How to crumb and cook beef

Start with the right beef cut

We recommend:

• Thin beef escalopes 
• Thinly sliced beef schnitzel slightly flattened with mallet

Create your tasty crumbs

• Use a mix of half fresh and half dried breadcrumbs.
• For delicious flavour, add 2 tbsp grated parmesan or pecorino and some chopped parsley.
• Or why not use a half-half combo of dried breadcrumbs and dry seasoned stuffing mix? 
• For a lovely light and crunchy coating, use deliciously flaky Japanese-style panko crumbs.

Select your oil

• Grapeseed and sunflower oil are good, inexpensive, all-purpose frying oils.
• Olive oil's smoke point of 210°C makes it a good choice for frying. The digestibility of olive oil is not affected when it's heated, even when re-used for frying.
• Rice bran oil has a high smoke point of 250°C, making it good for frying crumbed beef.

Prep for action

Use three deep plates to crumb the beef, topping up as needed.

Plate 1 Plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper

Plate 2 Beaten egg with a little oil or milk to help crumbs stick

Plate 3 Crumb mixture

Crumb your beef

• Dust beef in flour. Shake off excess then coat in lightly beaten egg. Dip into crumbs and shake off excess. 
• Place crumbed beef in a dish in a single layer, or between sheets of baking paper, so the crumb coating doesn't go soggy.
• Chef's Tip Rest crumbed beef in the fridge for 15 minutes before frying. This ensures the coating sticks perfectly to the meat. 

Now let those crumbs fry!

• Shallow-frying is the most popular method of cooking crumbed beef.
• Add enough oil to a medium-sized, heavy-based pan to come halfway up the side of the pan. Heat over a moderately high heat until hot.
• Cook crumbed beef in batches and don't overcrowd the pan. Cook on both sides until lightly golden. 
• Chef's Tip Reheat the oil between batches. If the oil isn't hot enough, it won’t seal the crumb coating and the crumbs will become saturated with oil.
• Drain on paper towel after cooking. Keep warm in a moderate oven while you cook remaining batches.

SAFETY MATTERS!

If your oil begins to smoke, turn the heat down immediately!

Or oven-bake crumbed beef if preferred

• Preheat oven to 200°C. Put a rack on a baking tray and spray with cooking oil spray.
• Place crumbed beef on the rack without overlapping. Spray generously with the oil spray.
• Cook for about 8 minutes on one side. Turn the meat, spray with oil, then cook a further 8–10 minutes or until golden.