Have you ever taken a bite of overcooked chicken or steak? You probably remember the bite because it isn’t pleasant eating poorly cooked meat. In most dishes, whether or not the meat is cooked right can make or break the dish, but in order to make the dish there are three key things to understand about the meat.
WHAT IS THE STAR OF YOUR DISH?
By pinpointing the start of your dish, you can determine how to choose the proper meat and cook it accordingly. For example, if you are making grilled steaks you probably want to a better cut of steak so that the steak shines. Although, if you were making something like stuffed bell peppers filled with chicken the chicken isn’t necessarily the start of the dish. I would be more worried about the stuffing as a whole and properly cooking the bell pepper. Overall, understanding what needs to shine in the dish in order to make it taste good is important because then you can choose and cook your choice of meat accordingly.
KNOW THE GRADE
There are eight different quality grades of meat: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Cutter & Canner. The grade of meat is based on the degree of marbling, or intramuscular fat, in the beef, and the maturity, or estimated age of the animal at the time of slaughter. Not every grade is sold at every grocery store. This means that sometimes it is harder to find nicer cuts of meat. There are also lots of videos on the internet about specific places and grocery stores where they recommend you should not be meat. One of the places that most people suggest to steer clear of when buying meat is Walmart. This is mainly because over the years Walmart has had a number of issues when it comes to the quality and safety of their fresh meat, especially the ground meat like hamburger. When it comes to meat, especially steaks, I tend to buy from Costco because their have nicer cuts of meat and have prime and choice quality grades of meat to choose from. At the end of the day understanding what time of meat you are buying will help add to the flavor profile of your dish.
TAKE TIME TO COOK THE MEAT PROPERLY
Depending on what dish you are cooking, the star of meat, and how much time you have will determine how you will want to cook the meat. Since the instant pot has come out that has been a popular way for people to cook dishes faster than using a crockpot. Also, a more recent technique that has become popular is sous-viding your meat which is cooking your meat in water until it gets to the desired temperature you want. You can also bake, grill, or sear your meat depending on what kind of flavor you want to give the meat. If you are having a barbeque or want more of a smoked flavor to your food you would probably use a grill. If you want your meat to stay tender you may consider using a sous-vide or a crockpot depending if you want the meat to be shredded or in one piece. Understanding the different techniques and how much time they take will help you determine which method to use to cook your meat properly for the dish.
If you are a more versed cook in the kitchen then this may already be common knowledge or second nature for you, but understanding your meat no matter what level chef you are will improve your dish more than you think. I encourage you all to keep these key things in mind the next time you are making a dish with meat. Comment below your experiences with cooking meat and what has helped you perfect your dishes!
Foodie 101 