What is Beef Steak Made of?

Video Transcript

"Hello! This is Chef Sean Roe on behalf of expertvillage.com. Before we get cooking, I would like to discuss the composition and structure of beef. Beef is comprised mainly of water, 75 percent water, about 20 percent is muscled tissue or protein. There is also fat and trace amounts of carbohydrates. We know that there is sugar in beef because when it is cooked it turns brown. What happens to sugar is when heat is applied to them and they caramelize. Also the muscle fiber is comprised not only of that but connected to tissue. Connected tissue gives the muscle the ability to stay together to the bone and allow the muscles to function properly and when cooking, it is very important to know what kind of connected tissue you are dealing with as some connected tissue or commonly known silver skin is something that cannot be broken down chemically and can add a bad texture to the beef if you are not cutting it right or cooking it right. The other is collagen which is easily disposed of through a chemical tenderization or marinade and/or a mechanical tenderization. "