Jellied meat is a favorite dish of many Russians, prepared according to a wide variety of recipes. Some put pieces of meat, disassembled into fibers, into bowls, and pour broth, others first twist everything through a meat grinder. Some add slices of carrots, boiled eggs in slices, herbs, onions, pickles for beauty to the dish. Any option has the right to exist, but one thing unites all the recipes - as a result, you get a very tasty, hearty dish with a clear garlic-meat aroma. And in order for the jellied meat to turn out exactly as the household loves, it is necessary to observe 5 secrets when preparing it.
In the old days, nourishing and tasty jellied meat was prepared only in winter, after the slaughter of livestock for meat and the onset of frost. During cooking, bastards, kneecaps, vein trimmings and fat from bones were used. All this was filled with strong broth, cooked in a Russian oven. If such a jellied meat with garlic, horseradish, black bread, remembering the bright taste until next year. Nowadays, not everyone has ovens, but many have freezers and slow cookers. Therefore, jellied meat is boiled both in spring and summer, eaten as a separate dish, chopped pieces are added instead of sausage to your favorite okroshka. And even without jellied meat (this is also sometimes called jellied meat), almost no one can imagine the New Year's table.
In order not to worry whether the broth will freeze, whether the jelly will creep on the plate, you need to follow 5 simple rules when preparing ingredients and cooking meat.
Compliance with the proportions of products
You can cook jellied meat from any meat - beef, pork, turkey, chicken. However, sticky and thick broth for pouring will turn out only when you add to the pan or bowl of the multicooker most legs (bones of the legs, head) and various "illiquid" from carcasses - ears, tail, skin, cartilage, scraps with pieces of fat. It is imperative to take into account the proportions of bones, meat and water so that the finished jellied meat hardens well, does not fall apart when cut into pieces.
Experienced housewives advise to take no more than 1.5 kg of the rest of the meat for 2 kg of bridge legs (chicken, beef, pork legs), add water not to a whole pan, but just to hide the pieces.
Soaking meat
Before cooking, all bones, trimmings, meat pieces must be soaked in cold water. What for? To wash off the remnants of clotted blood, remove small adherent bones, debris. After soaking, the skin will become soft, it will be easy to clean the debris with a knife.
Replacing the "first" broth
It is recommended to drain the "first" water, barely boiling in a saucepan with meat pieces, so that the broth is not too fatty. If this is not done, a layer of fat 1-2 cm thick will then form on the surface of the finished jellied meat, which will still have to be removed with a spoon or knife and thrown away.
After boiling, you just need to remove the foam from the broth, drain it, and pour the meat with clean cold water so that it barely covers. Salt a little again. Wait for it to boil again, and cook according to the recipe until tender under a closed lid.
Adding spices
It is impossible to immediately salt the jellied meat from the heart - the water will boil away, and there is a risk of oversalting the broth. It is better to add salt to it during cooking closer to the end, then it will definitely turn out to be normal to taste. It is recommended to add whole carrots and onions to the meat 4 hours after boiling, and all the necessary spices (bay leaf, garlic, peppercorns) - half an hour before the end of cooking. Then the jellied meat will remain fragrant, will acquire the flavor of seasonings.
Duration of cooking
It takes 5-6 hours to cook pork jellied meat, and at least 7-8 hours from beef. Chicken is cooked the fastest - 4 hours of simmering bones and meat in a multicooker bowl is enough. The most delicious "assortment" of different types of meat is best cooked for at least 7 hours. A sign that the jellied meat is ready is when all the meat has moved away from the bones, and the broth is thick and transparent.
In order for the jellied meat to freeze, it must be kept in the cold at a temperature of 6-7 degrees, but not lower. You cannot take the bowls outside in frost - the contents will simply freeze. It is better to cool the meat at room temperature, and then put all containers in the refrigerator overnight.
