Del Cecchi wrote:
> "--" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> Ok, I have seen the experiments and read and fully understand the
>> esoteric theory about supposedly how searing 1) doesn't make any
>> difference 2) colder pan and temp seals in more for a variety of
>> esoteric reasons.
>>
>> and then I saw an annoying reference to the "no-diff" myth once
>> again, immediately after once again having proof of searing effects
>> in my pan -
>>
>> Sorry, the contrarians' "no-diff" and "lower-heat" myth
>> consistently fails the engineering test here on the range.
>>
>> One of many examples seen here, refuting the no-diff myth and
>> waiting to trigger my ire when I saw the myth repeated today,
>> occurred on Tuesday eve:
>>
>> - I cooked a thick boneless chop in the normal way - iron pan, hot
>> oil, med hi, 4-5 min on the first side and then turn, then lower
>> the heat and do 4-5 min, and then cook it at the lower heat about 6
>> min a side back and forth until I think it is done. Then, because
>> it is thick and pork, I cut it (ok, heresy - but less disturbing
>> than finding a cold red slab of pork inside due to poor defrosting
>> -especially frozen- with-bone chops).
>>
>> a) Once again, like clockwork, the juice flooded heavily out the
>> cut and into the (up til then) residue free pan, a1) leaving pan
>> residue.
>>
>> The non-seared meats cooked only at the lower heat (like my kid
>> cooks) do not let out juice when cut. b) My kid's meats (same
>> stove, same pan, same lower temp, same amount of pink) do not drain
>> when cut. b1) The pan, however, has the tell-tale residue of heated
>> drained juice in the pan deposited throughout the process.
>>
>> Not juicy, like mine. Like mine with juice sealed in. The kid's
>> are the same light pink but dry.
>>
>> Anecdotal, repeated sufficiently to approach statistically valid.
>>
>> So to whomever did the original experiments: try it again with a
>> valid protocol and germaine criterion. Not weight loss, but rather
>> available juice. Not molecular rearrangement theory, but rather
>> available juice.
>>
>> Ok - got that annoyance off my chest... feeling better - thank you
>> all for the therapy....
>>
>> ---------------- One of Einstein's great contribution to scientific
>> understanding was in his phrase - "a million experiments can prove
>> me right - but it only takes one to prove me wrong."
>>
>> It's all in the protocol, baby.
>>
>> FWIW.
>>
>
> If juice leaks out there will be a weight loss equal to the weight of
> the lost juice. Perhaps the difference is only one of perception.
> When cooked at high heat, the water is evaporated from the juice at
> the pan/meat interface and the residue is deposited on the pan and
> the meat. When cooked at lower heat, the liquid escapes from the
> interface. In either case, mass is lost from the meat.

But you hit on a significant feature below. The surface and near-surface
area of meats cooked at higher temperatures lose significantly more
moisture than low-temp meats.

> Likewise, when cooked with high heat there is a much larger thermal
> gradient, causing the juice to be forced to the center

Juices aren't forced to the center. It only seems that way because the
sharp thermal gradient above 120° also extends into the meat further
than meat with a lower surface temperature, and if it gets beyond 140°,
the purge is materially increased. The proteins release their juices
inside the meat so it seems to be juicier when in fact the apparent
juices have already been released from their protein containers. The
juice hasn't made it's way to the surface yet, but it will.

High temp meats will purge more in the resting time than low-temp meats.

> where it gushes out when cut, but a lower heat allows it to remain in
> equilibrium and not gush out. If the high heat case is allowed to
> rest for 10 or 15 minutes, the temperature gradient is reduced and
> the juice no longer gushes out.

No gush. But it will leak out or "purge" as the trade describes it much
more than the low-temp cook.

> Thanks for playing. If there is no weight difference there is no
> difference in juice lost. Even Alton Brown did a show on it.

Pastorio