Cutting the carcass of beef

The question "how to properly cut meat" excites at the moment not only novice housewives, but cooks with experience. After all, before cooking became fashionable, the only well-known meat-cutting tool was the most famous picture - the scheme depicting the cutting of the carcass of beef, which today is the only dubious ornament of most markets. And now it turns out that the very scheme is far from being the only one and hardly the most correct one. If you look at the scheme of cutting meat in Europe or America, then the difference with the Russian version will seem truly magical. And what about tools? Domestic butcher and rumor did not hear that in addition to the brutal ax and the bloody butcher knife in such a process as cutting the carcass of beef used tools such as, for example, a file! And how else to get the ideal thickness of T-Bone or porterhouse, and even without a lot of bone fragments? No way. And how, without a thin long knife, to cut tender beef fillets? When under the word "fillet" there is not at all a piece of meat without bone, but a specific muscle? Too in any way. That's amateur cooking amateurs in our markets in search of non-existent in the domestic practice of cutting meat cuts. After cutting the carcass of beef - a question scrupulous. But this is a matter of time: there will be demand - there will be a proposal. You just need to wait a bit. Even if the cutting of carcasses of beef in the market does not suit you, it's time to properly cut the meat at home.

In the meantime, let's return to cutting meat at home.

I think it's worth remembering that meat should be bought fresh, with a pleasant smell, the texture of the fibers should be elastic and quickly restored even with a strong finger pressure. And if you are going to freeze meat, then you need to cut it before you put it in the freezer. After defrosting, the meat will change the texture (even after defrosting by all rules), and it will be more difficult to separate it.

So, you brought a piece of fresh meat from the market. It does not matter whether cutting lamb or beef, or maybe pork - the first question that every amateur butcher has: wash or not wash. We answer it this way: if you do not doubt the quality of meat and conscientiousness of the butcher, then the meat should be wiped with a damp cloth. But in the realities of Russia meat should still be washed. Agree, hardly the quality of the finished product is more expensive than your own health. In addition, water procedures will help get rid of those very fragments of bones that do not particularly please you in the prepared dish. Important: the meat should be washed under running water at room temperature. Ice and hot water are also able in a short time to change the state of the fibers.

Washed meat should be dried - clean waffle or paper towels.

The board for cutting meat is better to choose wooden and use it only for these purposes.

The knives will need several: a small heavy ax (for cutting the tendons, cartilages and small bones, better metal and necessarily well sharpened), a classic chef (sharp, metallic or ceramic), and a knife with a long sharp blade - ideal for cutting fillets And removal of films.

So we are ready to cut the meat. Next, you should follow only a few basic rules:

• Beef meat cutting usually occurs strictly across the fibers;
• It is desirable to cut the meat with one precise movement, and not "saw" it;
• Carefully clean the meat of films and tendons (they do not necessarily throw out - they are quite useful for broths);
• For cutting meat into portions pieces use a chef-knife: its length and a wide blade will save you unnecessary effort, and the pieces will be perfectly flat at the cut;
• To remove films, cut out fillets, use a knife with a long narrow blade: it will help to cut only unnecessary fragments, leaving a maximum of "useful" on a piece of meat.

If you are going to freeze meat, then combine different types of meat in different packages, put a note into the package - what kind of meat is it and how much is frozen. This will save you from further misunderstanding: what exactly is in the package and how long?

As for defrosting meat, you need to do this on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, in the so-called "zero" zone. As a rule, meat defrosting requires 1 day per 1.5 kg. So large pieces should be taken from the freezer in advance.