I really like to tell you the tricks I have learned over the years, especially if they can serve to save you from the mistakes that I have made and that I no longer usually make. If a few months ago I told you about the mistakes that I no longer make when making homemade pizza, today I want to show you the eight mistakes that I no longer make when cooking grilled meat.
The first thing, as obvious as it may seem, is to buy quality meat, and of course, have properly preserved it until the moment of cooking it, well wrapped and well chilled. Now comes the time to know what to do to take advantage of this delicious product and make it a source of joy and enjoyment.
Eight mistakes I no longer make when cooking meat
These are the eight things that one day I did wrong and that I never forget so that when I cook grilled or grilled meat at home, it always turns out perfect and just right.
1. Fry without tempering the meat
It is a very common mistake. We buy the meat and leave it in the refrigerator and when we want to cook it, we take it out and transfer it from the tray to the pan. This sudden change in temperature It doesn’t help the meat to be tender and is as easy to avoid as taking the meat out of the refrigerator and letting it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking.
2. Do not preheat the pan
This is another very common mistake. We put the pan on the induction hob, ceramic hob or gas stove, turn on the heat and put the meat on top. If you do it this way, you will be cooking the meat over very low heat during the first minutes and you will not get a golden crust on the surface of the piece, thanks to the Maillard reactions that caramelize the sugars in the meat but rather a gray and cooked meat.
It is essential to put the frying pan, grill or griddle at heat for two or three minutesfirst over low heat and then over high heat adding a little oil, before placing the meat on its surface.
3. Have the meat moist when cooking it
It is another of the easiest mistakes to avoid. If the meat is wet from its juices or packagingits surface will not come into direct contact with the pan or grill and instead of starting to brown, what will happen is that will start to cookwith a very different result in its appearance, texture and flavor.
It is solved by drying it with a few strokes of absorbent kitchen paper and it is perfect to undergo your heat treatment in less than a minute. The result is totally different if you do it like this.
4. Pinch and spin continuously
It is a classic for those who don’t know how to cook. They are noticed immediately since they are usually continually spinning to the pieces of meat, and above all using a fork or a sharp instrument to do so, stabbing them again and again and making holes through which the juices escape.
The ideal is use tweezers so as not to pierce the outer surface of the meat and turn it only once, when one side has been cooked to make the other. Plus, if you try to turn a meat on the grill too soon, it’s easy for it to stick or tear.
5. Cook very quickly or over very high heat
If you cook the meat over very high heat, it will not be uniform, there will be burnt areas and other raw areas inside. It is preferable to have the frying pan, grill or carmela very hot and cook at mid firegiving the meat its time so that it is cooked to the desired doneness, but uniformly.
6. Overcook meat or leave it raw?
Overcooking meat is a mistake that has no remedy, so always remember that It is better to leave the steak a little raw. or to the point and that everyone can then cook it to their liking, rather than overdoing it when cooking the meat, which is hopeless. In the image you can see undercooked portions of meat that can be solved without difficulty by serving them on a hot refractory plate or by passing them round and round on the grill to the taste of each diner. Besides, many of us like very rare meat better…
7. Using salt incorrectly
Know how to use salt It’s a delicate topic with meat recipes. When cooking large pieces on the grill we usually use abundant coarse salt to make the juices “rise”, as in the txuleta in the photo, while the other side is cooking. However, in thinner pieces such as a fillet or entrecote it is usually advisable to add fine or flake salt. after cooking the meatto prevent it from releasing too many juices and leaving it dry.
8. Use the same board to cut the meat as the garnish
This is the most important error that you have to take into account, due to the risks of cross contamination. Never use the same board to let meat temper. -or give some cuts to the nerves or areas of exterior fat- and then chop a tomato or lettuce for the garnish.
Keep in mind that the meat will be cooked later, but You are going to eat the garnish raw and if bacteria transfer from the meat to the lettuce or tomato occurs, you will ingest them. That is why it is very important to remember that the meat board is used and washed immediately and that to chop the vegetables that you are going to use as an accompaniment, You should always use a different table.
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*Some prices may have changed since the last review
If you take these into account Eight mistakes that I never make when cooking meat, and you avoid falling into them, your meat recipes will improve a lot. Remember to take them into account when you are going to cook a tasty piece of meat to avoid the disappointment of having bought a good meat and then not getting the most out of it.
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Images | Pakus and Pixabay.com