When ordering a juicy beef steak in a cafe or restaurant, we often think about why beef never turns out so tasty and juicy at home. The fact is that every self-respecting restaurant chooses the best varieties of meat. In order for the finished steak to melt in your mouth, you need to take animal fibers with uniform thin layers of fat, in other words, marble.

One of the most famous varieties of meat that has established itself in the deli meat market since 1788 has become Australian beef.

Australia is the perfect place to raise livestock

Today Australia is the third country in terms of meat production, one of the largest exporters of marbled beef. The Australian mild climate, vast areas overgrown with nutrient-rich grass, crystal clear air are ideal conditions for the growth of elite thoroughbred calves. Marbling of meat is achieved by alternating feeding livestock with fresh grass and dry hay with selected grain, as well as changing activity and dormancy. The readiness of the heads for slaughter is checked daily by feeling the barrels of the animals.

Preparing meat for sale

In order to obtain high quality Australian beef and an elite rank, paired carcasses go through the process of meat ripening. First, the pieces are checked for sufficient marbling. Ideally, they should be a bright burgundy color with small patches of fat, creating a characteristic mesh pattern. Selected marble pieces are dry-aged in refrigerators for three to four weeks. If the meat is devoid of a specific marble pattern, it is aged in vacuum packaging, which is called "wet fermentation". The process of ripening meat is necessary to improve the taste characteristics, thanks to which it acquires an additional nutty taste.

Quality checking

Quality control authorities subject Australian beef to checks at all stages of meat preparation. After aging, it passes a number of checks for compliance with the requirements of the variety: prime (the highest category), choice (selected beef), select (the category of the least marbling). In accordance with the degree of marbling, age of cattle, taste, beef receives a class and is labeled by the state Australian and world standards. If everything is more or less clear with the degree of marbling, then the age of the cattle is determined as follows:

• up to a year - veal;
• up to 2 years - young beef;
• over 2 years old - beef.

Taste qualities are determined by the consumer, who tests the cooked meat, according to juiciness, tenderness, taste and overall impression.

Australian Beef Steak: A History

From time immemorial, meat has been preferred in our country. Poultry and fish have always faded into the background after beef and pork. Absolutely everyone loves meat, regardless of gender, age, social status, with the exception of a small number of people who choose a vegetarian lifestyle. To date, an incredible variety of meat dishes has accumulated, but beef steak is the most popular, as evidenced by the number of orders in Russian restaurants.

The steak originated in England in the Middle Ages and quickly became popular throughout Europe. Since that time, the name beefsteaks (steak) has come down to us, which literally translates as “beef steak”. A photo of an Australian beef steak can be seen in the article.

Steak translated from English means "tenderloin", i.e. it is a fairly thick piece of meat (from 3 to 5 cm), cut from the immobile sections of the animal's muscles in the transverse direction. There are quite a few such areas in the body of the animal, so the steak is considered a delicacy. In addition, the steak is made from the meat of young individuals of the Agnus and Herford breeds. The best raw material for steak is marbled Australian beef, called CAB (Certified Angus Beef). Cross cutting allows you to open the pores, which, in turn, helps the heat to penetrate deep and warm up the piece much faster.

cooking steak

In addition to choosing a steak, it is important to observe a certain temperature regime when cooking it. To begin with, the piece is quickly fried in a hot frying pan at a temperature of about 250 ° C, which allows the formation of a crust that prevents the juice from flowing out. After that, the steak is brought to the desired degree of readiness at a temperature of 150 ° C. Next, the meat is sent to the oven for a couple of minutes, so that the juice is evenly distributed throughout the piece. It would seem that cooking a steak is a completely simple task, but it is very difficult to achieve a certain degree of roasting without letting the juice run out.

Steaks come in different degrees of roasting at the request of the chef or restaurant guest:

• very rare - very raw (cooking costs only the formation of a crust);
• rare - raw (meat is fried for a minute on each side);
• medium rare - half-raw with blood (two minutes on each side until pink-red bloody discharge);
• medium - medium rare (meat is cooked for about 10-12 minutes until pinkish discharge);
• medium well - almost fried (cooked for 15 minutes until clear juice is released);
• well done - fried (fried for 18 minutes until fully cooked).

The degree of roasting depends on the selected temperature regime, which differs by about 3-4 ° C. Nevertheless, experienced cooks can determine this difference by eye.

Australian beef steak recipe

In cookbooks you can find a huge number of recipes: ribeye, strip, cowboy, filet mignon. They also include Australian beef BBQ steak. It is prepared in a variety of ways. You can do this in a frying pan, frying surface, but the dish is not intended for barbecue.

Professional chefs cook Australian marbled meat in special charcoal ovens - jospers. But in the absence of such, we can use a conventional oven.

So, we need:

• ribeye steak 3-4 cm;
• salt and black pepper to taste;
• butter - 25 g;
• garlic - 1 clove;
• thyme - 1 branch.

Let the steak rest at room temperature for about two hours. We dry the meat with a towel, then moisten it with a small amount of refined vegetable oil on both sides and roll it in a salt and pepper mixture.

Heat up a heavy-bottomed pan (preferably cast iron).

Cook the steak over high heat for a minute and a half on each side, evenly pressing on the surface.

Reduce the heat, add garlic, butter, thyme to the pan, stir and pour the mixture over the steak for about six minutes until medium done.

Remove the meat from the pan, transfer it to a slightly preheated oven for 5-10 minutes.

Australian animal husbandry and a culture of meat consumption has developed in Australia since the time of its colonization. Today, this country is among the top three in terms of meat production. More than half of Australia's agricultural farms are engaged in the production of beef. What is Australian beef ribeye, and what is the secret of its popularity? About this in our today's article.

Australian Ribeye Beef: The Secret of Popularity

Australia is one of the world's largest marbled beef exporters. It is worth noting that the production of marbled meat is approached here with all seriousness and responsibility. For example, in Australia there are several government agencies that control all stages of meat production. There are also bodies responsible for standardization and quality control of finished products. Therefore, if one day you decide to buy Australian beef for steaks, you will be absolutely sure of its quality.
As you know, it is a delicacy product and the result of successful selection and proper fattening. In Australia, they rely on Hereford and Aberdeen Angus beef bulls. Grown in England and Scotland, they came to the mainland during its colonization. The mild climate, vast areas for grazing, lush grass, clean air and grass did their job - the meat breeds of bulls took root and adapted so much that they began to give a good increase in weight.
Australian ribeye beef is valued for its thin layers of fat penetrating the muscle fibers in the form of a mesh. They provide the meat with amazing flavor and juiciness. That's why marbled meat steaks are cooked in the best steakhouses in the world. At the same time, Australian Ribeye beef is in a special account with chefs!
Strengthen the marbling of meat allows a special mixed fattening. In Australia, gobies are fed with juicy, fresh grass, adding quality grain to the diet. It is believed that such fattening and measured life of bulls makes their meat very juicy, soft and fragrant.
Almost all Australian beef ribeye goes through the fermentation process. Cuts that have received the highest marbling rank are stored in refrigerators for at least 3 weeks. This method of aging meat is called dry. Dry aging is applied to the most marble parts of the carcass. This is a thin and thick edge (from here you get the famous one that we recommend).
Meat, devoid of marbling due to the anatomical structure of the carcass, is sent for maturation in vacuum packaging. This is the so-called wet exposure. A budget way to improve the taste characteristics of meat and buy meat for a steak inexpensively.

Buy Australian Ribeye: where and how much?

To buy Australian beef for steaks, it is not necessary to go for it to the mainland. You can also buy marbled beef from Australia in Ukraine by placing an order at a specialized meat and deli meat store. But we hasten to warn you: the price of Australian-style marbled beef is very high.
inexpensive is quite possible. Pay attention to marbled meat made from Ukrainian beef. T-Bone became the first company in Ukraine to produce and sell Ukrainian marbled meat. The meat of Ukrainian meat gobies is taken as a basis. The breed was bred by Ukrainian breeders by crossing Ukrainian bulls with imported breeds. Everything from T-Bone is both dry and wet fermented. All stages of production are certified and comply with sanitary standards. By the way, carcasses are cut according to American standards. You can buy meat for prime, select and choice steaks. The entire meat assortment of the company is presented in the online meat store, as well as in the T-Bone brand store in the Capital Market!

Starting next week, Australian beef will no longer be delivered to Russia. This decision was made on March 31 by Rosselkhoznadzor. The reason for the refusal of the most popular beef in the world was the discovery in it of trenbolone, a hormone that was banned in Russia in December 2013. The Village spoke with both sides of the conflict - Australian meat producers and Rosselkhoznadzor, as well as with the owner of the Torro Grill steakhouse chain Kirill Martynenko, to understand what kind of meat restaurants will now cook steaks from.

David Larkin

meat board
industry
Australia, AMIC (Australian Meat Industry Council)

The Australian Department of Agriculture has confirmed that Rosselkhoznadzor is temporarily suspending the supply of frozen beef to Russia from April 7, and a ban on the supply of chilled beef was previously announced from March 31. The ban does not apply to other types of meat.

Russia is the most important partner of Australian suppliers - in the last financial year (through July) about 24,000 tons of beef were supplied. The beef trade brings in over $170 million each year. Australia has been a traditional beef exporter to Russia since the 1970s and has always followed the demands of the Russian market without question.

On December 20 last year, the Australian government introduced additional measures to export beef to Russia to meet new Russian requirements for trenbolone. Russia reacted positively to the measures taken, but introduced a ban on beef offal from January 27.

On March 20, information appeared on the website of the Rosselkhoznadzor about the detection of trenbonol in chilled Australian beef delivered after additional measures were taken. The Department of Agriculture provided Russian colleagues with detailed information about the problem and offered to conduct an audit of Australian meat enterprises. Australian department reports indicate that the shipment of beef was from hormone-free animals. We believe that Russia has taken the decision to suspend beef supplies from Australia pending review of the submitted detailed report on the quality of the product.

Australian beef has been delivered to Russia without trenbonol since December 20. We are ready to continue negotiations with the Russian side to resume cooperation."

Alexey Nikolaevich Alekseenko

Advisor to the Head of the Federal Service of Rosselkhoznadzor

The reason for the ban on the import of beef from Australia is still the same: we found trenbolone in the meat - this is a kind of steroid. It is used to increase the mass of meat. Why is he dangerous? It affects men by reducing their libido and shrinking the gonads. This is a harmful substance banned throughout the civilized world. We had talks with the Australians many times, they promised not to use trenbolone, but we find it again and again. Recently, the Australian Minister of Agriculture made a funny statement: he said that the ban was connected with the situation in Crimea. Although in fact we warned the Australians about the possible consequences two years ago, and a year ago, and in June.

Kirill Martynenko

Steakhouse chain owner
Torro Grill

Of course, this whole situation will have a negative impact on business. There are few options here, because of all the meat suppliers that are on the market today, Uruguay and Argentina remain the only worthy ones. Perhaps a small amount of meat can be delivered from Europe, for example from France. The main problem here lies in the quality standards, not in the countries from which the meat is delivered. In Australia and America, there are quite strict standards for the size of cuts, for the quality of their trimming, marbling, therefore the quality of local meat is consistently good. There are no such standards in Europe, so one piece can be very high quality, and the second one is not. Therefore, such measures will affect the end consumer, who will have to explain why he ate a great steak last time, and this time not a very good steak.

For many years of American and Australian monopoly on the Russian market, the Moscow consumer has become accustomed to quality. Unfortunately, even South America cannot guarantee such a constant quality, so now the Russian consumer will have to relearn a little and stop being capricious. Theoretically, this situation can push the development of the Russian manufacturer, although, to be honest, I doubt that this will happen.

We will still choose the best of all possible options. If we are not satisfied with the quality, then we would rather sell good pork than bad beef.

Now no one will have a chance to compete in suppliers. Perhaps only those who have worked with Europe before and managed to develop quality standards over the years of cooperation will probably be in a winning position.

Trenbolone was rejected only because Russia joined the Customs Union, where this substance is prohibited. Prior to that, for ten years, we all ate meat with these additives and remained alive. These additives have been around for a long time and are domestically approved in Australia, the US and many other countries.

Australia is one of the world's most efficient cattle producers and the world's third largest exporter of beef. The combined output of Australian cattle and calves is estimated at $7.7 billion. Approximately 55% of all agricultural farms are engaged in beef production. Queensland is the largest beef and veal producer in Australia.

Australian marbled beef is widely exported in the world, occupies a leading position in terms of quality and taste indicators and meets strict standards of sanitary and technological control. What is the secret of such a popular food product?

The taste and quality of meat is made up of a combination of several factors. First of all, these are natural conditions - vast pastures rich in lush grass, clean water and healthy ecology. Australia is an ideal place for animal husbandry. It is basically a flat continent with endless valleys and fields. The mild temperate climate is characterized by not sharp changes in annual temperatures; there are no frosty winters and dry summers. Huge herds graze on flat pastures, moving slowly along the flat terrain and fattening their sides. The meat of Australian gobies is distinguished by great juiciness and flavor.

animal husbandry traditions

An important role is played by the traditions of animal husbandry and the culture of meat consumption. When the first settlers arrived on the mainland, there were no suitable animals for domestication in Australia. In 1788, several cows and a bull were brought from the African Cape Town on the ships of the First Fleet, and this was the beginning of the development of animal husbandry and cattle breeding in Australia. Subsequently, several more transports with cows from South Africa and India arrived. Many modern Australian farms have a history of centuries. Starting with emaciated and barely swimming animals, they raised numerous herds of well-fed bulls and healthy dairy cows. Australian cuisine has developed from many national gastronomic traditions of the world. Meat is cooked here in different ways, but always very tasty and from quality products. Meat in Australia occupies one of the leading places in cooking and you need to understand that in order to get a delicious “real” beef steak, you need to take a cut only from a specially grown bull. The meat of a cow, during the feeding of which the main bias was made for large milk yields, will differ not for the better during cooking. That is why, in Australia, special attention is paid to the production of real "meat" gobies of the best elite breeds, mainly Aberdeen Angus and Hereiford. These meat breeds were originally bred in Scotland and England through many years of selective crossbreeding. Australian farmers have continued the rigorous selection of selective breeding and meat quality improvement.

The next necessary factor for a good steak is special fattening and grazing. There are different technologies for feeding animals, and they affect the quality of meat. The best and most appreciated in the world market of meat delicacies is the presence of small inclusions of fat in muscle tissue, arranged in the form of a characteristic pattern. This quality of beef was called "marble", and the meat itself became known as "marble". These fragments of fat in the lean parts of the carcass, when cooked, give a unique juiciness and tenderness to the finished dish. To obtain a similar marbling, beef bulls are fattened by alternating natural grazing on pastures with feeding with selected grain. In addition to a special diet, periods of physical activity and rest alternate. Years of selective selection, combined with a special feeding technology, has allowed Australian beef to take one of the leading positions in the world marble meat market.

After slaughtering, the carcasses must go through an aging process during which the meat matures and becomes fragrant, juicy and tender. There are 2 types of ripening - the dry method, which gives the meat a more pronounced taste with a mild nutty flavor, and the wet, more economical. The presence of the aging process itself already speaks of the high quality and elitism of the meat. And characterizes the process of exposure time. Ideally, the meat should be subjected to the aging process for at least 3 weeks.

Quality control

Before getting on the shelves of shops or in the kitchen of a restaurant, meat from a farm must be tested for compliance with quality standards and receive a grade grade. A strict quality scale for beef consists of the degree of marbling and age of the cattle and is regulated by government agencies. A whole chain of institutions operates in the country that controls the process of producing quality meat, from animal breeding to vacuum packaging of cuts. Research centers, certifying and regulatory bodies control the entire cycle of the meat industry. In addition to the Meat Standards Australia system, which is similar to the global ones, an additional Australian measure of taste assessment Eating Quality Assurance has been developed, based on consumer response. It is based on the taste reaction of the client to the prepared product, evaluated by the parameters of tenderness, juiciness, taste and overall impression (meat quality MQ4). With this system in place, all Australian beef is labeled according to grade and recommended cooking method, allowing the consumer to receive a high quality product.

Not so long ago, you could enjoy a good steak from Australian or New Zealand beef only in a few decent restaurants, which now bred like mushrooms after rain and, alas, the quantity did not grow into quality. But at the same time, more and more stores began to offer Australian and New Zealand meat in free sale, so in theory, anyone can cook a delicious steak at home.

One of the largest suppliers of such meat is the Australian trading house.

Whether it is worth buying meat from this supplier, I can not say for sure, as I have had both annoying misses and unexpected successes with their products, so let's look at my recent purchase of "New Zealand Beef Shoulder Steak" of the highest quality, for grilling or on a grill pan.

The meat is packed in a beautiful box made of very thick cardboard. The packaging contains all the necessary information about the product, as well as cooking recommendations and many comprehensive photos. In the photo everything looks perfect and very appetizing.

I know how to cook steaks and I love them. Therefore, information about the method of preparation was known to me for a long time and was used more than once. Although in fact this is not the only way to cook delicious steaks and there are many supporters of another cooking option. I will say right away there is a lot of meat in the box, so I cooked it in two ways. We will see the result below.

The meat is sold frozen. Meat must be thawed before eating. It is best to defrost in the refrigerator and never defrost meat for steaks at room temperature. If there is no time catastrophically, then in the most extreme case, you can defrost the meat by placing the bag in a bowl of cold (!) Water. In this case, the meat for steaks will be ready for frying in just an hour. But it's still better to defrost the steaks overnight in the refrigerator, then take them out 20 minutes before frying and let them warm up to room temperature a little. This will be the best option.

This time I fried the steaks at home in a grill pan. If you do not have such a frying pan, then a regular frying pan will do, the main thing is that it warms up evenly and keeps the heat well.

Good New Zealand beef is so tasty and tender that it does not require any manipulation of beating, marinating and other things. Much more important is proper roasting and the ability to do it.

I prefer the roast medium, the spouse is medium rer. Let's get started, but first let's see what awaits ours in a box of meat.

We open and see several pieces separately packed in bags. At the same time, all the meat is of different quality and fat content. Accordingly, the taste will be different.

It is believed that a good steak does not need sauce, as the taste of meat is self-sufficient. We will take only vegetable oil (I have olive oil), salt, black pepper and any herbs that you like, but you can’t imagine anything better than rosemary sprigs. I also love garlic, but it doesn't have to be.

Lubricate each piece well with vegetable oil. This is necessary in order for the juices to seal faster and remain inside the piece, and not leak out. The pan itself (I have a grill pan) does not need to be oiled.

We send the steak to a preheated pan and fry as indicated on the box, i.e. 5 minutes on one side, carefully turn over so as not to damage the crust and prevent the juices from flowing out, now you can sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper. Cook until desired doneness (2 to 5 minutes). After that, put the meat in a warm form or a saucepan, salt and pepper the second side and close the meat with a lid, allowing it to rest. At this time, fry the following portions.

The following portions I fried in a different way. With this method, a beautiful grill pattern on the meat is obtained, and the meat itself is usually very tender. On a well-heated grill pan (we do not change the frying temperature during the whole process), we put a piece diagonally, for example, "/" we will fry for 2-2.5 minutes, then turn it over while maintaining the diagonal slope "/" and fry the same amount, now carefully turn the meat over, changing the diagonal of the slope to the opposite "\", then turn over again keeping the diagonal "\" at this time, salt and pepper. We remove the meat into a mold or saucepan and sprinkle with salt and pepper that side of the meat that is so far without spices. Cover with a lid and let the meat rest.

Some may have a question about spices. Why do I salt and pepper this meat at the last moment. The fact is that steaks are cooked on a fairly high heat and freshly ground pepper just burns and does not give the desired flavor.

And so it is with salt. In fact, there is still no consensus among connoisseurs to salt steaks before cooking or at the end. If the meat is fresh, then there will not be much difference, because such meat is almost impossible to spoil. But if the meat is like ours, then it’s better not to risk it, because salt draws out moisture, and we need the meat to immediately become covered with a crust and the juices are sealed inside.

Garlic and rosemary can be added during the frying process. But lately I like to add dry garlic from the mill at the moment when the meat is resting under the lid, then the garlic gives off its special flavor and goes inside with the juice and does not burn in the pan.

Sometimes I roll only the sides of steaks in a mixture of salt, pepper and herbs (they do not fry and spices do not burn).

The steaks are ready and rested. They smell just divine! The table is set and no one has the strength to endure. We spread the appetizing pieces in portions on serving boards and pour a little with the resulting juice. And also mills with pepper and salt are put on the table. Slightly pepper and salt to taste (if necessary). Let's try.

The steaks look great in both cases, both outwardly and in the cut. They smell amazing, the juice oozes and in the context it is clear that the degree of roasting is just what you need.

But that's where the good part of the story ends. Meat without proper softness with hard fibers. Despite its juiciness, which we have preserved due to proper preparation, the meat needs to be chewed for quite some time. The taste is good, but it gives the impression that this is riding buffalo meat, and not grass-fed beef.

No matter how hard I tried to recognize the elite beef, I did not succeed. The piece that was originally the fattest (marble) turned out to be the most acceptable. But he is far from ideal.

Hope it was helpful to you.
All the best! Thank you for your attention! And thanks for the pluses.
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