| 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 |
| 1 | 103 | 205 | 308 | 410 |
|
Cooking method
Weight loss in percent
Rare
8-12
10-12
8-12
Medium
15-20
15-20
14-18
Well-done
Broiling
20-25
20-30
20-25
25-35
35-50
Pan frying
Oven roasting
Pot roasting
Stewing
(Adapted from Banning)
When to add the spices
Food professionals have always debated the issue of when to add spices and flavorings to
meat using dry heat cooking method. Some chefs claim that the spices penetrate the meat during
the cooking process and you should add them before cooking begins. Controlled testing shows
that spices, salt or any other flavoring, only penetrate the meat to about a half-inch (1¼-cm)
depth even when roasting for a long time.
When spicing meat, remember that many spices lose their chief flavoring ingredients,
essential oils, after prolonged heating. Sturdy flavorings, such as seeds or bay leaf give off their
oils slowly. These flavor best when they are part of the entire cooking process. Delicate herbs,
such as tarragon or cilantro lose essential oil quickly on heat. For pronounced flavor, add these
only during the last few minutes of cooking.
Marinades
Marinades introduce flavor into meat, but they also tenderize. Tenderizers, on the other
hand, don't add any flavor. They do nothing more than make the meat more tender.
Marinades are acidic. They contain lemon juice, vinegar, wine, tomato juice, buttermilk,
yogurt, even acidic fruit juice, along with spices, herbs and flavorings that give meat a
completely different character and a complex flavor. They are only effective on small pieces of
meat, no more than a couple of inches thick, because they only penetrate about half an inch
below the surface. The acid in the marinade alters the chemistry of proteins (organic chemists’
term the acid denatures proteins), a process somewhat similar to cooking but without heat. No
actual cooked meat flavor develops in this process.
Ideally, marinate meat for at least a couple of hours, even overnight, if you have the time.
If not, even a short period in a marinade is beneficial to flavor. If you leave the meat in the
marinade too long, it gets mushy on the surface since the acid breaks down the meat fiber
proteins.
Another way to introduce flavor into meat is through spice rubs—you rub the surface of
the meat with dry or fresh herbs and spices. The meat sits for minutes to hours with the
flavorings before cooking. You can make your own spice rub mixtures or buy commercially
available products. Spice rubs are effective with moist cooking techniques but don't do much for
flavor on high dry heat contrary to what some cookbook authors claim. On high heat most of the
flavor components of herbs and spices vaporize within minutes, well before the meat is ready to
put on serving plates. The flavors only remain if the flavoring agents successfully penetrated
deep into the meat over several hours or days. Or if you add them late in the dry cooking process.
play © erdosh 66
Page
Quick Jump
|