Pork is a very popular meat among us, and this is not surprising. This is a primordially Russian product, it is universal, everyone loves it, it is easy to cook. We even make kebabs from pork.

Now there is a lot of domestic pork good quality. Work in this direction has been carried out for a long time, there were problems when choosing the right breeds, determining what kind of pork we need - less or more fat, with an emphasis on lard. And although there is a lot of imported pork on the market, I think that ours is still better.

Beware, bastard

Choosing pork, in principle, is easy, the main danger: from unscrupulous manufacturers-sellers, you can accidentally buy boar meat, uncastrated wild boar. It stinks when cooked. In the meantime, raw, it is exactly the same as regular pork. You won't understand until you start frying. Therefore, experienced buyers, this was especially common back in Soviet times, went to the market with a knitting needle. They heated it with a lighter and pierced the meat - so it was possible to determine whether it was a boar or not.

No marinades and other tricks can beat off the smell of a boar. It is especially disappointing if you take a large batch, and 1 kg of a boar comes across in it - everything is spoiled. But this is more of a restaurant story.

You need to be especially careful when buying a shank, there is the greatest chance of running into a boar.

Be sure to sniff

If there is a pronounced smell of a pig - it is better not to take meat, you will not get rid of this smell when cooking, if it smells of mustiness and rot - you can get poisoned with such meat. The meat should smell neutral, nothing unpleasant or repulsive should be. Piglet generally smells like milk.

It's all about softness

When pork is selected and cooked, everyone tries to buy soft meat. But here you need to think carefully. If the pork is soft, it means that it is very fatty. If there is little fat, then the meat will be harder and denser.

Manufacturers are moving towards this pursuit of softness. For example, they marinate meat: starch, salt, water - and the meat does not change the taste, but changes the structure. And when frying from such meat, it is no longer a chop, but something strange, such as ham. You won't get any crust.

For frying or soup

The softest and fattest part - neck, they take it for a barbecue.

The spatula is also suitable for barbecue or baking.

Carbonate you need to fry, but not with thick chops, but with small medallions.

tenderloin- specific meat, not everyone likes it, it is too dense. But it is also used only for frying.

Loin on the bone, chops are made from it. In fact, this is the same carbonate, but with uncut bone.

The back part is suitable for baking, stewing.

The dangers of pink

If you choose a ham or a ham and see the pink and beautiful pork on the cut, you should know that the meat was chemically processed here. There is, for example, potassium salt. You can marinate meat in it for two hours, and then boil or bake, in which case the meat will be pink. Potassium salt in large quantities is harmful. And here everything depends on the honesty of the manufacturer, if he took not too good meat, then he marinates it in a huge amount of salt to give at least some kind of presentation. The baked ham should be gray. It doesn't look too pretty, but the taste is natural.

Yes, the taste of pork, and meat in general, has changed since Soviet Union. In the USSR, we did not have many breeds of animals, there was only one breed, which was grown for lard and for meat. They did not use much medicine, medicines, did not use compound feed. In each house there was a tank where cleaning and waste were to be drained. This is what they fed the pigs.

Now it is unprofitable even for farmers to feed animals with waste, cook something for them, boil the same potatoes. It's easier to buy feed. What should he do? Growing wheat for chickens? Then the eggs will be prohibitively expensive. And the farmer buys the same compound feed as in the factories. Of course, the meat has a different taste.

Another thing is the breed. Now they breed new meat breeds, they have less fat, completely different meat, other fibers.

Shop or Farmer

Big stores work with big manufacturers, where everything is impersonal. But a large complex also does not give a stable quality of meat.

And even large producers buy imported pork. It says on it that it is domestic, but in fact it is Hungarian. Huge holdings have the task of feeding everyone, there should be no holes in the supply, so it turns out that way.

But even turning to a small manufacturer does not guarantee you 100% quality. Because every manufacturer is different. I think you need to find yours. Search for the pork that you like and buy in one place.

It's all about central Russia. Beyond the Urals there are more small-town shops. There everything is smaller, homely, solid. Shops usually work with one manufacturer. So pork beyond the Urals and pork in the European part of Russia are completely different.

- and now I gathered my courage and decided to write the same one, but about meat. If you search the Internet, you find an illogical, albeit understandable, pattern: there are so many recipes that you won’t cook in a lifetime, and you won’t find sensible information on how to choose the right products for this recipe in the afternoon with fire. Meat is a special product that requires the right approach, and therefore, by no means considering myself an expert, I will still give a few tips that I myself follow.

Meat is not yogurt or biscuits in standard packaging, which you can pick up from the supermarket shelf without looking. If you want to buy good meat, it is best to go to the market, where it is easier to choose and the quality is often higher. Another reason not to buy meat in stores is the various dishonest tricks that are sometimes used to make the meat look more appetizing and weigh more. It’s not that they don’t do this in the market, but here you can at least look the seller in the eye.

Those of us who have not embarked on the path of vegetarianism eat meat more or less regularly. The best thing you can do in this situation is to get "your" butcher who will know you by sight, offer the best cuts, give valuable advice and order meat for you in case it is not available now. Choose a butcher who is humanly pleasing to you and who sells decent goods - and do not forget to exchange at least a couple of words with him with each purchase. The rest is a matter of patience and personal contact.

A butcher is a butcher, but it doesn’t hurt to understand meat on your own either. The color of meat is one of the main signs of its freshness: good beef should be confidently red, pork should be pinkish, veal is similar to pork, but more pink, lamb is similar to beef, but darker and more saturated.

A thin pale pink or pale red crust from the drying of meat is a completely normal phenomenon, but there should not be any extraneous shades or spots on the meat. There should be no mucus either: if you put your hand on fresh meat, it will remain almost dry.

As with fish, smell is another sure-fire guide to determining the quality of a product. We are predators, and the barely perceptible fresh smell of good meat is pleasant for us. For example, beef should smell so that you want to immediately make a tatar steak out of it or. A distinct unpleasant smell suggests that this meat is no longer the first or even the second freshness, and you should not buy it in any case. The old, proven way to sniff a piece of meat "from the inside" is to pierce it with a heated knife.

Fat, even if you intend to cut it off and throw it away, can tell a lot by its appearance. Firstly, it must be white (or creamy in the case of lamb), secondly, it must have the right consistency (beef must crumble, lamb, on the contrary, be quite dense), and thirdly, it must not have an unpleasant or rancid smell. Well, if you want to buy not only fresh, but also high-quality meat, pay attention to its “marbling”: on a cut of really good meat, you can see that fat is dispersed over its entire surface.

The same as with fish: fresh meat springs when pressed and the hole that you left with your finger is immediately smoothed out.

When buying frozen meat, pay attention to the sound it makes when tapped, the smooth cut, the bright color that appears when you put your finger on it. Defrost the meat carefully, the longer the better (eg in the refrigerator), and if it has been frozen properly, then cooked will be almost indistinguishable from chilled.

When buying this or that cut, it is good to know in what place of the carcass of the animal it is located and how many bones are in it. With this knowledge, you will not overpay for bones and will be able to correctly calculate the number of servings.

Well, we traditionally share our secrets about how you personally choose meat, where you try to buy it, what you love the most and everything else in the comments.

It seemed that an experienced housewife could not be concerned about the difference between pork and beef at all, but, nevertheless, more and more often buyers are faced with the fact that in the markets and even in catering places, these two types of meat are being replaced. Many will not pay attention to this, especially if the meat is fresh or perfectly cooked, but there are people for whom this is a matter of principle. For example, Muslims and Orthodox Jews do not accept pork in their diet, but there are many beef dishes on their menu. The inhabitants of India, on the contrary, consider the cow a sacred animal, so treating an Indian with beef is a terrible insult. Do not forget about those who are allergic to protein cow's milk. People suffering from this type of allergy are also not recommended to eat veal and beef. In these cases, it is especially important not to make a mistake with the choice of meat. Therefore, we offer some ways to distinguish pork from beef.

How to differentiate between raw pork and beef

Beef includes the meat of bulls, cows, oxen, young bulls and heifers. The word itself has the Old Russian root "beef" - that is, cattle. The color of this meat varies from bright red to burgundy. This shade of meat is due to the fact that it has a high content of iron. There is no lard in beef, and the piece itself is fibrous, hard, with many veins. The smell of young beef and veal is milky, if you get bull meat on your table, then it has a specific, even unpleasant smell.

Beef

Pork is most often pink in color, the younger the meat, the lighter the shade. Pork has a large amount of fat, most often it is white or light in color. The meat itself is smooth, the fibers are smaller when compared with beef. The smell of raw fresh pork is almost imperceptible, but at the time of cooking, such meat smells very specific.

Pork

How to differentiate between cooked pork and beef

The color of muscle tissue changes during cooking. Pork during heat treatment will acquire white shade, and beef is grey.

Pork and beef are cooked differently. Pork is rarely boiled, due to the fact that the meat is very fatty, in addition, when cooked, the fat becomes gray, becomes tough and smells unpleasant. Therefore, most often pork is fried. Beef, on the other hand, is more often boiled or stewed, as the meat is quite tough and takes a long time to cook.

If breaded meat is served in a cafe or restaurant, and at first glance it is difficult to understand what type of meat is in front of you, it is enough to make an incision. The beef will separate into fibers, and the pork will look whole and not fall apart into fibers.

Findings site

1. When raw, beef has a reddish hue and smells of milk, while pork is more often pink and almost odorless.
2. Beef is tough, with many veins, and pork is soft tender meat.
3. Pork has fatty layers, but beef does not.
4. During heat treatment, pork becomes white, and beef becomes gray.
5. Beef is fibrous meat, while pork is smooth.
6. When cutting a piece that has already been prepared, the beef can be divided into fibers, and the pork will be divided into a whole piece.

How often do we choose products based on real knowledge? How to distinguish a quality product from a low-quality one? If you often ask yourself these questions, the advice of experts on how to choose meat, what to look for and how to distinguish spoiled meat will be very useful.

What is meat?

The basis of the product is muscle tissue - the muscles of the animal, in addition, these are the remains of blood, blood vessels, nerves and ligaments. When making a purchase, you need to know exactly how to distinguish a benign product, because only fresh frozen or chilled meat is balanced in composition and does not contain harmful microorganisms that can affect the human body.

Meat is considered one of the basic food products. This is the main source of protein, iron and B vitamins. The taste and aroma of freshly cooked meat dishes, as well as the extractives contained in it, are the strongest stimulus for the production of gastric juice.

What is meat, classification

By type

The meat of different animals differs in color, texture, content nutrients and in terms of taste. This classification will tell you how to choose meat with the properties you need.

Beef is obtained from an adult, older than 3 months, cattle. It has a dense texture and bright red color, contains relatively little fat, and is rich in iron. "Young" beef is called veal. It is softer than beef, the color of the meat is lighter, the fat content is lower.

Pork is usually obtained from animals between 8 and 10 months of age. It is soft, contains a lot of fat and wide layers of fat. The younger the animal and, accordingly, the smaller its weight, the lower the fat content of the product.

Lamb is obtained from castrated rams, not older than 1.5 years or sheep, not older than 3 years. It is quite hard, has a specific smell. If you are thinking about how to choose the most environmentally friendly meat, you should pay attention to lamb.

Turkey and chicken meat is soft, lean, has a light pink color and a thin layer of subcutaneous fat. The smell of turkey meat and waterfowl is specific. Goose and duck are dark red in color, lean in themselves, but separated from the skin by a thick layer of subcutaneous fat.

Thinking about how to choose a meat product that the best way suitable for taste and nutritional properties, it is worth considering the above classification.

This classification is based on the time elapsed since the cutting of the carcass and storage conditions.

1. Paired meat is called animal meat within 3 hours after cutting the carcass. It is not recommended to use it directly for cooking, as it is tough and may have a specific unpleasant odor.
2. Fresh meat is called cooled during the first days after cutting. If during this time it has not been sold or cooked, it must be frozen or refrigerated.
3. Cooled at a temperature of 0 to 4 degrees, it can be stored up to 2 days after cutting. Two words about how to choose such meat: pay attention to its surface. If it is wet, there is a chance that it is not chilled at all, but thawed frozen.
4. Frozen meat at a temperature of - 30 - 40 degrees, the product can be stored under appropriate conditions for a long time. If you are interested in how to choose meat for long-term storage, then this is the right option.

Depending on the form of sale, meat products are divided into bulk and packaged. After the slaughter of the animal, the carcass is cut in accordance with veterinary rules for sanitary control by specialists. After receiving the appropriate permit certificate, the carcass is divided into smaller pieces for retail sale.

• The loose product is laid out on the counter in open form therefore, it is easier for the buyer to assess the color of the meat, its smell and texture. That is why, according to the advice of Howbaycell specialists, it is right to choose this particular form.
• Packing allows you to see only the color, texture and smell of meat cannot be assessed. In this case, you should pay attention to the date of packaging and the presence of smudges inside, this will help to distinguish spoiled meat.

According to the advice of the Howbaisell experts, to determine freshness, you need to evaluate appearance, color and smell of meat. To buy, choose a piece that is completely dry to the touch. If you pick it up from the surface on which it lay, there should be no wet traces under it. Excess moisture can be a sign of spoilage of the product or that it has undergone chemical treatment - injection.

The color of the meat depends on its type according to the above classification, but in general varies from pale pink to dark red. Grey, dark brown or uneven coloration of the fiber is a sign of infected meat.

Fresh meat, cooled or chilled, has a subtle, subtle characteristic aroma. A product with a sharp foreign odor should not be chosen, most likely it is infected meat.

Assessing the condition of a frozen product is more difficult, so it is better to choose chilled than frozen meat. How buy sell recommends paying attention to the color of the ice crystals inside the package. If the freezing was carried out correctly, the ice is transparent. The red or pink color of the crystals indicates thawing and re-freezing. Would you like to learn how to select frozen meat by smell? It is necessary to pierce a small piece with a heated knife. If it is spoiled meat, an unpleasant odor will appear.

Howbuysell specialists draw attention to the fact that not only the color of the meat matters, but also the shade of the fat layer. Fresh or chilled beef has a bright red color with white fatty layers. With prolonged storage, it darkens, and the fat acquires a yellowish tint. Veal is usually pale pink in color with white fat. Pork has a pink-red color, lard is colored evenly along the entire layer in white or cream color. The meat of a young ram is bright red, of an older animal - red-brown. Lamb fat is white or yellow. Chicken and turkey are pale pink in color. Fat in a young bird white color, and the old one is yellow. In waterfowl, the meat is dark red, the fat layer is much thicker and has a yellowish tint.

There are signs by which you can accurately distinguish a damaged product. Haubisell recommends that you refuse to purchase if at least one of the following defects has been identified:

1. Gray color means that the product has been exposed to heating above the temperature established by the current standards, it can be dangerous;
2. The appearance of mucus on the surface, excess moisture or cloudy juice indicate a bacterial infection;
3. Uneven fiber coloration, gray or burgundy spots, as well as blood clots indicate non-compliance with the storage and processing conditions of the product;
4. The pinkish color of the fat indicates that the meat has been soaked in a potassium permanganate solution to eliminate signs of spoilage;
5. The uneven blurry edge is the result of soaking in a vinegar solution to increase shelf life and eliminate odor.

If you don't know how to choose the right chilled meat, Howbuycell suggests the following procedure:

1. We examine the proposed product from all sides, select a piece with a dry, matte, evenly colored surface without excess moisture.
2. Lightly press on the surface of the selected piece, the dent should straighten out immediately. There should be no traces of moisture on the palm.
3. Blot the meat with a napkin, while the paper should not leave traces of moisture or blood.
4. Please cut a piece. We choose meat of uniform color with a small amount of transparent juice.
5. We take a small piece on a fork and smell it. You should smell a slight smell of fresh meat.

And the last rule of choice: in order to fully verify the good quality of the product, conduct a “cooking test”. To do this, you need to cook the broth from a small piece of meat. If the choice was made correctly, it will be transparent, light in color, with large yellowish particles of fat.