How to distinguish high-quality fresh meat

Many people perceive fresh meat as a very tasty and satisfying product. On the basis of it, you can prepare a lot of various and very appetizing dishes. However, you need to choose the right way when buying meat. After all, only high-quality meat can meet all your expectations. At the same time, many people try to buy meat as little as possible. And this is not due to the goals of economy or taste preferences.

It's just that we all have heard a lot about the tricks that sellers can resort to in order to "foist" a customer on a low-quality product.

Beef

Meanwhile, not everyone knows how to choose the right meat. When it comes to veal meat, then you need to take into account the following notes. Fresh veal will have a reddish pink tint. The consistency of the meat itself should be very tender, and the pieces should not be too large. The beef will be much darker. Moreover, if you poke a piece of beef with a special fork, you will feel that the meat is quite tough.

It should also have a large number of tendons. Compared to veal, beef cuts are more significant in size. Veal quality is determined according to the following criteria. Good meat should have a predominantly grainy texture. If it contains fatty layers, then they must be white. However, the fat itself should not stick, and its consistency will have a significant density.

Outwardly, the meat should look a little dry. If juice is released after cutting the pieces, then it must be transparent. If you press your finger on a piece of meat, then the dent should quickly disappear, while your finger should remain completely dry. In the cut area, the meat should be firm in consistency and slightly elastic. It is permissible for the meat to be slightly damp, but not sticky. A sourish sweet smell must certainly come from the meat piece. If the veal meat has been frozen, a distinct sound should be heard when one of the hard objects is tapped on the piece. The fact that the veal is somewhat spoiled will be indicated by such signs. In some places the meat will be moist and sticky.

The color cast will also change and be dark or brownish gray. The surface of the meat piece will be excessively dry. Tendons present on the cut will form a lot of stains if the piece is applied to the filter paper. And the tendons themselves will acquire excessive moisture. The fat in the meat will turn bright yellow instead of a distinct white. At the same time, the meat piece will emit an unpleasant smell with bitterness. If you press on such a piece with your finger, then the dent will disappear only after a minute.

Pork

Pork meat you need to choose, guided by the following standards. Fresh meat is much lighter in color than a stale piece.

Such signs will tell about the quality of pork. Fresh pork will be pale pink in color. By its consistency, it will be soft and tender. It will also be distinguished by a fine-grained structure, in which the fat layer will be clearly visible in the section. The fat itself will also be pale pink or white. When cut, the meat should have a slight moisture content. However, it should not stick. The cut consistency is also dense and elastic. As in the case of veal, the dents formed by pressing down will quickly disappear.

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Pork meat will have a characteristic smell for such an animal. Signs of already spoiled pork boil down to the following. In some places, the meat will be wet and slightly sticky. Also, these areas will be darker than others and their surface is very dry.In the area of ​​the incision, the tendons will also be moist and will definitely leave characteristic marks on the paper. In this case, dents will disappear for a long time. The pork meat itself will acquire a sour, musty smell with tints of rottenness. A pig carcass can be divided into nine parts.

All parts can be attributed to two main grades. The first grade of such meat will include tenderloin, which is the flesh of one of the hind legs, brisket, part of the lower back with flank, shoulder and ham, loin, shank and the second shank, tanks with a neck cut.

Bird

Poultry should be selected according to the following parameters. The age of the individual itself is easily determined by the number of spurs on the paws. A six-month-old rooster will have a spur in the form of a soft, small protrusion.

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If the bird is about a year old, then the spur will be hard with bone inside up to two centimeters long. If the chicken is old, then its paws will be covered with rough scales of rather large sizes. The skin itself will be rough and contain small calcareous build-ups. A young hen will be distinguished by a cartilaginous breast bone. It should be flexible and easy to bend. If the chicken is very old, then this bone will be very hard. Chicken and turkey meat is quite light, just like ducks and geese. The quality of a bird can be determined by such criteria. A fresh bird will have very prominent eyes and a prominent beak. The surface of the carcass itself should be white or yellowish in color with a slight red tint and slightly dry. If fat is present, it should have a slightly visible yellow tint. The meat should be slightly moist when cut.

If the carcasses of birds have been frozen, then they should make a characteristic clear sound when tapped. The fact that the bird is rotten can be guessed by such signs. The beak will not have any gloss, and the eyes will lose their bulge and sink. There will be moisture in some places on the surface of the carcass. They will also be significantly sticky. In the cut, the chicken muscle will have less firmness and elasticity than fresh chicken. The carcass itself will give off a stale and musty smell.

Mutton

Quality lamb meat is determined by the following properties. If the meat is young, then it will be light and tender, and its color is red. But the color can have different shades, which is determined by the age of the ram. The consistency of the meat will be coarse. The layers of fat will be white and firm. In the area of ​​the cut, the meat will be distinguished by increased elasticity, density, but it will not leave stains on the paper.

The juice flowing out of a piece of meat will be transparent. The meat itself will produce a characteristic mutton smell. If the meat has been frozen, then it will lose its elasticity, and in consistency it will resemble dough. In spoiled mutton, the meat is sticky, the fat layers are yellow, and the muscles in the cut area are moist. But at the same time, such a piece will also not leave traces on the filter paper. In some areas the surface will have excessive moisture, dark spots and a very dry skin. A piece of such meat itself will have a characteristic musty, putrid and rotten taste. Thanks to these tips and tricks, you can feed your family exclusively with fresh meat and delicious dishes based on it.

Alexey Viktorovich

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