Beef can be young, old, frozen, steamed. These adjectives determine the amount of time it takes to prepare a healthy and tasty dish.
The meat of cattle that has reached one year of age is called beef. It is tasty, low-calorie (only 254 kcal per 100 g of product) and very healthy meat if cooked correctly. In order to boil it evenly, you should cut into pieces weighing no more than half a kilogram.
Young steamed beef
Such meat is cooked for only half an hour. Steam is called beef that has not been frozen and that has hit the counter no more than 12 hours after slaughter. This can be determined by the characteristic milky smell, high humidity and elasticity. The color on the cross section of the piece is bright red, juicy, the fat is white or cream-white and firm. This is almost veal, which is very useful for children and the elderly, so you should not spoil such a product with unnecessary heat treatment.
Young frozen beef
It is impossible to store fresh meat for more than 12 hours at a temperature of about 20 degrees. It can go bad. There is an opinion among meat producers that the carcass after slaughter should "lie down" in the freezer for at least two weeks in order for the meat to become softer. Despite this, the cooking time after freezing increases. Young frozen beef should be boiled after boiling for at least one hour.
Old steamed beef
An older cow has dark red meat and yellowish fat. When purchasing such beef, you need to make sure that it is fresh. To do this, just sniff and press your finger on the cross-section of the piece. If the smell does not cause unpleasant associations, and the shape returns in 2-3 minutes, then this cow or bull was killed less than 12 hours ago and was not frozen-thawed before sale. Such meat is cooked for about an hour.
Old frozen beef
Defrost meat gradually. To do this, you can use a microwave oven or simply put it at room temperature for 6 hours. It is necessary to cook in salted water for one and a half to two hours. Before boiling, remove the foam, then reduce the heat and cover.
You can cook meat not only in a simple saucepan. Often, pressure cookers and multicooker are used for this, in which the products are heat-treated under pressure. Therefore, the cooking time is significantly reduced. In such household appliances, beef is cooked from 30 minutes to one hour. In a microwave oven, this process takes about an hour. However, even in this case, the quality and condition of the beef should be taken into account.
