Joseph Littleshoes said:Isaac Wingfield said:I like to pan-cook beef steaks -- mostly New York strips about an
inchthick. I sear them for just a few minutes on each side in a very
hot cast iron skillet and then make a pan sauce.I've seen descriptions of "professional" recipes for cooking steaks
that way, that call for having the meat at room temperature prior
to cooking it. I think the meat cooks much better if the inside is
not so cold.I've tried putting the meat, unwrapped, on the griddle plate of our
kitchen stove (warmed only by the pilot lights) for about 20
minutes. It works fine, but Friend Wife says that makes her
uncomfortable.
Not a good idea. It fosters bacterial growth. AND while most will be on
the surface and killed when cooking, if the meat has been pierced and
has bacteria inside it, this will make a nice, comfy place to live long
and prosper. Cooking the meats to rare won't kill the bacteria inside.
It's true that we don't live in a sterile world and that we can't kill
all the bacteria and that not ever example of contamination will result
in food-borne illness. Actually, it takes a good bit of contamination to
cause any problems. Still, why improve the chances?
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:How does a professional restaurant bring the meat to room
temperature without risking bacterial contamination? Or is it just
not a risk? Or do they really not do itthat way?
They don't do it that way. It's only possible if the food is
pre-ordered. Otherwise, they end up with meats that can't very well be
used later after re-refrigerating. Flavors change, bacteria thrive.
Quoted message said:Special drawers or other storage facility that keep the meat at the
required temp. Often times built in under any work surface and near
the grill or stove.
Not so. Meats must be stored below 40°F. I know of no restaurant
equipment that is designed to hold meats at anything approaching room
temperature. It's illegal to do so.
Quoted message said:The really "gourmet" type place will not use
frozen or "day old" meat and will insist on the freshest meat, bought
daily in most cases, exceptions include the hanging or ageing of
beef. Fresh is best.
No. It isn't. In the beef trade, that's called "green" meat. Beef is
always better if permitted to age, either dry or wet. And every little
bit of time elapsed with beef stored properly makes it better up to a
point about 3 weeks out.
Quoted message said:For the home cook, a piece of meat well
wrapped in plastic or other sealed container and let to come to room
temp is usually sufficient, unless frozen then a planed period of
defrosting is encouraged, overnight in the fridge and any further
warming just before cooking.
Take the wrappings off, put it on a plate on the counter and just
loosely drape a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper over it to protect it
from critters and splashes.
Quoted message said:Personally i do not do this, i like my
meat well done and so it don't matter so much. The whole room temp.
thing is so you can heat a piece of meat to a to a proper temp. and
still serve the meat rare or medium.
Actually, it isn't. Temperature is the determinant of how done it is.
There is no "proper temp." - the proper temp for any degree of doneness
is the temperature for that degree of doneness. For beef it ranges from
just above 100°F (Pittsburgh or "blue"😉 to more than 180° (nasty, dry,
well-done) to, ironically, 200°F+ for a good BBQ Texas-style brisket or
pot roast.
Warming the meat before cooking is so the meat will be more juicy. The
degree of doneness is the determinant of how moist the meat will be. In
order to get a piece of cold meat to well done (or any other degree of
doneness), the outside will have to be exposed to more heat than if the
meat is already at room temp. The inside of the meat will cook by
conduction of heat. The amount of heat necessary to warm a piece of beef
from 35°to 150° is a lot more than what it takes to go from 75° to that
same end point. The outside of the steak is cooking to higher and higher
temperatures while the inside is being heated. Higher temps mean less
moisture left (both water-based and oil-based since fat renders out),
means drier meats.
Quoted message said:Some people will even argue that a freshly slaughtered, straight from
the butcher, piece of meat tastes better than a frozen or otherwise
preserved or older piece of meat, the hanging or ageing being an
exception. Air curing of large cuts of beef for 5 - 7 days is very
nice.
Fresh pork is best. Aged red meats are *always* better than
fresh-killed. Beef, lamb, goat and game are red meats, and depending on
the specific kind, can be aged from a few days to more than 6 weeks.
They can be dry-aged uncovered in a cooler (it can be done at home -
check Alton Brown's method) or wet-aged in plastic cryopacks (Google).
Pastorio