Beef Recipes & Low-Fat Cooking Tips

Low-Fat Cooking Tips for Beef

Don't be intimidated by the thought of cooking a big chunk of beef. Once you have the fundamentals of beef structure and how these different cuts of meat are cooked, you can maximize the flavor extraction and juiciness.

Beef Tenderness Varies Depends on Collagen

The tenderness or toughness of the cut determined by the muscle's exercise frequency of the animal. Therefore, cuts takes from the limbs and neck tend to be tougher than the cuts near the backbone and in the centre of beef such as rib, plate, and loin. Once you have a little insight into this, then you will have an idea whether to apply wet or dry heat to cook these different cuts of meat.

How to Select and Buy Beef?

Know your local butcher to get good quality beef cuts and affordable USDA grade of your choice - Prime, Choice, Select, in descending order. Pay attention to beef texture and color, look for fine grained cuts in a light cherry red color (avoid deep red) and the flesh is firm to the touch. If you're looking for rich flavor and tender texture, then Prime cut with marbling (threads of fat cutting through the meat) is your choice. For lean pork with least amount of marbling (mostly Select grade), you will pay less but you get a tougher flesh and less flavor cuts. For healthy low-fat cooking, why not spend a little bit more and buy Choice, then trim off a thin rim of fat around the edge of the meat. At least, you won't get your waistline increased and sacrifice the taste and juiciness of the cooked meat.

How to Select Cooking Method for Beef?

Tougher cuts of meat such as shank, rump or round roasts require a longer cooking time in order to melt the collagen into gelatin. These cuts of beef which we primarily find in stews and soups, are benefit from wet heat cooking method (moist cooking) such as braising, stewing, poaching, steaming and slow cooking. On the contrary, tender cuts of beef from the loin and rib require fast, high temperatures and dry heat cooking method such as grilling, broiling, roasting, sautéing, stir-frying and deep frying. Without collagen, quick cooking at high heat retains moisture & juiciness of the loin and rib in addition to nice exterior crust. Another cooking aspect should bear in mind is degrees of doneness. It depends on the tenderness or toughness of the meat - tougher cuts always require lesser degrees of doneness.

Beef Marinades for Adding Flavor

To enhance the flavor and increase the tenderness, you can marinate meats before cooking. Never have the misconception that marinades will tenderize the meat, in fact it doesn't! Instead marinades contain acids that help to denature the proteins (break protein bonds). Therefore, apply an appropriate cooking method is essential to have a balance point of minimizing the moisture loss and cooking long enough to melt collagen. If grilling is desired, then dry rubs are best to infuse flavor, just imagine the crisp crust on the exterior of a grilled steak.

More About Beef > Cuts of Beef, Marbling & Aging, Beef Grades, Buying & Storing Tips, Special Types of Beef

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