Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time • Hacker News Board

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#31

Post by bigbadgoose » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 10:47 PM UTC

person_of_color wrote: post #24

My question is how to brown/caramelize meat with only an induction cooktop? After I put my chicken, I just see all the water come out and the chicken starts boiling in the pan :(

What is the cut? You might be buying brined chicken (salt solution).

If it was previously frozen, and not thawed out this might be the problem.

Maybe you are "crowding" the pan? When you put too much protein in the pan too close together, the meat steams instead of searing. It needs space for the moisture to air out.

Or you might have lots of surface moisture. Based on your scant description, I'm guessing this might be your issue.

Regardless, try this next time:

- line a flat plate with paper towels

- take your protein out of the packaging, and pat dry on all sides with other paper towels

- place protein on the lined plate

- turn over and replace towels after 12 or so hours. to avoid this, and the lining, you can put the protein on a rack with a towel underneath so air can circulate under the meat

- put back in your fridge overnight on lowest shelf, uncovered (fridge is a very dry environment)

- next day, surface should be very dry

- take protein out 45 minutes before cooking it

- super hot pan + high smoke point oil + don't crowd it + dry protein surface == nicely seared

note: super hot + nonstick is toxic. use cast iron, or stainless that works with induction. induction should get hot enough to sear at 500-700 degrees

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#32

Post by peterwwillis » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 10:48 PM UTC

person_of_color wrote: post #24

My question is how to brown/caramelize meat with only an induction cooktop? After I put my chicken, I just see all the water come out and the chicken starts boiling in the pan :(

Is your pan induction compatible? If the metal has too much nickel it'll cancel out the magnetic field. Put a magnet to the bottom of your pan and if it grips strongly it should work. Also, do not use a teflon-lined pan. Pans with thick bottoms are better because they retain more heat which is then available to transfer into your meat, and with typical ranges will help avoid hot-spots.

Pre-heat your pan. As your pan heats, toss some water droplets into the pan. Once they immediately form beads and roll around the pan like crazy, your pan is hot enough. But don't let it get too much hotter; if the water droplets disappear in <3 seconds, it's too hot. Pat your slightly-chilled or room-temperature chicken dry with paper towels before putting it down; excess water will prevent the sear, pull moisture out, and boil the chicken. And don't crowd the chicken in the pan, or the close proximity of escaping water vapor will steam the chicken. You can also try adding a light coat of oil to the dry chicken.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#33

Post by hammock » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 10:49 PM UTC

scott00 wrote: post #17

hammock wrote: post #13

I'm looking for a recipe that maximizes the term Net Meat Score = [(browning+med rare) - (medium+well)] while also enforcing steak=3cm, Rare=0%, Raw=0, Char=0, and steak starting at either 0C or 23C. Note that you have to let the meat rest for 10+ minutes to really let it finish (the default settings cut it off to early). The best I have gotten under normal conditions is: Net Meat Score of 40, by doing: Steak starts…

Sous vide with no sear maximizes that: 24 hours at 57C on both sides. It yields 100% medium rare.

Fair, but I was looking for a crust :)

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#34

Post by rootusrootus » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 10:57 PM UTC

thinkingkong wrote: post #7

I'm impressed but disappointed the "reverse sear" is missing. If you haven't tried, it, it's a pretty amazing way to cook a steak and it scales up to lots of steaks at the same time. It's awesome [1] https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/how-to-reverse-sear-best...

One thing to note is that reverse sear was his answer to sous vide being too expensive. He does note that there are upsides and downsides to both, but the world has changed and these days precision sous vide circulators are dirt cheap.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#35

Post by lbotos » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 11:20 PM UTC

th0ma5 wrote: post #25

groestl wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With sous-vide, I'm always wondering a little bit about food safety (BPA and friends). Is there any reason to be concerned or is it just FUD?

This link gets into food safety aspects. Sous-vide is technically a pasteurization process in a way. http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

I think he meant specifically of "cooking in plastic":

https://www.packagingdigest.com/food-packaging/most-food-can...

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#36

Post by person_of_color » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 11:47 PM UTC

bigbadgoose wrote: post #31

person_of_color wrote: post #24

My question is how to brown/caramelize meat with only an induction cooktop? After I put my chicken, I just see all the water come out and the chicken starts boiling in the pan :(

What is the cut? You might be buying brined chicken (salt solution). If it was previously frozen, and not thawed out this might be the problem. Maybe you are "crowding" the pan? When you put too much protein in the pan too close together, the meat steams instead of searing. It needs space for the moisture to air out. Or you might have lots of surface moisture. Based on your scant description, I'm guessing this might…

Chicken breast diced into cubes, using Rice Bran oil. I will try those tips. My problem sounds like crowding.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#37

Post by halbritt » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 11:56 PM UTC

QuotedForTruth wrote: post #10

thinkingkong wrote: post #7

I'm impressed but disappointed the "reverse sear" is missing. If you haven't tried, it, it's a pretty amazing way to cook a steak and it scales up to lots of steaks at the same time. It's awesome [1] https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/how-to-reverse-sear-best...

Just make your own. Or click "as text" and paste this in: 3cm Steak starts at 23°C 110°C and 110°C for 2:00 23°C and 230°C for 0:15 230°C and 23°C for 0:15 23°C and 23°C for 20:00

I tend to do something around 75-80c for an hour on a 3-4cm thick steak. The slower one goes, the easier it is to make up for errors in probe placement, multiple steaks, etc.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#38

Post by ska » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 11:57 PM UTC

bigbadgoose wrote: post #31

person_of_color wrote: post #24

My question is how to brown/caramelize meat with only an induction cooktop? After I put my chicken, I just see all the water come out and the chicken starts boiling in the pan :(

What is the cut? You might be buying brined chicken (salt solution). If it was previously frozen, and not thawed out this might be the problem. Maybe you are "crowding" the pan? When you put too much protein in the pan too close together, the meat steams instead of searing. It needs space for the moisture to air out. Or you might have lots of surface moisture. Based on your scant description, I'm guessing this might…

salted liberally + open rack in the fridge for about a day gives you both dry surface and well seasoned. sometimes called a "dry brine"

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#39

Post by nimos » Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 11:59 PM UTC

compumike wrote: post #3

We built a somewhat better thermodynamic model into the Pantelligent iOS and Android apps -- i.e. user would select 1" thick steak, medium, and then we'd use the real temperature signal to adjust the cooking time. The key fact this simulation is missing is that the outermost layer of the food quickly becomes dehydrated, at which point its thermal conductivity drops dramatically. This is good! It allows for much more…

Is Pantelligent not available anymore? I was actually just looking for it as a possible xmas gift a couple weeks ago.

Re: Cook My Meat: heat diffusion through meat over time

#40

Post by halbritt » Tue, Dec 18, 2018, 12:00 AM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #34

thinkingkong wrote: post #7

I'm impressed but disappointed the "reverse sear" is missing. If you haven't tried, it, it's a pretty amazing way to cook a steak and it scales up to lots of steaks at the same time. It's awesome [1] https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/how-to-reverse-sear-best...

One thing to note is that reverse sear was his answer to sous vide being too expensive. He does note that there are upsides and downsides to both, but the world has changed and these days precision sous vide circulators are dirt cheap.

I've tried both and much prefer the reverse sear to a sous vide steak. Getting a good sear on a wet steak is pretty difficult.

I will say that sous vide steaks make good camping food. I get vacuum sealed ones, cook 'em in the bag, toss 'em in my cooler and when it comes time, they can be dried with a few paper towels that then get tossed in the fire, some salt and pepper, and put a steak on a spit like a marshmallow.