I know, I know, now many will write in the comments: why tell all this, Captain Obvious, everyone knows the rules of frying meat!
But I will object - maybe “everyone” knows, but it turns out that something is not followed by everyone, or someone has forgotten. Or maybe he didn't know, but forgot (this also happens). And in general, repetition is the mother of learning, otherwise not a young student at all from a familiar family was sadly looking at the pork, conceived as fried, but the resulting pork, do not understand what.
So let's go over the rules for frying meat again?
The warmer the better
I'm not talking about a frying pan now, I'm talking about a piece. The laws of thermodynamics have not been canceled, the meat is heated from the side that is adjacent to the hot frying pan, and only then - inside the piece.
In order to get a juicy piece, not overcooked, and, at the same time, fried, it is better to use meat at room temperature - that is, previously taken out from the refrigerator. Then it will heat up faster inside the piece, and the effect of temperature on the edges will not be so long (they will not dry out).
And, Michelin forbid, you cannot start frying frozen meat - even if it is not completely frozen, but simply has ice crystals in its structure. A huge amount of liquid in the pan will be provided to you.
Choosing the right frying pan
All light "Teflon" pans are enemies of meat. They heat up too quickly, but, nevertheless, they do not keep heating well. And unevenly.
So it's best to choose a "can be used as a weapon" skillet for frying meat - the heavier the better. What kind of frying pan will be - a hereditary cast iron from a great-grandmother or a newfangled one with a thick sandwich bottom - this is the tenth thing. The main thing is not to use thin Teflon ones. On them, the meat will burn faster than browned.
And one more thing - the frying pan must be thoroughly heated before putting the meat. A couple of minutes on fire, no less. And you rarely need to turn it over.
There should be a lot of space
If there is a lot of meat in the pan, then it will not fry, it will be stewed. As you do not increase the heating, so that the released juice evaporates quickly.
But here the question arises - what is “a lot”. If the meat covers the entire bottom in one layer - is that a lot or is it normal?
According to my (and not only) observations, normal frying is when the meat occupies no more than 50% of the bottom area. Then it turns out exactly the fried meat. But if more, then... more often - stew.