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Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

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Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#161

Post by pinoy420 »

chasebank wrote: post #135
metabagel wrote: post #103

The article actually doesn't refute the idea of resting meat to retain the juices. In fact, it supports it. It just provides a reason for why this works which is perhaps different than conventional wisdom. Retaining the juices in the meat has to do with the temperature at which the meat is cut. Resting allows the temperature to drop, which creates less pressure, so the juices aren't forced out of the meat nearly as s…

"Resting allows the temperature to drop, which creates less pressure, so the juices aren't forced out of the meat nearly as strongly." I was always under the impression that if you pull your meat at let's say 128, resting it will bring the internal temperature up, finishing at like 132-134. Is this wrong?

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Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#162

Post by cogman10 »

School-Cotton wrote: post #152
cogman10 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not as much as you'd think. In this article [1], one expert failed to identify that a white wine dyed red was the same. They used different descriptors for the same wine. And none of this should be too surprising. Our brains are complex things that like to hallucinate details. If you tell someone a bottle of wine cost $1000, their brain will happily invent reasons why it's one of the best wines they've tasted. [1] ht…

I wonder whether something similar applies to spirits. I feel absolutely sure that I could tell the difference between, say, a long-aged rum and an unaged one. But if you added food coloring to an unaged one and told me it was aged, would my brain invent oak barrel flavors behind my back? Who knows.

You can always give yourself a blind taste test. Get two (or more) opaque bottles, add the various rums in test, mark the bottom of the container for the type of rum, mix it up and see if you can reliably tell the difference.

My assumption is you could because that oak flavor is pretty strong, but who knows.

Worst case scenario is you find out you still prefer expense alcohol :)

Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#163

Post by nerdsniper »

ketzo wrote: post #139
chasebank wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Resting allows the temperature to drop, which creates less pressure, so the juices aren't forced out of the meat nearly as strongly." I was always under the impression that if you pull your meat at let's say 128, resting it will bring the internal temperature up, finishing at like 132-134. Is this wrong?

That is indeed exactly what the article says — I’m not certain GP is right on this. Kenji’s original tests seem to confound this as well: every 2.5min of slicing produces steadily less juice, despite the fact that the steak’s internal temp should be rising for some of that time.

“Internal” temperatures are measured near a single point. Some internal, watery, parts will be hotter than other internal, watery, parts. On average, the temperature goes down over time even if it increases in some local parts.

So the average pressure will decrease.

(Yes, for an ideal cavity, pressure is equal everywhere, but for meat which contains highly tortured paths and a three-phase state mixture for the vapors to escape from - there can be different pressures in different areas especially once there’s any flow at all)

Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#164

Post by marcusb »

tnorthcutt wrote: post #132
jghn wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Searing the meat seals in the juices" -- every chef on every cooking show. I could be wrong on this but I think Kenji was the first prominent writer to debunk this. I bring it up given the context of who all we're talking about.

I think Alton Brown covered this on his show Good Eats quite a few years ago as well.

And Meathead over at Amazing Ribs[0]. Their explanation[1] for the "stall" (evaporative cooling) in smoking large cuts of meat is great as well.

0 - https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cook...

1 - https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cook...

Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#165

Post by NamTaf »

twelvechairs wrote: post #144
chasebank wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Resting allows the temperature to drop, which creates less pressure, so the juices aren't forced out of the meat nearly as strongly." I was always under the impression that if you pull your meat at let's say 128, resting it will bring the internal temperature up, finishing at like 132-134. Is this wrong?

Overall the steak is cooling (as the outside air is cooler). At the centre of the steak the temperature will go up first (as heat from the outside of the steak which has been in contact with the pan transfers in) then down again.

Unless I’m mistaken (and that’s quite possible!), this should be trivial to test. Sous vide some meat for an overly long time to a precise temperature, then cut each piece at set intervals.

Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#166

Post by davidczech »

crazygringo wrote: post #16
ackfoobar wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Chris Young's video, the suggestion is to stop carry over cooking by slicing the meat when the internal temperature reaches the target temperature. A corollary to that is that if the meat is closer to target temperature when it leaves the pan, you should rest the meat for less time. I don't think this is part of the conventional wisdom.

Which is a bizarre suggestion. You don't slice individual portions of meat before serving. If I order a pork chop or a ribeye at a restaurant, I'd be horrified if it came pre-sliced. And for something like an entire roast, you want to slice shortly before serving so it doesn't get too cold. Just account for carry-over cooking and cook it less initially, or sous vide.

Big steak fan here.

Many times I've ordered a large cut of meat, like a porter house or a tomahawk (usually intended to be shared with the table), they have came pre sliced. I'm pretty sure even Peter Luger's will pre slice it for you even for an individual.

Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#168

Post by twodave »

I cook (and eat) a lot of steak. Probably 3-4 per week, 1.5" thick ribeyes. For me, resting has always been about temperature normalization.

I like to sear my steaks in a cast iron skillet. I use an induction cooktop and tend to start at medium-high and ramp up to as hot as the stove will get. I think the ramp-up is important to render some of the fat without just letting it all evaporate.

I turn the steaks over frequently (30s intervals), which keeps the inside from cooking too much while the outside gets nice and crispy. I take them off the heat probably 2-3 minutes (but keep flipping! The pan is still really damn hot) before they go into the oven (at 400F).

I take the steaks out when they hit 120 and pull them out of the pan ASAP.

During the “rest” that follows I add pepper and butter to the tops of the steaks. The outsides of these steaks become way, way hotter than the insides. But the size of the layer that is so hot is very thin due to the frequent turning. So they don’t need to rest long, and the temp doesn’t rise too much once they’re out of the oven.

Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#169

Post by tptacek »

mvdtnz wrote: post #154
tptacek wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it isn't, and everyone is talking about those thermometers (there's a couple competing ones, all of them are leave-in, liquid and oven-safe, and have an array of sensors instead of just one) because they rule a lot and because Chris Young is a pretty outstanding presenter.

Yes, it is. And people are talking about them on Youtube because they are paid segments.

I'm sure there are people paid to talk about them, like about everything else, but that's not why people like Kenji and Gritzer are. Sorry, it's just a good product, and Chris Young is just an interesting guy.

Re: Major rule about cooking meat turns out to be wrong

#170

Post by tptacek »

spiralcoaster wrote: post #115
tptacek wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That a sous vide rack of ribs could win a competition to me speaks to the artificiality of competition BBQ.

You are really this shocked that some competitions ban certain methods of achieving the goal? Are you shocked that traditional wood chopping competitions ban chainsaws?

No, my surprise has nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with how unlikely I feel it is that circulated ribs would hold up to ribs smoked end-to-end. But people downthread with more information disagree, so...
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