You Already Have Everything You Need for Very Thin Slices of Meat

Meat is not always easy to cut. It consists of soft muscle fibers and a lot of slippery fat, and sometimes liquid seeps onto the cutting board. All this can make thin incisions difficult or even a little dangerous. Luckily for us and our delicate hands, there is a safe way to temporarily change the consistency of the meat to get neat, ultra-thin slices. Put it in the freezer.

Not for long, you just want to refrigerate the meat to a semi-frozen state, which takes 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cut. Wrap the meat in plastic wrap or place it directly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place it in the freezer. Check the meat after 15 minutes to see how firm it is. The meat should be firm but not hard. At the risk of sounding too specific, when pressed, you will feel the warmth of your fingertip begin to melt the outer shell of the ice crystals. This sensation is different from a piece of deep-frozen chicken.

Remove the meat from the freezer and place on a cutting board. Holding the meat in your off hand and using a sharp knife in the other, cut it down in one motion. The meat will be firm but easy to cut. This should require the same effort as cutting a melon or pumpkin.

For thin slices of paper, use a knife that makes precise cuts:

• Global Classic Yanagi sashimi knife
• Knife Shun Premier Santoku
• Chef’s knife Zwilling Pro Le Blanc

The meat will be cut into clean, flat pieces, and you can get surprisingly thin depending on how sharp and thin your knife blade is. When you notice the meat is softening and your cuts require more sawing action, return it to the freezer for another 10 minutes.

Please note that you should not cut completely frozen meat – this requires a lot of effort. Strength, ice and a sharp blade is not the best combination. Set a timer or whatever you need to remember to keep the meat in the freezer, and after a while you’ll have thinly sliced ​​meat.

Try it when you’re cooking beef, pork or chicken for a roast, thinly sliced ​​scallops for a crudo, or perfecting your homemade sashimi skills. You can even use this technique to cook food and cut a few minutes off the usually long cooking time. Thinly slice half a kilo of chicken breast and divide into portions to freeze or use within a week. This method is usually used to cook raw meat, but if you want thin slices for a cheesesteak , you can make it from the leftovers of a cooked steak.