The grill expert advises: what meat to choose and how to cook it properly Food

Grilling country meat on a barbecue may seem like a fairly simple way of preparing food. A pleasure is to stop by the barbecue on a warm night, turn the meat and socialize with friends waiting for dinner. But in reality, grilling meat requires some knowledge if you want to invite your friends over for a delicious and delicious steak or shashlik.

The first step for good grill fillet – proper meat selection.

“If you choose beef, the following parts are suitable for steaks: loin, steak, fillet, belly and some parts of ham. The fillets are safer to choose the first three parts mentioned because they will be the softest. The rest of the belly and ham will be harder, but its flavor will be more expressive. When it comes to pork, I always choose the tenderloin with bone or steak. For those who want lighter meat, I recommend chicken breast or boneless thigh meat, “advises T. Petryla, the oldest grill founder of the community in the Baltic States.

That meat can be from an old and hard animal is sometimes indicated by the color of the fat layer: it is yellowish.

For grilling, T. Petryla recommends choosing matured beef. Meat with a layer of fat should not be avoided, as the marbled meat will be softer when cooked than a lean piece. The color of the meat, when choosing beef and pork, can indicate its quality: lighter meat is better. That meat can be from an old and hard animal is sometimes indicated by the color of the fat layer: it is yellowish.

“With chicken, you are unlikely to ask. It is only worth knowing that rural chickens will be significantly more difficult than those raised for mass sale,” adds T. Petryla.

Lithuanian favorites are chicken and pork.

According to a press release, the best-selling fresh meat in Lithuania is pork neck, as it is the best option for shashlik. Last summer, there weren’t many chicken drumsticks left, but this year they were surpassed by pork ham, which was bought twice as much as in June last year.

In summer, fresh meat sales always increase, for example, last summer it was a third higher than in winter. However, this summer growth is particularly strong: the population of some types of fresh meat in the electronic store bought 2 to 3.5 times more than at the same time last year.

“We see several reasons for the growth in fresh meat sales. One of them is that Lithuanians increasingly buy fresh meat online, being able to conveniently pick it up on the way to the farm. Also this summer, when the COVID pandemic- 19 destroys vacation plans in hot countries, more people spend their holidays in Lithuania. And grilling meat is an important and favorite part of Lithuanian cuisine and spending time in nature, “says Andrius Jurgelevičius, business manager for Barbora.

Expert: And marinating meat is a time saver

Lithuania’s favorite pork and chicken are perfect for marinating: both dry and wet. When dry marinating, it is enough to rub the meat with your favorite spices or a mixture of them, herbs, onions. Meat prepared in this way should be wrapped in an adhesive film or vacuum and marinated for up to 24 hours. or even more

Currently, there is a tendency to use dry barbecue spice mixes and not worry about saving time.

“Currently, there is a trend to use dry BBQ spice mixes and not worry about yourself, to save time. They are available for both ribs and shashlik, as well as for pork or beef, to balance the flavors and this method of marinating does not take much time. The meat is seasoned with spices and fried, ”says T. Petryla of the trends.

For wet pickling You should make a marinade suitable for soy, honey, juice, vinegar, ayran or plain yogurt, mineral water, and even fruit puree mixed with a matching spice. If this marinade method is chosen, the meat should be kept in the marinade for 4 to 24 hours.

The specialist recommends trying the marinade from a mixture of spices and ayran, onion puree, salt and pepper. Such a marinade is especially suitable for barbecues.

“As for beef, you don’t need to marinate it at all; just season with salt and pepper after or before cooking, that’s all,” he says. grill Founder of the community.

How not to overcook the meat?

When grilling prepared meat, don’t panic with friends. It only takes a few minutes to prepare the beef steak. The specialist recommends using a fast-reading food thermometer and measuring the internal temperature of the meat.

A brief guide from T. Petryla will help you cook meat properly:

• Beef steak (2.5-3 cm thick) is baked on average for about 2 minutes. 200 ° C on each side. The internal temperature of the fillet should be 55 ° C.
• Pork fillets are cooked for about 8-12 minutes, every two minutes at 180 ° C. The internal temperature of the meat is 68-71 ° C, so it will remain juicy.
• To keep the chicken juicy, cook until the internal temperature rises to 74 ° C.