Useful tips
Contents:
How to choose meat for barbecue?
Which meat is better for kebabs?
How much meat per barbecue?
How to cut meat for barbecue?
How to marinate meat for barbecue? Kebab marinade recipes
How to cook the right kebab meat?
Meat is usually the main dish cooked on the grill, and picnics are often arranged for the main purpose of eating kebabs. To make your kebab perfect, you need to choose the right meat for it, cut it correctly, marinate it and cook it.
If you are not a kebab professional, our tips will help you not to be disappointed.
How to choose meat for barbecue?
Traditional kebab is made from pork or lamb, but some kebab lovers do not always know how to choose it correctly. After all, it's so disappointing if the kebab turns out to be tough, fatty or sinewy, although it would seem that the meat looked quite decent!
– Do not buy frozen meat from the store, as there is a high risk that you will not get what you need. Moreover, fresh meat is much more delicious. If you have a good piece of frozen meat in the freezer, you can slowly defrost it, marinate it and cook it, but if it has not been frozen several times.
– Before buying, inspect the meat carefully and make sure that it has not been thawed: it has no traces of snow, bloody stains, and does not form a puddle of water under it.
– The color of the meat should be light and by no means dark red, this may be a sign that the meat is old and tough. Bright red meat may indicate the use of dye. Also, the meat should be glossy, not matte.
– Smell the meat, its smell should be completely neutral and not harsh. If you experience discomfort, stop buying right away, probably the meat is not very fresh.
– For pork kebab, choose the neck area. Ask the seller to give you exactly this part. Unfortunately, if your eyes are not clear, you cannot always distinguish your neck from some other parts of the mascara, so rely on the seller's honesty or contact only a trusted butcher.
– Pork neck usually has veins and fat strips – that's it! However, they must be thin. Do not take meat without layers of fat at all – there is a risk that the kebab will be dry. The secret is that a thin layer of fat melts during cooking.
– The meat must be elastic and not stick to your hands; when pressed, a hole should not form.
– There are usually no problems with chicken meat, but you should make sure that the chicken is fresh and not thawed. By the way, it is very easy to determine the freshness of chicken meat by smell: fresh chicken should not smell anything at all, and one that has been in the refrigerator for several days or has just been thawed acquires a smell that gets worse over time.
Which meat is better for kebabs?
Which meat to choose for cooking kebabs depends on your preferences and wallet. Pork, lamb and veal are usually not the cheapest options, but chicken is cheaper and equally tasty if cooked properly.
Meat, of course, should be fresh, but not steamed, as it is known that it should lie down for a while under the right conditions. Remember that fresh meat is usually much tougher than lean meat.
The most traditional meat for shish kebab is pork. If you're not on a diet and your religious beliefs allow you to eat pork, then why not choose this meat? Young pork is very tender, and the right piece will be low-fat, but not dry either.
What's more, pork meat is delicious even when it's cold. You should choose the neck area or tenderloin, these areas of the pig carcass do not move much during the animal's lifetime, so they are more tender and tasty. A good pork neck for barbecue looks like this:
Lamb is an expensive and very specific meat that is not always tasty, and sometimes may have an unpleasant specific smell that not everyone can tolerate.
If you are convinced that you got the right piece of a young animal, then you can safely cook it. This meat is not particularly tasty when it cools down, so it should be eaten right after cooking. They usually take the back leg, ribs or loin of a young lamb.
Beef. For kebabs, it is best to use calf meat, as the meat of an adult cow is quite tough and can ruin your whole table. Veal is a dietary meat, so it is ideal for those who are afraid to gain weight and look after their figure. The best pieces for kebab are usually loin and tenderloin.
A chicken. Usually, fatty parts are used to make chicken kebab: legs, legs, hips, wings. You can also use brisket, but it is not very fat, so it may turn out to be dry. To prevent this from happening, pieces of meat are wrapped in thin bacon, strung on skewers and thus fried. The same applies to turkey meat.
Delicious kebabs are obtained from quail meat. These little birds taste a bit like chicken, but they have their own special and unique taste. To make quail kebabs, you can put them on skewers, fry them whole on racks, fill them with dried apricots, rice and raisins, or cut the carcasses on one side and spread them on the racks. It should be remembered that tender poultry meat is cooked very quickly, so it is important not to overexpose it!
Rabbit meat. Rabbit meat is highly valued, it is not always easy to get it, but if you still succeed, try to make a kebab out of it, you will not regret it. First of all, rabbit meat is valued for its delicate taste and dietary properties of meat. Portions are marinated like any other meat, with seasonings and onions, then fried on a grill. You can put pieces on skewers, or you can fry the whole carcass.
How much meat per barbecue?
Many people who want to cook barbecue outdoors, especially if they rarely do it, wonder how much meat they should take to have enough for everyone. Of course, it's better to take a little more meat and be sure that no one will be hungry.
On average, they take 300 grams of raw meat per person, but this is only if you have many other snacks and side dishes, including mushrooms and potatoes. If, in addition to meat, there are only light vegetables, then it is better to take more — 500 grams per person.
This is an average when the company has women and children, but if it is a purely male company that also takes a lot of alcohol with it, the amount of meat is likely to increase, because alcohol usually requires more food.
How to cut meat for barbecue?
Pork, lamb or veal meat should be cut into medium pieces, the size of which can be determined by placing the piece completely in the palm of your hand. On average, each piece should be 5 by 5 centimeters.
When you put the meat on the skewer, make sure it doesn't fall off it. If the piece is too big, it won't fit in the palm of your hand. Moreover, large pieces will be poorly baked, and too small pieces will be dry.
Chicken is often bought already cut – chicken legs, wings, white meat separately. If you are making white meat skewers, they should be cut into square pieces about 4 by 4 centimeters in size.
One of the options for cutting chicken. The red ropes show the cut points.
The rabbit can be cut into portions as follows:
Or you can bake the whole thing on the grill:
You do not need to cut quails, but you can cut them along the breast and spread them upside down:
If you have several pieces of meat, which, in your opinion, will not be the best kebab, it does not matter. You can use them to make kebab kebab, also called lula kebab.
This oriental dish is grilled. The meat for him must be passed through a meat grinder, and then minced meat should be made, as for cutlets (with the exception of eggs and bread).
Place the minced meat on a skewer about 5 centimeters in diameter and then fry over the coals like a regular kebab.
How to marinate meat for barbecue? Marinade recipes for kebabs
There are a lot of kebab recipes, it all depends on individual preferences. Often they use those seasonings that are at hand, but thyme, bay leaf, rosemary are most well combined with kebab. All recipes contain onions. There are several classic methods for marinating pork for barbecue:
– In kefir: this method is ideal for kebabs that need to be marinated quickly before cooking. About 0.5 liters of ordinary kefir are used for 1.5-2 kg of meat. Kefir quickly softens and penetrates meat, so if you keep the meat in this marinade for too long (overnight, for example), it will become sour. Marinate meat in kefir for no more than 4 hours. By the way, for a quick marinade, it is better to grate the onion, rather than cut it into rings.
The recipe:
Cut 1.5 kg of pork neck into medium pieces, add 500 ml of kefir, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, 5 medium onions cut into thick rings, salt, chili pepper (to taste), 2 tablespoons curry seasonings. Mix everything, leave to marinate for 2-4 hours, preferably in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator.
– In vinegar: some kebab lovers have long abandoned this method of marinade, believing that vinegar spoils the taste of kebabs. However, vinegar gives meat a peculiar taste when added sparingly along with seasonings. You can marinate kebabs in vinegar all night long.
The recipe:
Rinse and dried pieces of meat with pepper and salt, put them in a bowl. Place onion, chopped parsley, cilantro between the layers of meat. Pour the layers evenly during laying with vinegar diluted in water in a ratio of 1 to 1. Meat should not float in water. Leave to marinate for 10-12 hours.
– In mayonnaise: this is one of the most popular marinade methods. Marinated meat in mayonnaise can lie for about a day, while its taste will become even more intense.
The recipe:
For 1 kg of pork, take 200 grams of your favorite mayonnaise, preferably with a pronounced taste. Add a few spoons of barbecue spices, 3 heads of onions cut into rings, a couple of tablespoons of mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything thoroughly and leave to marinate overnight.
– In beer: Beer will also help you marinate kebab quickly — in 3-4 hours, giving it a peculiar beer flavor. For beer lovers, that's it.
The recipe:
Take 1.5 kg of meat divided into pieces, fill with a bottle of light beer (0.5 ml), mix with onion rings (3 heads), crushed garlic (7 cloves), 3 bay leaves, 1 tea a spoonful of dry rosemary, 1 teaspoon of peppercorns, 1/3 cup of olive oil, salt. During frying, you need to water the meat with this liquid marinade.
– In wine: Sometimes kebabs are marinated in dry red wine. This gives the meat a peculiar wine taste and dark burgundy color. Not everyone likes this marinade, so if you are making it for the first time, it's best to make a small batch for testing first. You can use white wine instead of red wine.
The recipe:
For 2 kg of kebab, take 0.5 ml of dry red wine, 5 onions, a teaspoon of sage, thyme, parsley, and 1 grated apple. Stir everything and leave to marinate overnight (10-12 hours).
How to cook the right meat for barbecue?
– After you have filled the meat with the marinade, cover the pan and place something heavy on top. This will allow you to press down the meat; it will better absorb the marinade. If the meat is marinated at night, it is best to put it in the refrigerator. For a quick marinade, you do not need to refrigerate. Before frying, it is better not only to stir the meat, but to mash it very actively with your hands for 10-20 minutes.
– For grilling, it is recommended to take ready-made grilled coals (but not coal) or firewood from trees such as birch, aspen, oak and other deciduous trees. Coniferous wood contains a lot of aromatic essential oils and resins that can ruin the taste of the dish.
– Place pieces of meat on skewers not too close to each other, but not too far away; onion rings or sliced vegetables can be placed between the pieces.
– To prevent the meat from burning too much, coat the pieces with vegetable oil before putting it to fry.
– When cooking kebab, you can't move away from it! This is an important rule that is often ignored. You must constantly ensure that the tongues of the bursting flame do not burn the meat, otherwise it will burn from above and remain raw inside. To do this, there must be a container with water or a drink (maybe wine or beer) or a liquid marinade at the ready to extinguish the flame. Coals should smolder, not burn.
– You can check the readiness of the kebab with a knife. The finished meat won't have blood inside. However, a kebab with blood also has a right to exist; there are lovers of half-baked meat.
– Before serving, do not immediately cut the meat off the skewers and cut it, wait 5 minutes after removing it from the heat, covering the kebab with a bag. Then the meat will be more juicy.