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at Tue, 12 Oct 2004 18:29:36 GMT in >,
lid (Default User) wrote :
>Peter Aitken wrote:
>
>> "Scott" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > In article > ,
>> > "Peter Aitken" > wrote:
>> >
>> > > The browning is important because the high heat causes the
>> > > formation of many
>> > > flavor compunds in the surface of the meat, resulting in a much
>> > > tastier end product. Do not skip it!
>> >
>> > Alton Brown's response was to sear the meat as the last step, so you
>> > get the flavor, but don't continue to lose moisture from meat
>> > "damaged" from the high heat.
>>
>> But the point, which you obviously missed, is that you do not lose
>> moisture from browned meat. ...
> ...
>Alton's studies showed (or claimed to show) that it was better to start
>in a low oven, cook until done, rest, then brown the outside in a hot
>oven.
I've experimented all 3 ways and at least to my taste, starting in the high
oven is the best, flavour-wise. Starting at low heat produced to me
inferiour, more jelly-like internal texture and a mild flavour. Now, I
generally cook beef and lamb very rare indeed, pork to the precise point
where it's not quite pink on the inside but not at all dry, chicken and
turkey to about "medium-well", i.e. no bloodiness, fully firmed up flesh,
but not really well done, goose and duck a little more well-done than
chicken and turkey.
In addition to better flavour development, the high-heat-at-the-beginning
method always yielded better gravy, as I'd expect, since it would
caramelise the early drippings and lead to better overall flavour in the
gravy.
As far as moisture loss, I didn't notice any of the 3 methods to be
unacceptable. High heat at the beginning does not seem to cause appreciably
greater loss of moisture. One part of the procedure that I notice a lot of
people missing, and that *could* account for extra loss of moisture, is
opening the oven door when you lower the temperature so that the oven will
drop rapidly to the new setting. Otherwise you might have an extended
period when the oven was actually far hotter than your lowered setting
because with the door not open, it takes a while for it to cool down. This
is especially true if you have a big piece of meat.
Another factor could be using low-grade meat, particularly very lean pork,
lamb, and beef. Unfortunately, a very large percentage of the meat
typically available falls into this class, especially pork and beef. In
beef, for instance, USDA Select IMHO means USDA Reject. Pork can be even
worse - a lot of it is water-injected and of what's left a lot of *that* is
far too lean. Note that many cheap meats these days are water-injected,
which bulks up the volume and weight but leads to atrocious water loss in
cooking. So it pays to seek out somewhere where you can get quality meat.
Expect to pay quite a bit more for it, and do so gladly.
Finally, large, commercial ovens might cause more moisture loss, because
the greater internal volume means both more heat capacity (thus, at the
same *temperature*, there's more *heat* in the oven, and thus an equal-
sized piece of meat would cook faster), and greater air circulation, which
again transports moisture away through evaporation.
--
Alex Rast
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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