Soft and tender beef - this dish deserves admiration and praise, but not everyone can cook it successfully. There are many reasons why beef is stiff and not juicy. In this article we will look at the most common errors. We’ll also introduce several ways to make beef soft and cook perfect dishes.

The right choice of meat

It is better to buy beef in butchers, in the market or in large supermarkets, where, as a rule, they offer proven and high-quality products. It’s good if you can touch the meat, smell it, check freshness. Unfortunately, not all stores provide this opportunity, more often meat is sold in vacuum packaging. The principles for choosing beef are as follows:

  • It is best to prefer a fresh rather than frozen piece of meat. Most often, fresh local produce is sold in the markets; frozen meat may be of foreign origin.
  • When buying beef in supermarkets, do not pay attention to discounts, they just won’t sell it cheaply. This means that this product is of poor quality or is near the end of its shelf life.
  • Before putting meat in a basket, you need to carefully look at it, pay attention to color and smell.
  • To make the dish soft, you should avoid parts of the meat where the tendons are full. 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 mean that the meat is spoiled.
  • The younger the slaughtered animal, the softer the meat is in cooking.Young beef will be soft and juicy, however, less rich.
  • Fresh meat should smell like blood. All other odors can be considered extraneous, it is possible that the piece was treated with a chemical composition.
  • Pay attention to the look. On the piece there should be no weathered areas, 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. Defrosting it in the refrigerator - this does not allow to lose its nutrients.

How to Make Beef Soft and Juicy When Stewing

Parts of a cow that require lengthy processing — neck, rump, thigh, scapula and brisket — are best suited for extinguishing. The extinguishing process includes the following steps:

  1. Fry meat over high heat with a little fat. The main thing is not to overcook the beef, otherwise it will turn out to be dry, this error is very common. The pieces should be lightly browned, they must be constantly mixed, fried without a lid.
  2. According to the recipe, put onion and vegetables to the meat. Onion should play the main role, it is he who makes the meat soft. Why is it customary to put in a barbecue, a lot of onions? The answer to this question is obvious, the onion makes it juicy and soft.
  3. To the fried meat, add broth or water, and then stew under a lid over low heat. Even the toughest meat will become soft, if you do not lose sight of these very important points. The stew time for stewing depends on the meat, usually it takes no more than an hour.

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

Required Products:

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

Cooking:

  1. Heat oil in a cauldron or pan with a thick bottom. Slightly fry the chopped meat.
  2. Add not finely chopped vegetables, bring them to a faint brownness.
  3. Mix the broth with tomato paste, pour the contents into a cauldron.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Put bay leaf, simmer for 15-20 minutes.
  5. Next, remove the foam formed over the meat, add salt and spices to taste.
  6. 5-7 minutes before cooking to add flavor, add a little garlic.
  7. Cover, turn off the fire. Let the meat brew.

Stiff beef, how to make soft when cooking

The success of cooking soft beef depends on the proper marinade. If you soak it in advance in the marinade, it will certainly be soft. Even the toughest (old beef) can be cooked, so you lick your fingers. The key to the perfect dish is cooking meat, in the cooking process, it will certainly soften. The main thing is to follow the sequence and not rush, it may take some time.

If chicken soup is cooked quickly, beef broth loves time and slow languishing. Chefs prefer two methods of laying meat in the broth. Some are put in cold water, others in boiling water. There are plenty of disputes about this, the following is the recipe for laying meat in boiling water. If you decide to cook differently, it will not affect the taste of meat.

Required Products:

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

Cooking:

  1. Meat can be cooked in whole or cut. Before cooking, you need to rinse it, cut the veins.
  2. Boil 3-3.5 liters of water. Place the piece in the pan, cover and bring to a boil. Until the water boils, you need to monitor the meat, otherwise the broth will not be transparent.
  3. As soon as the boiling process is noticeable, the fire is reduced to a minimum, torn with a lid and cook for about an hour.
  4. Then remove the foam, wipe the side walls of the pan and continue to simmer.
  5. Put salt, spices, whole onion and peeled carrots. After 25 minutes or even earlier, the meat will be ready.
  6. The meat in this way will smell wonderful, and melt in your mouth, you can cook soup or borsch 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 spoon of flour;
  • cooking oil.

Cooking:

  1. Wash the meat, dry, cut into slices about 1 centimeter, mix with flour. Heat the oil in a cauldron, add meat there, fry until it turns brown.
  2. Peel the onion and cut into slices, add to the meat, if necessary, pour a spoonful of oil. The main thing is not to burn meat and onions.
  3. When the onion becomes transparent, add a little water to the cauldron.
  4. Meanwhile, cut the pepper into cubes, add to the goulash with tomato and hot pepper. It is pepper that gives goulash a special aroma that is not found in another dish.

  5. If necessary, add more water, boil and simmer over low heat. Cook until meat is tender. Salt and pepper to taste, before the end of cooking.
  6. If the goulash is too thick, add a little water. If rare, thicken it with flour.

How to make meat soft and juicy when frying

A reliable way to soften beef during 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 also works well. When pickling beef, it is better to refuse salt, then the meat does not give away valuable juice. After two hours of pickling, beef is ready for frying. Salted it directly in a pan or grill.

Required Products:

  • beef - 900 g;
  • onions - 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. Well, if she lay in the marinade for several hours. Beef is cut into cubes or strips.
  2. Then put chopped beef in a bowl, add chopped onion, pour pepper, add olive oil, vinegar. Put in the refrigerator to brew.
  3. Then, throw the beef into flour and quickly fry in a cauldron with butter.
  4. When the liquid evaporates, reduce the heat slightly, cover the cauldron with a lid. The meat should be fried and languished at the same time. We check readiness with a knife and fork.
  5. If, for some reason, the meat is tough, do not despair. Place it on a sheet of foil, wrap and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Soft beef skewers

Required Products:

  • beef tenderloin (fillet, neck) - 2.6 kg;
  • onions - not less than 2 kg;
  • a bunch of parsley;
  • spices for barbecue with salt;
  • coriander, provencal herbs;
  • vegetable oil;
  • 0.5 lemons;
  • 1 kiwi

Cooking:

  1. Peel the beef, wash, dry with napkins and cut into slices.
  2. We cut the onion in half rings, mix it with meat, not sparingly shake hands.
  3. Add chopped parsley, spices, oil to the meat, squeeze the lemon juice, mix well.
  4. Add the skewers 15 minutes before frying. Regarding kiwi, there is also an important point, it is added 1.5 hours before grilling kebab, otherwise the meat will not be tasty. Kiwi is peeled and finely chopped, ground with meat and sent to a cool place.
  5. To make a delicious barbecue for a short time, put it under oppression, then it will be marinated faster.

Tender meat stroganoff

Required Products:

  • 500 g fillet, beef tenderloin;
  • 2 large onions;
  • 1 pepper;
  • 250 ml (or more) of broth;
  • 2 tablespoons 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, breading in flour, pepper and paprika.
  2. Fried in oil, brown well. Add onion rings, slices of carrots and sweet pepper.
  3. Fry everything together, add the broth with tomato paste. Mix everything thoroughly, season it, season with a lid and allow the meat to sweat for half an hour.

How to make beef soft and juicy when baking

Required Products:

  • beef steak - 1.5 kg;
  • seasoning for meat — 1 packet;
  • 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 a piece of meat in foil with sprigs of rosemary, the remaining sauce is still useful.
  3. Bake for about half an hour on medium-power oven. Then you should remove the foil, pour the sauce on top and bring the meat in the oven to golden brown.
  4. Before serving, cut the meat into slices. Chilled meat is a priority, suitable for slicing and snacks.

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