How to cut meat for barbecue: advice from professionals and experienced housewives. What kind of meat is better to use for barbecue: pork, beef, lamb or poultry?

Nadezhda K.
What cut of pork is best for making shish kebab?

Any picnic or vacation at the dacha is always associated with the smell of smoky kebab - juicy, aromatic, soft. But sometimes this grilled dish turns out tough or dry. Why is this so, since everything was done as usual? The basis of a good shish kebab is fresh meat from the “right” parts of pork. Which ones? How not to make a mistake when choosing? The answers are in the article.

Which part of pork is best for barbecue?

Experienced barbecue makers are unanimous in their opinion that pork neck is the best option. A simple secret lies in a large number of thin layers of fat, they help maintain the juiciness and tenderness of the pulp.

Advice. Sometimes the neck pieces are too fatty. In this case, it is recommended to remove excess fat

Of course, this is not the only one that is suitable for barbecue. The barbecue and the scapular part are “worthy”. Fat is also contained there. Only, unlike the neck, it will take longer to marinate. In addition, the shoulder pieces contain many veins that cannot be chewed. Therefore, if there is little time left before the picnic, it is advisable not to buy a spatula.

The resulting tough kebab can pretty much ruin the mood of your guests. There are also fans of shashlik made from other parts of pork. Lean tenderloin or carbonade - for those who strictly monitor a slim figure. There are practically no layers of fat there; this is a good alternative to fattier pieces.

Advice. Before dividing the tenderloin into pieces, you should remove the film - it is located on one of the sides. Otherwise the kebab will turn out tough.

How to choose fresh meat

Freshness. If pressing the meat pulp with your finger leaves a dent, the piece is not fresh.
Smell. It should not be strong, barely perceptible. An obvious rotten or sour smell indicates that the product is beginning to deteriorate.
Meat color. The young one has a pale pink color.
Fat color. It should not be yellow or gray, only white.

If you have to buy parts of pork for barbecue in a supermarket, you should take into account some of the store’s marketing “tricks”. Dates on packages sometimes change, so don’t rely on them. It is advisable to ask to open the package and smell the pulp. The color of the flesh, which appears soft pink in the display case, can also deceive. The fact is that the shop windows are illuminated with red lamps, which creates this effect.

Preparing to cook barbecue

The pieces of meat have been purchased, it’s time to start preparing for frying them on the fire or on the grill. What should be done:

Rinse the meat, carefully removing small bones and cartilage, and dirt.
If there is a film on the surface, remove it.
Remove cores if present.
Cut into pieces, mix with marinade.

There are many recipes for marinade for barbecue. You can use the classic one: vinegar, onion and pepper.

Attention! The marinade does not need to be salted, otherwise the meat pieces will lose their juiciness.

Increasingly, barbecue gurus are abandoning vinegar marinade in favor of natural ingredients, such as soy sauce, lemon or kiwi. It all depends on taste preferences. Even without being an experienced cook, you can invent your own recipe for barbecue marinade.

It is only important to understand that the main thing in it is the acid contained in the main ingredient. This can be citric acid, lactic acid in kefir, fruit acid in kiwi, etc. This is what makes the meat tender. But “overexposure” of it in the marinade can spoil the taste, “pulling out” all the juice. After frying, it, on the contrary, will become tough. So, it is important to maintain the “golden” mean. On average, kebab is marinated for 3-4 hours.

Choosing pieces of meat for barbecue is a responsible, but feasible task. If you know which cuts of pork are best for barbecue, and understand the criteria for choosing them when purchasing, the task will be completed brilliantly.

How to cook shish kebab: video

Is it possible, in principle, to cook shish kebab from beef? It was widely believed that tough and stringy beef meat was unsuitable for cooking over an open fire, in particular for shish kebab. But for several thousand years, cattle have not only produced milk, but also excellent meat for a wide range of culinary and gastronomy uses. If you show a little ingenuity, you can create a recipe for Caucasian-style beef shish kebab yourself, keeping in mind the main features of the preparation and heat treatment of this type of meat.

Beef is not cooked quickly anywhere and under any circumstances (we take, for example, fillet that has not been minced into mince). Even in the recipe for the Armenian delicacy veal chop there is no particular rush to boil it, since it is better not to do this with beef. Despite the fact that the layers of veal in this dish are beaten to a thickness of 2-3 millimeters. The result will always be the same: the meat will look more like an undercooked leather whip than food.

Choosing beef for barbecue: which part is better?

Immediately discard the thought of saving. Caucasian-style beef shashlik won’t be particularly cheap, so don’t rush to buy rump, thigh, or ribs. The best part of beef for shish kebab is the neck part and the so-called spinal entrecote (a transverse cut of the spinal bone with 2 strips of meat on the sides). If you have the opportunity to choose, it is preferable to take bull meat, veal, or cowhide (meat of a nulliparous animal). Do not take meat the color of dark granite with yellowish fat. The lighter the beef (pink), the better. Another little trick will help you recognize an old animal: the width of the rib bone of a young bull up to 2-3 years old usually does not exceed 4-5 centimeters (two fingers of an adult).

Preparing beef for barbecue

Pay attention to the peculiarities of preparing beef for Caucasian-style shish kebab. You will need a kitchen hammer, food grade plastic wrap, and a pack of new toothpicks. The meat is cut into layers (the direction does not matter) 1.5-2 centimeters thick (the thickness of your thumb). The size of the layer is comparable to the size of an adult’s hand. Covering the layer with film, beat it from the center to the edges so that after processing the layer is 0.5 centimeters thick. Never use the serrated side of the hammer, only the flat side. You can also use a rubber construction mallet for this purpose.

When the layers are ready, cut them into longitudinal strips 2-3 fingers wide. Place carefully chopped onions on a layer, add a little ground black pepper or paprika. Here you can experiment with different fillings, but remember: the mass of the filling should be no more than 50% of the mass of the meat. It is highly undesirable to add salt until the active phase of frying. Roll the layers into scrolls and secure them with toothpicks, as shown in the photo. In this state, it is advisable to keep the meat in a cool place for 1-3 hours so that some of the onion juice is absorbed into the meat.

How to fry beef shish kebab

As stated above, beef cannot tolerate fast and intense types of frying. The best temperature regime for beef kebab is considered to be simmering in a closed earthen oven, but an open standard grill will do just fine. The coals will have to smolder for at least 35-50 minutes, for which it is better to build a very strong fire using firewood from acacia, beech, oak, and hornbeam. Fruit trees and pine will not help here; you will not end up with kebab, but slightly dried meat.

You can place the pieces on skewers, or you can carefully place them on a wire rack with a clamp. Since beef does not release juice with fat when frying, it is better to monitor readiness according to a well-known sign: a piece of meat will easily break in your hands, and it should not have signs of burning.

Nadezhda K.
What cut of pork is best for making shish kebab?

Which part of pork is best for barbecue?

Advice. Sometimes the neck pieces are too fatty. In this case, it is recommended to remove excess fat

Of course, this is not the only part of the pork carcass that is suitable for barbecue. The barbecue and the scapular part are “worthy”. Fat is also contained there. Only, unlike the neck, it will take longer to marinate. In addition, the shoulder pieces contain many veins that cannot be chewed. Therefore, if there is little time left before the picnic, it is advisable not to buy a spatula.

Advice. Before dividing the tenderloin into pieces, you should remove the film - it is located on one of the sides. Otherwise the kebab will turn out tough.

How to choose fresh meat

Freshness. If pressing the meat pulp with your finger leaves a dent, the piece is not fresh.
Smell. It should not be strong, barely perceptible. An obvious rotten or sour smell indicates that the product is beginning to deteriorate.
Meat color. The young one has a pale pink color.
Fat color. It should not be yellow or gray, only white.

Preparing to cook barbecue

The pieces of meat have been purchased, it’s time to start preparing for frying them on the fire or on the grill. What should be done:

Rinse the meat, carefully removing small bones and cartilage, and dirt.
If there is a film on the surface, remove it.
Remove cores if present.
Cut into pieces, mix with marinade.

There are many recipes for marinade for barbecue. You can use the classic one: vinegar, onion and pepper.

Attention! The marinade does not need to be salted, otherwise the meat pieces will lose their juiciness.

How to cook shish kebab: video

There is an opinion that only men can make good barbecue. But it is not so. Gender has absolutely nothing to do with it. In order for such a dish to turn out truly tasty, it is necessary to correctly perform each stage of the cooking process. Particular attention should be paid to how to cut meat for kebab. There are many points in this matter that you should know about before getting started.

The process of preparing shish kebab includes several mandatory steps:

selection of main components;
grinding products (slicing);
preparing them for work (marinating);
placing the workpieces on skewers;
direct frying.

Each of them is important in its own way and requires appropriate attention. However, some believe, for example, that it is absolutely unimportant how to cut the meat for kebab. However, this process has its own subtleties.

Not every cut piece is suitable for barbecue. True professionals pay special attention to the shape of the workpiece. Ideally, the pieces will be cut into cones. This will make it easier to place them on the skewer and will further promote good frying. But before deciding how to cut meat for kebab, you need to prepare all the necessary tools for this. Typically in such cases it is required:

Sharp knife. It is desirable if it has a wide, even blade without any serrations. Tools with a grooved blade are not suitable for this.
A wooden cutting board with a special groove for collecting liquid. After all, when cutting meat, juice will definitely come out of it. It is undesirable for it to accumulate on the surface. If you don’t have one, then you can take an ordinary wooden board. In any case, you must first rinse it with cold running water. This way it will absorb less meat juice.

Having everything you need, you can safely get to work.

Main Ingredient

Before deciding how to cut meat for shish kebab, you must take into account exactly what product will be used for this. For example, it is best to choose tenderloin from beef or pork. The situation is different. Here it is better to use neck meat for barbecue. This is meat located along the ridge. You need to take exactly the part that is located in the neck area. Anything that goes lower along the back will, of course, also work. But in this case, you will have to spend extra time to cut off a large amount of fat that is located nearby. It’s better not to take the back part at all. From which it is located, the kebab will turn out dry and not juicy. You need to understand this and not make mistakes. Lamb is a completely different story. Here, of the entire carcass, only the tenderloin, loin or hind leg is suitable for making barbecue. But it’s better to save the popular spatula for another dish. When the issue with meat is finally resolved, it will be possible to proceed to the next stage.

The secret of marinating

It is known that using fresh meat does not guarantee that the kebab will turn out soft and juicy. Even inexperienced housewives know that the main product must first be subjected to additional processing. This refers to the marinating process. First you need to understand why it is needed. Here it is worth remembering your chemistry lessons. After all, it is known that meat mainly consists of proteins (elastin, collagen and reticulin). During heat treatment it partially softens. But this process works best under the influence of acid. In such an environment, the protein gradually becomes loose, which means it will be able to retain juice and turn out soft after frying. In practice, marinades prepared on the basis of:

kefir;
guilt;
mayonnaise;
vinegar;
mineral water.

Everyone chooses an option to their own taste. But most often they use a method for which it is necessary: for 1.2 kilograms of meat (for example, pork) 8 grams of sugar, 3 onions, salt, 60 grams of vinegar and any spices.

Everything is done very simply:

First, wash the pork and lightly dry it with a napkin to remove excess moisture.
Then we cut the meat into kebab, taking into account the advice of professionals regarding the shape and size of individual pieces.
The preparations must be sprinkled with spices and left for 10 minutes so that the meat can be thoroughly saturated with them.
Add chopped onion, sugar and vinegar diluted with water in a ratio of 1:2.

The meat should lie in this marinade for at least 9 hours. Only after this can you start frying.

Important details

Experienced housewives know how to properly cut meat for kebab. Beginning cooks who want to master the art of preparing this dish need to pay attention to several important points:

You should only use sharp tools. You can correctly divide the meat into pieces with a well-sharpened knife in your hands. With its help, you can easily cut off excess fat, films and tough tendons.
The workpieces must have the optimal size. Any deviations in one direction or another negatively affect the quality of the finished product.
Use the same cutting method for all types of meat. The exception is beef. Due to its long, rigid fibers, it requires an individual approach.
Remember that a kebab made from six pieces of meat is considered ideal. Practice shows that this amount is considered optimal for this dish.

If all these points are taken into account, then you don’t have to worry about the quality of the finished dish. All that remains is to follow all the rules for frying meat over an open fire.

Cutting rules

The preparation of each dish has its own subtleties. For kebab, they mainly concern the method of cutting the main product. The same question always arises here. Very often, novice cooks are interested in how to cut meat for shish kebab: lengthwise or crosswise. The answer to this question is ambiguous. It would seem that everything is clear here. Dividing into pieces must be done taking into account the bite line. Therefore, almost all types of meat intended for barbecue are cut crosswise. Then it is placed on a skewer along the fibers. This is the only way the finished product can turn out quite juicy and truly soft.

If you do the opposite, then it will be difficult to bite off a whole piece, since the meat itself will gradually shrink during the frying process. The kebab will turn out tough and tasteless. Although, using pre-marinating, the meat can be chopped in any direction. The exception to this rule is beef. It only needs to be cut across.

Piece size

In order to ultimately achieve the desired result, you also need to know what pieces to cut the meat for shish kebab. As practice shows, size plays an important role in this matter.

Experienced chefs are sure that a piece measuring 3 to 5 centimeters is considered optimal. It weighs approximately 30 grams. If you make the workpiece smaller, then when cooked over an open fire it will quickly fry and become dry. It is also undesirable to take large pieces. In the allotted time, they will not have time to properly fry from the inside and will remain raw. If you keep them on the fire a little longer, the surface layers may become heavily charred. This type of barbecue will not please anyone. In addition, you should try to keep the pieces as even as possible. Thin hanging edges will immediately burn and spoil not only the appearance, but also the taste of the finished product. Also, when chopping a whole piece, be sure to cut off the fat. Under the influence of high temperature, it will gradually shrink, releasing fat out. As a result, additional dense tissue will appear on the piece of meat, which will be difficult to chew.

Long-awaited warm days are ahead, when it’s so good to gather with friends in nature, light a fire and cook everyone’s favorite “picnic” dish - shish kebab. Cooking meat over coals is, of course, an art, but with the right approach, even a novice cook can handle it. After all, success in this business requires little: suitable meat, proper marinating and a good mood!

The main factor is, after all, the choice of meat. The quality of meat is the key to success and a guarantee that the kebab will turn out juicy, aromatic and truly tasty even in the hands of an inexperienced cook.

What kind of meat is right for cooking over charcoal? Markets and supermarkets offer “kebab meat” and “ready-made kebabs” without specifying the cuts and their culinary characteristics, while buyers can only rely on their experience and the integrity of the seller. But it’s better not to rely on luck, but to trust the professionals of MYASNOV! Our specialists carefully cut the meat, removing films, bones, and excess fat from the parts of the carcass most suitable for barbecue. You need to decide whether you want to perform the “sacrament” of preparing meat for roasting on the fire yourself, or whether you prefer to use already chopped and marinated meat. For both options, MYASNOV offers optimal solutions.

Kebab meat: full version (option for pros)

If you are an experienced cook, you know and can apply the basic principles of preparing meat, and you like to be personally involved in the entire cooking process, you will probably prefer to cut and marinate the meat yourself. MYASNOV will help you decide on the choice of a specific piece from which “smoky” masterpieces will be created.

The meat should be quite soft and tender, because cooking small pieces over coals does not involve prolonged heat exposure, which means that the meat should be ready as quickly as possible.

The meat should not be too dry - it should contain a small amount of fat, which will prevent it from drying out.

If you prefer beef kebab, MYASNOV recommends the meat of young bulls: it is juicier, cooks faster than adult beef, but has already managed to accumulate a maximum of nutrients, unlike veal. Best suited for barbecue:

The meatiest part of the carcass with a small amount of fat and tender connective tissue, excellent meat for lean barbecue;

Contains a small amount of connective tissue and requires longer marinating and cooking.

– excellent meat from the kidney part of the loin;

Tender rib meat from the front part of the loin, considered the most valuable part of the carcass in culinary terms;

– the central part of the loin, chopped crosswise with the bone;

– the most popular part for preparing lamb shish kebab.

If you like to cook and treat your loved ones with homemade kebabs, choose a suitable piece of meat at MYASNOV, cut it, marinate it - and enjoy the amazing process and result of “witchcraft” on the grill, receiving well-deserved compliments!

Kebab meat: light version(for those who save their time and for beginners)

Cutting meat for barbecue requires a certain skill, and marinating requires time and knowledge of the proportions of a good marinade. For those who do not have the opportunity or desire to perform these operations on their own, MYASNOV offers ready-made solutions: various types of meat, optimally cut and marinated.

The shish kebab pieces must be the same in size, shape and weight - our specialists have already taken care of this, who carefully cut the meat, removed excess films and fat, and then carefully cut the meat into even pieces. Only such carefully prepared pieces of meat from one “correct” part of the carcass are ideal for barbecue and will be fried evenly and at the same time.

To satisfy the diverse tastes of our customers, we have prepared three lines of kebabs from different types of meat in marinades, which include only natural ingredients:

For the keepers of traditions - kebabs of pork, lamb, poultry with marinade according to the classic recipe: onions, spices, salt, vinegar;

For lovers of variety - meat in marinades based on olive oil, herbs and various sauces;

Choose MYASNOV finished products or MYASNOV culinary cut meat to prepare your own barbecue. Let every trip to nature with MYASNOV be accompanied by a unique taste and vivid memories!