

After frying until golden brown, literally 2 minutes on each side, you need to add salt and simmer for another 10 minutes. To do this, the heat should be reduced, and you can add onions or wine cut into rings into the frying pan. It will be much tastier if.

If the meat turns out dry, add a little water to the pan and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

Steak

Beefsteak or steak is prepared a little differently.

For this dish, the beef needs to be cut into medallions 3-4 cm thick.

It is better to cook steak in a grill pan with a ribbed surface. If you don’t have one, you can use a regular one with a thick bottom.

Before cooking a steak, the meat must be matured. To do this, you need to leave it for 1 hour in a marinade of vegetable oil (preferably olive) and spices. You can just use black pepper. You can also rub the meat with crushed garlic if desired.

You need to fry the steak in a hot frying pan, but you should not turn it often so as not to violate the technology. During the cooking process, you need to wait a moment until the smoke generated during frying becomes sufficiently pronounced - at this moment you need to add salt, quickly turn it over and bring the other side to the same degree of frying.

There are many ways to fry beef. But in order for this dish to turn out truly tasty and nutritious, you should learn more about the characteristics of this type of meat and familiarize yourself with proven recipes for its preparation from the treasury of world cuisine. How to properly fry beef will be discussed further.

How to properly fry beef

Before frying beef, you should select and prepare the right piece of meat for frying. Young beef or veal are best suited for cooking in a frying pan. The selected piece of meat must be thoroughly cleaned of films and tendons and, if necessary, trimmed off excess fat.

In order to deliciously fry beef in a frying pan, you can use the simple recipes below. The following products will be required:

  • beef meat - 200 g per serving;
  • vegetable oil (sunflower or olive);
  • salt pepper;
  • a mixture of aromatic herbs and peppers for fried meat (to taste);
  • onion (optional).

Recipe 1: how to fry beef in a frying pan

  1. The cooked piece of meat should be cut into pieces measuring 10-12 mm across the grain.
  2. Lightly beat the chopped beef pieces with a hammer.
  3. Sprinkle the chopped meat with salt and spices to taste.
  4. Fry on both sides in a frying pan heated with oil until a brownish crust forms (the degree of frying can be different: strong, medium, medium-rare or rare).
  5. Cut the onion into half rings, fry it separately from the cooked meat or together with it.

Recipe 2: How to Fry Tender Beef

  1. The cooked piece of meat must be cut into thick slices (20-25 cm) across the grain.
  2. Lightly beat the chopped pieces.
  3. Salt, pepper, sprinkle with other spices as desired.
  4. Fry the portioned pieces on both sides until a crust forms.
  5. To fry soft beef, you need to add a little water to the pan with the meat. The fried pieces should be sprinkled with water and placed in the oven directly in the frying pan (at a temperature of 200 - 220 degrees).
  6. Keep in the oven for another half hour, pouring over the released juice.

How to fry beef steak

A classic steak is a piece of beef, 3 cm thick, fried on both sides. For steak, beef is taken from the intercostal part; it is best to take fresh meat, then the steak will be tender and flavorful. Before frying a beef steak, you need to determine the degree of its readiness: with a weak degree, the meat has an internal temperature of 45 to 50 ° C, with a medium degree, this temperature ranges from 55 to 60 ° C, and for a heavily fried steak - 65 -70°C. This temperature is checked with a culinary thermometer, but if it is not there, then the degree of frying is determined by the color of the steak using an experimental method. Most often, a medium-rare steak is prepared, which should have an even brown color and ooze pinkish juice when pierced.

How to fry beef in butter

This recipe includes:

  • 800 gr. – 1 kg of beef;
  • 50 gr. butter;
  • salt and ground black pepper (to taste).
  1. Rinse the piece of beef and dry it with a paper towel.
  2. Cut into several portions 3 cm thick and pepper.
  3. Melt butter in a frying pan.
  4. Place the steaks in the pan and fry them alternately on each side (4 minutes per side for medium doneness).
  5. Salt steaks before serving.

The following tips are intended to help novice cooks prepare roasted beef dishes. In addition, recipes and tips for properly frying meat can be found here: How to fry meat.

  1. Beef meat for frying should be cut across the grain to ensure uniform heat penetration into the thickness of the meat during cooking.
  2. When frying beef on coals, you should take into account that their temperature is higher than in a frying pan, so the meat must first be fried on both sides to form a crust (so that the juice does not leak out), and only then continue further frying.
  3. The oil in a heated frying pan should not smoke when frying meat - this will make the meat tough. The temperature of the heated frying pan should be such that a hissing sound is heard when placing meat on it.
  4. After removing the beef steaks from the heat, let them sit for 7-10 minutes. This will allow the juices that rise up during frying to be distributed throughout the entire piece, and will make the taste of the steak more tender.

Of course, these are not all known ways of how to deliciously fry beef, but only the most famous and accessible of them. However, having mastered them, you will learn to do a lot intuitively, and perhaps invent your own recipes.

elhow.ru

Soft roast beef

Today I will tell you about an amazing method of frying beef, which was seen somewhere on the World Wide Web and was happily noted.

The history of the origin of this recipe is unknown, but there is an opinion that it was invented by the cook of one of the noble families, whose financial situation was shaken during the years of the revolution. They could not afford expensive meat, and therefore, even at receptions they served relatively inexpensive beef, but prepared using this method. The guests swallowed their fingers, praised the hosts and did not even suspect that the meat was far from being of the highest category.

The most amazing thing is that the recipe is extremely simple. The only thing you need to stock up on is time, since it will take about 2.5 hours.

The grocery set is simple:

Cut the meat into pieces 1.5-2 cm thick, salt and sprinkle with spices:

After this, you can leave it to marinate for an hour and a half, or you can cook it right away.

Take a deep frying pan or saucepan. The main thing is that you have a tight lid for this vessel. It is very important.

Place pieces of butter on the bottom:

Place meat on top of them:

Now pour some cold water. For a given amount of meat, we added about eight to ten millimeters:

Turn on the heat and bring the water to a boil:

Now reduce the heat to low, cover very tightly with a lid and leave the whole thing alone for 2.5 hours. The main thing is not to open the lid under any circumstances.

During this time, the meat will stew, the water will drain, and then our beef will begin to slowly fry. And in the end it will be something incredibly soft, with a golden brown crust and very tasty:

blog-food.ru

Beef fried in a frying pan: recipe with photos. Fried potatoes with beef

Beef turns out incredibly tasty if it is baked in the oven or stewed - this is a well-known fact. However, there are situations when waiting many hours for a dish is not entirely convenient. In this case, beef fried in a frying pan, the recipe of which can be supplemented at your discretion, becomes a real lifesaver.

The most important advantage of beef processed in this way is that it turns out tasty, slightly undercooked (rare) and well browned (crusted). The cooking method depends on your preferences. Before frying, the meat does not need to be soaked or marinated for a long time - 30-40 minutes is enough. That is, it will literally take an hour to create aromatic fried beef. You just need to constantly taste the dish to determine the degree of its readiness.

Meat selection and preliminary preparation

When choosing beef for frying, you must follow two selection criteria:

  • freshness (the younger the meat, the less time it will take to prepare and cook it);
  • juiciness (the fact is that when frying, the fibers of the meat lose moisture, so pieces of tenderloin - seemingly the best part of the carcass - are completely unsuitable).

It is best to buy a spatula or a thin edge for cooking in a frying pan - then the dish will turn out very juicy and tender.

But even if it was not possible to purchase young beef, this can be easily corrected with the help of preliminary preparation. And here you can go two ways:

  • soak the meat in milk (2 liters per 1 kg of beef);
  • marinate.

Regarding the latter, there are several best ways to marinate beef.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp. l. salt;
  • 1 tbsp. l. white sugar;
  • ground black pepper (to taste).

Preparation:

  1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
  2. We wash the meat and cut it along the grain into large pieces (small pieces will turn out a little dry).
  3. Sprinkle the beef with the dry mixture and leave to soak for 20-25 minutes. The meat is ready for frying.

For this marinating option, simply coat the pieces of meat with mustard and let stand for 15 minutes.

This is the so-called Chinese beef marinade.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp. l. rice vinegar;
  • 4 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
  • 1.5 tbsp. l. grated fresh ginger;
  • 1 tbsp. l. liquid honey;
  • 1 tsp each turmeric and dry chili.

Preparation:

  1. Mix vinegar, honey, ginger, sauce and seasonings.
  2. Rub the marinade into the pieces of meat, place them in a bowl and let stand for 30 minutes.

Quick fried beef in a frying pan: recipe with photo

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg spatula;
  • 30 ml olive oil;
  • 2 large onions;
  • greens (to your taste).

Preparation:


  • Simmer over low heat for 5-10 minutes.
  • Turn it off when the meat has reached the desired condition. Serve the dish hot, sprinkled with finely chopped herbs.
  • Fried potatoes with meat - tasty, satisfying, fast!

    The combination of meat and potatoes is considered a classic of the genre. And you can add variety to this tandem if you cook not the main dish and side dish, but fry everything together.

    Ingredients:

    • 1 kg of fresh beef;
    • 6-7 potatoes;
    • 2 onions;
    • 30 ml olive oil;
    • salt (to taste);
    • spices, khmeli-suneli mixture (to your taste).

    Preparation:

    1. Fry the prepared meat for 10 minutes in olive oil in a preheated frying pan (over medium heat).
    2. Add water so that the meat is completely covered and simmer until it boils.
    3. Add spices and salt.
    4. Cut the onion into rings and the potatoes into semicircles.
    5. Add potatoes to the meat and fry until half cooked.
    6. Add the onion and turn it off after 5 minutes. Serve hot.

    A fragrant and spicy second course

    Garlic and dill will help give the dish even more amazing aroma and taste.

    Ingredients:

    • 800 g spatula;
    • 1.5 liters of low-fat milk;
    • 3 onions;
    • 6 cloves of garlic;
    • 6 potatoes;
    • 50 ml olive oil;
    • 1 bunch of dill;
    • salt, pepper, spices (to your taste).

    Preparation:

    1. Wash the piece of beef under running cold water and soak in milk for 40 minutes.
    2. Cut the meat into large squares.
    3. Pour oil into a frying pan with high sides and fry the meat until crusty.
    4. Simmer the beef with water for about 30 minutes.
    5. Chop the onion into half rings, the potatoes into thin slices, and chop the garlic with a garlic clove.
    6. Add potatoes to the meat.
    7. Once the vegetable has softened, add the onion and garlic.
    8. Salt and add pepper and spices.
    9. Generously decorate the finished dish with finely chopped dill.

    If desired, you can add 2-3 large tomatoes to this recipe.

    If you want to cook a healthy, tasty, and most importantly, quick dish, beef fried in a frying pan will help you out. You can choose a specific recipe in accordance with your own gastronomic preferences, and you can also use your imagination. It’s just important not to be lazy and prepare the beef before frying. Then the aroma and aftertaste of a hearty dish will definitely not disappoint.

    ladyspecial.ru

    Beef in a frying pan

    Today we will tell you how to deliciously and properly cook juicy beef in a frying pan. By following our tips, you will get juicy and flavorful meat that is perfect for any side dish.

    How to fry beef steak in a frying pan?

    We wash the beef, wipe it dry with a paper towel and cut the meat into thin portions across the grain. Place a piece of butter in a frying pan and melt it. Mix salt and pepper and rub the steaks well on both sides. Place the beef in a frying pan and fry for 5 minutes first, then carefully turn it over with a spatula and brown until cooked on the other side.

    Pan fried beef recipe

    So, pour water into a small saucepan, place the dishes on the stove and heat over medium heat. At the same time, take a frying pan, pour vegetable oil into it and heat it. We process a piece of beef, wash it, cut off all the fat and chop it into strips. Chop the pulp into pieces and throw into boiling water. After 20 seconds, using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the meat and place it in a frying pan with oil. Fry for about 15 minutes, stirring, over high heat, covering with a lid. Without wasting time, we peel the onions, chop them into thin half rings and throw them into the half-cooked meat. Add the previously prepared lard, add salt to taste, cover the top with a lid and cook the dish for another 5 minutes.

    Beef chops in a frying pan

    • beef – 500 g;
    • mustard – 2 teaspoons;
    • semolina – 100 g;
    • vegetable oil – 100 ml;
    • egg – 2 pcs.;
    • spices.

    To prepare delicious beef chops, it is best to choose lighter and younger meat. So, thoroughly wash the pulp, wipe dry with a towel and cut into thin pieces. Then dip each slice in semolina, cover the top with film and beat. In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a mixer, and then add spices and hot mustard. Dip each piece of meat again into semolina, and then into egg batter and fry in vegetable oil in a well-heated frying pan until golden brown. Serve the finished chops with vegetables and fresh herbs.

    Juicy and soft beef is a tasty and beloved meat by many. It lends itself perfectly to stewing, frying, boiling and baking. In short, there is no meat dish in which beef would be inappropriate. But only under one condition: you need to make the beef soft. Each generation of housewives is looking for new ways to tenderize beef, marinades and methods for marinating and cooking meat. But professional chefs know that it is better to stick to proven recipes that can actually tenderize beef without losing taste and aroma.

    You always have a choice: to tenderize beef quickly or gradually, and the result is not always directly proportional to the time spent. Much depends on the quality of the raw meat and your ability to prepare it. We are confident that each stage of cooking affects the tenderness of the beef and can either soften it or completely ruin it. Therefore, we will try to give comprehensive tips so that even tough beef becomes softer in your dishes.

    Beef in cooking: features and properties. How to choose soft beef?
    Beef is recognized as the best type of meat - both nutritionists and culinary experts agree on this opinion. Agree, they don’t often have unanimity, but with regard to beef it is absolutely true: this red meat is the optimal source of animal protein with a complete set of essential amino acids and heme iron, necessary for hematopoiesis and the prevention of anemia. Collagen and elastin, B vitamins and minerals make beef a truly healthy meat. Especially if it is cooked correctly: without excess fat, in the oven or on the grill. To ensure that the beef turns out tender even with minimal processing, it is important to choose the right piece of meat:
    How to make beef tender quickly?
    Properly prepared and fresh beef does not need additional softening, the main thing is not to spoil it with intensive processing. But if you get frozen meat and time is short, use one of the methods to quickly make beef soft:
    You can quickly marinate beef using kiwi fruit. To do this, for every kilogram of meat, take 1 large kiwi, chop with a knife or on a grater and distribute over the chopped meat. Leave at room temperature for 30 minutes - but no longer, otherwise the kiwi enzymes will turn the beef into an unattractive mass. All other beef marinade recipes require much more time and effort.

    Marinade Recipes for Tough Beef
    Marinating is a universal method for making meat tender. Depending on the degree of toughness, taste preferences and the recipe for further preparation, beef is marinated with the following compositions:

    1. Kefir marinade. For 1 kg of fresh meat, take 1 liter of low-fat kefir (0-1%), 50 ml of vegetable oil, 3 large onions, a pinch of ground pepper and salt. Place one layer of meat on the bottom of a deep bowl. Lightly salt and pepper. Peel the onion, cut into rings and cover the meat. Place another layer of meat on top of the onion and repeat all steps. At the end, pour in oil and kefir, cover with a plate and press down with pressure. Place in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours.
    2. Wine marinade. For 1 kg of fresh meat you will need 1 glass of dry or semi-dry red wine, 100 ml of virgin vegetable oil, 0.5 fresh lemon (or 1 whole small lemon), a pinch of black and allspice ground pepper, a little fresh herbs to taste. In a bowl, mix oil, wine and freshly squeezed lemon juice, add pepper and finely chopped herbs, mix the marinade with meat, cut into portions, and leave in the refrigerator for 3-5 hours.
    3. Garlic spicy marinade. For every kilogram of beef you need 1 large lemon, 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a pinch of ground chili pepper, half a glass of water. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and dilute with water. Crush the garlic. Chop the onion as finely as possible and mix with pepper and garlic. Mix portioned pieces of meat with onion-garlic mixture, place in a deep bowl and fill with water and lemon juice. Keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 and no more than 6 hours.
    It is easy to conclude that the marinade for beef must contain a softening ingredient, which is represented by products with active organic acids: wine, fermented milk drinks, citrus fruits. But it is better not to use vinegar for marinating beef: it draws water from the fibers. For the same reason, meat is salted only at the end of cooking, when the main biochemical processes have already completed.

    How to make beef tender when frying?
    Grilled beef, whether it's a filet mignon steak or a regular cutlet, is breaking all records of popularity among meat dishes. But it is when frying that beef is most easily spoiled and made tough. Here are the tips. Which will help you properly fry beef so that it is tender:

    • Use a heavy, thick-bottomed frying pan, preferably cast iron. Always preheat it over high heat before grilling steaks.
    • Place portioned pieces of meat on a hot frying pan greased with a drop of oil and quickly fry on both sides (10-15 seconds each) so that the resulting crust “seals” the surface and prevents the juice from evaporating.
    • Beef tenderloin is optimal for frying - it is the softest meat that does not become tougher after cooking. It is followed, in order of decreasing tenderness, by sirloin, steak and brisket.
    To keep roasted beef tender, the key is to retain as much moisture as possible. That is why the meat is not salted until cooked and a minimal amount of oil is used. Ideally, beef is fried in a dry frying pan.

    How to make beef tender when stewing?
    Stewed beef rarely retains its juiciness, but it becomes soft and tender - as they say, “melts in your mouth.” Both lean meat and pieces with small layers of fat are suitable for stewing.

    1. Stew beef, cut into 3-4 cm cubes and fried in a deep frying pan for 1 minute until dry. Then transfer the meat into a cauldron or stewpan, add hot water with spices and simmer over low heat under the lid for 1.5-2 hours until soft.
    2. When stewing beef, you can use any spices: bay leaf, peppercorns (black and/or allspice), onions, garlic and other vegetables. Stewed beef, like fried beef, can be salted only at the very end of cooking.
    3. A sign of the readiness of stewed beef is the slight separation of the fibers from each other.
    You can stew beef in light or dark beer diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio. In this case, the meat will be additionally marinated and acquire a flavor tint. But during extinguishing you will have to regularly remove the foam that forms.
    How to tenderize beef in the oven?
    Baked beef is a delicacy that requires skillful handling. It can take years to learn how to bake beef correctly, so we’ll give just a few practical tips:
    1. Beef is baked in a large, whole piece; tenderloin or fillet with a small amount of fat (for juiciness) is suitable for this. Before baking, a piece of beef is quickly fried in a hot frying pan on all sides.
    2. The beef “sealed” in the pan is wrapped in foil and placed on a baking sheet. The foil retains moisture, but you need to make several thin holes in it to allow steam to escape. Instead of foil, you can use a baking sleeve.
    3. Baked beef will turn out soft and aromatic if you stuff it with garlic cloves or other spices to taste.
    After baking, juicy and soft beef is cut into thin sirloin across the grain into thin slices. When hot, this meat will decorate a festive table, and when cooled, boiled pork will be useful for making sandwiches and cold appetizers. This is perhaps the best and almost guaranteed way to make beef tender!