Schnitzel

pocofan

pocofan

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Need advice on making a good schnitzel. Pork. I’ve tried but can’t get it quite right.
 
Maybe PabloLerntKochen can chime in. He is German, and cooks for a living. He should know.

CD
 
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I added some dried Oregano to the dredge for an Italian vibe on this cutlet.
 
Pound the meat quite thin, don't crush the meat. Season it well with at least salt and pepper. Cover in flour, mixed egg, breadcrumbs/panko. Fry it in enough oil/butter, drain the oil with paper towel, serve it immediately.
 
pocofan said:
Need advice on making a good schnitzel. Pork. I’ve tried but can’t get it quite right.
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Here's my advice and probably more nuanced that most require lol. I'm not Austrian or German but this technique is time honored in probably every Country in the world and has been around for thousands of years one way or another. I generally use pork or veal, but mostly pork and generally from the loin area of the animal.

The meat should be trimmed of any fat and should be pounded relatively thin and no more than 1/4" to provide a tender even piece of meat which provides quick cooking times, this is essential for a good schnitzel.

The flour should be seasoned with at least salt and pepper and I do mean seasoned, not just a pinch, but to taste. Other ingredients can be added as well.

Personally for a German style schnitzel bread crumbs should be used and not panko. Bread crumbs on the drier side is best. I generally pulse in a processor some bread with crusts removed, this ensures a consistent crumb. Try to avoid reducing the bread to a very small crumb, you want some height to your schnitzel which also acts as a barrier from the fat and helps to retain a moister centre and a degree of crunch. I lay the crumbs out on a sheet pan to dry. I suggest people make their own bread crumbs.

Set up a breading station with the flour, egg wash and bread crumbs. You want to have generous amounts of each for better results and easier application.

The pan used does make a difference. No non stick pans and a heavy pan works best. If you have a cast iron pan, this is the time to use it otherwise a decent thick and layered stainless or a decent carbon steel pan works well. The pan needs to be preheated and the oil needs to be at or around 325-335 fahrenheit.

What is key and essential is to have enough oil in the pan that the schnitzel appears to float to some degree, basically too little oil is disastrous and will generally produce a burnt and overcooked product.

This is more personal but because the oil can influence the overall flavour of the finished product try and stay away from oils that do have distinctive flavours like extra virgin olive oil and personally I would use either pork fat, beef fat, smoltz, or duck fat but I stay away from refined seed oils so if your going to pick a seed oil pick one that's at least neutral.

Personally I make schnitzel a la minute, or in other words prepared when ready and not in advance. Basically I don't want the schnitzel sitting around after it's cooked to steam internally softening the bread crumbs and want to retain the crunch. This is counter productive in why the bread crumbs are important.

Holding a schnitzel dredge through the flour shaking off any excess, then dredge through the eggs wash, then immediately into a very generous amount of bread crumbs to ensure full coverage and try not to be tempted to push down too much into the crumb, we do want that height I mentioned to be retained.

Immediately drop into the fat. At this temperature and with the schnitzel being a 1/4" and with fresh bread crumbs this should take around 2 minutes a side or less until golden, but again make sure the schnitzel is kind of swimming in the oil.

Hopefully this make sense to you.
 
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I don't season my flour for any kind of cutlet. That takes a lot of seasonings, as they are diluted massively by the flour. I season the meat first, then do my flour, egg, breadcrumb coating. Seasoning the meat directly, I don't need a lot of seasonings to get good flavor.

CD
 
caseydog said:
I don't season my flour for any kind of cutlet. That takes a lot of seasonings, as they are diluted massively by the flour. I season the meat first, then do my flour, egg, breadcrumb coating. Seasoning the meat directly, I don't need a lot of seasonings to get good flavor.

CD
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Most people do that. The actual amount of flour that's on a portion of pork even aggressively salted is less than salting the pork itself, generally speaking but that is the popular go to and there is no wrong way if that's the way a person likes it.
 
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