In the post-Soviet space, beef stew still retains its relevance as one of the main foods, the speed and quality of which in the preparation of dishes does not require comment. To date (the beginning of 2016), the process of preparing this canned meat is relevant mainly for farms, to a lesser extent - in urban conditions.
What is beef stew?
Canned products are prepared specifically for long-term (for a period of more than two to three years) storage.
Methods by which the preservation effect is achieved are sterilization (pasteurization is less common) and hermetic closure. It should be noted the addition of preservatives, such as salt and granulated sugar - these are natural substances, and chemical - under their influence, chemical reactions occur in the product, affecting the final safety of the product.
Pasteurization is carried out at temperatures from 80 to 100 degrees. Sterilization is carried out at temperatures from 100 to 120 degrees, respectively, at a pressure above atmospheric. Sterilization allows you to get rid of almost all vegetative and spore microorganisms.
Beef stew at home
There are several ways to preserve this product. Beef stew is most easily cooked in a pressure cooker (or slow cooker): 150 grams of fat, 12 grams of salt (a teaspoon with a hill), and a half gram of black pepper (half a teaspoon) are needed per kilogram of meat without bones. Fat can be beef or pork. If the beef is fat, you can take pork fat in a smaller amount.
Pour water into a pressure cooker (multicooker): 1 glass of meat per 1 kg of meat. During the quenching process (2 hours at a temperature of 100 degrees), the water boils out, very little liquid remains - this is enough to tightly put the canned food in a jar.
The meat must be cut into pieces weighing up to 30 grams, in which case the stew will be short in time, and the transfer of the stew will be easy.
Transfer the meat from a pressure cooker (multicooker) into carefully washed and sterilized jars (it is better to heat them in the oven), roll the lids (boil them before doing this for ten minutes). Leave to cool, transfer to a cold place with a stable temperature (cellar).
Beef stew from meat of animals older than 4 years (dark red meat) is cooked longer for about an hour, from veal - less than half an hour.
Beef stew: a recipe for cooking in jars
The meat must be cut into pieces (30 grams), stewed for half an hour in fat in a deep stewpan (can be in a chicken bowl) with the lid closed, making sure that the pieces of meat do not burn.
Put meat tightly in sterilized jars on the shoulders (you can slightly higher), add salt, 1 teaspoon without a slide, to a half-liter jar, pepper five peas, one bay leaf, onion (on a jar no more than a quarter of a small onion ) Put filled cans in a pressure cooker on a stand (up to four cans are included in a five-liter pressure cooker), carefully pour water into the container. Water should not reach the neck of the cans, because when boiling, it can get into them. On top of each jar is tightly covered with foil so that there is no spray of fat.
Spices and onions are best placed on the bottom of the jar, and salt on the meat.
Attention! Do not put cans on the bottom of a pressure cooker without a stand. Banks will burst!
It is necessary to stew meat for more than two (usually 2.5) hours: before boiling - on high heat, then on the weakest, making sure that the steam comes out in a steady stream.
Leave the pressure cooker to cool for 30 minutes, then gently open the lid, take out the cans, roll up the lids (boil them before doing this for ten minutes). Leave to cool, transfer to a cold room.
How to choose stew in the store?
For the preparation of 325 grams of GOST premium stew (tin can), approximately 180 grams of beef is required. You can always calculate how much it costs. In the context of the inflationary process in the country, talking about the cost of products is useless - it changes too quickly. To date (the beginning of 2016) the price of beef without bone is from 380 to 450 rubles. Therefore, beef stew ( premium ) is cheaper than a hundred rubles - a fake, at best with a limited shelf life (State Reserve), or the first grade.
On the label should be written "Braised beef premium", GOST 32125-2013 is indicated. The words "beef stew" on the label indicate only one thing - canned food is not standard (not GOST), made according to the specifications of the manufacturer.
Theoretically, by 2019, beef stew GOST 5284-84 may be present on store shelves. The shelf life of these canned foods is up to 6 years, and they can be released during 2014, when the new GOST 32125-2013 began to operate.
What is wrong with today's stew made according to state standards?
For lovers of beef stew, it is clear that in Soviet times this product was much tastier and better. What happened Why is even a stew from Belarus (there they monitor the observance of production rules) different in number of meat from Soviet?
The answer is obvious - the GOST specifications for the production of these canned foods have changed. If according to the previous (5284-84) GOST, the meat in the jar was 87% and still only fat (11%), onions, salt, pepper, then according to the new standard (32125-2013), the composition consisted of meat up to 58%, protein up to 15 %, fat up to 10%, onions, salt, pepper. The new GOST makes it possible to add protein to canned food. And this changes not only the taste, but also the consistency of the finished product.