Beef, one of our favorite meats in our daily lives. When the price of pork has increased significantly, many people have turned to beef, thinking that the price of beef is a little higher than that of pork, it has higher nutritional value, and it is red meat. When the price of meat has increased significantly, Eating beef is more cost-effective. People didn't give up until the price of beef also rose.
There are different varieties of beef on the market. Some people like to eat yellow beef, while others like to eat veal. The parts of beef are different, the fat is different, and the prices are naturally different. But have you ever thought about how much weight of cooked beef can be produced from one pound of raw beef? Let’s take the most common braised beef on the market as an example.
The source of raw beef is very important. Whether it is frozen beef or fresh beef will affect the price of beef and the final product. Fresh beef has less water content, so the meat yield of fresh beef is about 65%-70%. The beef sold at farmers' markets is likely to be mixed with water, which makes the meat yield of the beef only 45%-50%, which is still high.
When the store wants to make braised beef, first, the beef should be passed through water. The purpose of blanching this time is to remove blood and impurities from the beef. During the blanching process, the beef shrinks and loses weight. The original one pound of raw beef is now probably only eight taels. During the marinating process, the size of the beef will become smaller, and at this time, the weight of the beef will become lighter.
However, don’t worry there will only be a little bit of beef left in the end. Because the addition of braised soup will make the quality of beef heavier. Marinade is the key to the flavor of beef. When the beef is full of marinade and becomes salty and delicious, the proportion of marinade will replace blood. Therefore, one pound of braised beef will contain about six to seven taels of cooked beef.
In order to increase the weight of the braised beef, the store may use some tricks. How to increase the meat yield of beef? The first is to shorten the marinating time of beef, so that the water content of beef is higher and the texture of beef is softer. In order to make the beef become rotten quickly, some stores will use a pressure cooker to stew the beef in as little as half an hour. There are also some unscrupulous merchants who may use "nitrate salt", meat tenderizer powder, water-retaining agents and other products to reduce the water loss of beef and increase the meat yield.
The second is the selection of ingredients. Instead of using fresh beef, we use frozen beef. There are a lot of braised beef on the market. The beef chosen is not fresh beef, but chilled beef shank. The price of this beef itself is cheaper than fresh beef, and of course the nutritional value is also lower. After the chilled beef is thawed, the muscle fibers become loose. At this time, the beef is soaked in the stewed soup. The long soaking will make the beef absorb the soup and increase the weight. The beef will naturally produce more meat, and the profits will be greater. More.
After seeing this, I believe everyone already has some understanding of the braised beef on the market. In fact, the quality of the braised beef sold by some small vendors is difficult to guarantee. A large amount of spices are usually added to the braised beef, which masks the original flavor of the beef. If it is water-filled beef or low-quality chilled beef, you will be disappointed. Unpalatable. So when you buy braised beef, try to choose old stores.