Temperature and Time Content Discussion- discuss this point of view

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An example for a “low and slow” cooking method is a roast. I make roast, potatoes and carrots in the crockpot often with a busy household. The tough cut of meat needs to maintain its moisture and needs to cook on a low heat to maintain flavor and tenderness. The science behind this method is that you want to cook it above the “collagen-dissolving minimum” (McGee, 163). Meats with lots of connective tissue must be cooked at a minimum temperature of 160-180 degrees to dissolve the collagen. But when you cook at this temperature the meat loses it’s fluid, so it’s a challenge to keep the tough and large cuts of meat moist. So, the best solution to keep them from drying out is to cook them on low and over many hours. Once the meat is tender (able to cut with a fork), remove from heat source so the meat stops cooking. The physical changes you would see in the meat, is the meat will darken in color, the meat will shrink (as the moist is removed) and it will become tender and flake apart.

 

 

     An example of “hot and fast” is a vegetable stir-fry in a wok. Vegetable stir-fry is a fast healthy way to whip up a dinner. The science behind frying these vegetables is the food is heated by conduction from the hot pan through the oil to the vegetables. This high temperature promotes the Mallaird reaction which greatly enhances flavor. The key to stir-frying is adding the vegetables into a high temperature pan, having an oil to conduct the heat through and constantly stirring to evenly cook the vegetables (McGee, 287). Also, the vegetables should be cut to a similar size to promote even cooking. The physical changes you will see the vegetables is they will soften and have charred outsides. After doing a little more research on the importance of the wok, Seriouseats.com had more to explain about why stir-fries at a restaurant typically taste better. It comes down to the “high energy heat input.” This required at the beginning and throughout the cooking process. Typically restaurant grade woks can get 20-25 times hotter than your standard kitchen wok.

 

 

 

Lopez-Alt, J. Kenji. "The Food Lab: For the Best Stir-Fry, Fire Up the Grill." Serious Eats: The Destination for Delicious. The Food Lab, 12 June 2012. Web. 11 July 2016.

 

 

 

McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.

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