PP Mguire
Build Guru
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- Fort Worth, Texas
I've had Taco Casa twice this work week. I'm going to blow the toilet up soon lol.
As a random side note, I do feel a large amount of ‘techniques' and ‘tips' you see in cooking are just pure bull**** with no proof or scientific backing.
@trots all I can find round here is the point, nobody does whole brisket so looks like I"m stuck with just trying for burnt ends! Will give it a crack this week and see how I do :S
Yeah there's lots of chaff mixed in with the wheat. Don't flip a steak more than once, searing meat on high heat "seals in" the juices, leave a steak out of the fridge to "bring it up to room temp", etc.
Lotta the time it's the kernel of truth that keeps them going, e.g. searing meat doesn't seal in **** - just so happens that to try that you need a hot pan, and steaks *should* be cooked on hot pans, so the myth sorta perpetuates the correct cooking technique while being totally wrong about what/why is going on. It's juicy not because you sealed in anything, but because you didn't broil/murder it on a not-hot-enough stove
Heston blumenthal and Alton brown are two great chefs in that regard for pointing out old myths and what's really going on
Here's the issue: Steak can't brown until most of the moisture has evaporated from the layers of meat closest to the surface, and it takes a hell of a lot of energy to evaporate moisture. To put it in perspective. It takes five times more energy to convert a single gram of water into steam than it does to raise the temperature of that water all the way from ice cold to boiling hot. So when searing a steak, the vast majority of energy that goes into it is used to evaporate moisture from its surface layers. Next to that energy requirement, a 20, 30, or even 40 degree difference in the temperature of the surface of the meat is a piddling affair.
The Takeaway: Don't bother letting your steaks rest at room temperature. Rather, dry them very thoroughly on paper towels before searing. Or better yet, salt them and let them rest uncovered on a rack in the fridge for a night or two, so that their surface moisture can evaporate. You'll get much more efficient browning that way
Ahh but see here's why myths perpetuate! Did you actually test how much warmer the steak was after however long you left it out? This guy did, myth #1 here: https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/06/the-food-lab-7-old-wives-tales-about-cooking-steak.html
(also side note, that site and chef James are *amazing* resources)
I tested the same after reading that and damn if he ain't right now my method is pat dry and salt, I tried salting the previous day but tbh for the cut of meat I used it was *too* tender almost n weird :s maybe I used too much salt, either way I'm very happy with the results of just a pat down and salt right before the pan.