Chapter 11 Cooking Meats and Game

Chapter Objectives 1. Cook meats by roasting and baking. 2. Cook meats by broiling, grilling, and pan-broiling. 3. Cook meats by sautéing, pan-frying, and griddling. 4. Cook meats by simmering. 5. Cook meats by braising. 6. Cook variety meats.

Roasting and Baking Remember Chapter 4, on the definitions of roasting and baking. A refresher: To cook foods by surrounding them with hot, dry air, usually in an oven. No water is added, the food is uncovered, so moisture can escape.

Roasting and Baking (cont’d) Seasoning - Salt added to the surface will penetrate only a fraction of an inch into the surface Alternatives Season several hours or a day ahead to allow the seasonings a chance to penetrate Season after roasting Don’t season meat at all, but carefully season the sauce or juice (jus) you are serving with the meat

Seasoning With roasts of any size, there are two alternatives to seasoning just before roasting. Marinate the meat or apply seasonings in advance to allow the flavors to penetrate the surface of the meat. Serve the meat with a flavorful sauce, gravy, or jus.

Temperature Low-temperature roasting will give excellent results and will result in: Less shrinkage. More flavor, juiciness, and tenderness. More even doneness from outside to inside. Greater ease of carving. Generally temperatures of 250° F to 325° F.

Temperature (cont’d) Searing: A well-browned, crusted surface is desired for appearance. High-Temperature Roasting: Very small pieces may be roasted at 375° F to 450° F. This has a similar effect to broiling, a well-browned crusted exterior. Convection Ovens: Reduce the temperature 50° F. The forced hot air can have a drying effect and increase shrinkage. (Note: Convection ovens are effective at browning and high temperature roasting.)

Roasting and Baking Fat Side Up or Fat Side Down Basting Generally fat side up allows for continuous basting of the roasted item. Basting Basting is unnecessary if the roast is fat side up. If you are roasting lean cuts of meat barding may be necessary. Barding is covering the meat with a layer of fat such as bacon or fatback. Use of Mirepoix Added at the last part of the cooking cycle adds flavor to the sauce/gravy. Some chefs think the mirepoix does little to the flavor of the roasted meat and in fact might be harmful due to increased moisture.

Broiling, Grilling, and Pan-Broiling Broiling and grilling are dry-heat methods of cooking, which use high heat to cook quickly. Temperature Control: The goal of broiling is to produce brown, flavorful, crusty surface. Cooking time varies by The thickness of the cut Desired doneness

Seasoning There is disagreement among chefs about whether seasoning should be done before or after broiling. Our suggestion is that if you have a professional broiler and preheat it properly, it is not difficult to brown the foods that have been seasoned before cooking. An alternative would be to serve the meat with seasoned butter or marinate before cooking.

Sauces and Accompaniments Many different sauces and accompaniments are appropriate for grilled meats including: Compound butters Butter sauces Brown sauce variations Tomatoes sauce variations Salsas and relishes

Pan-Broiling Broiling very thin steaks is very difficult because the temperature is not high enough to get the nice brown crust without overcooking. The use of a heavy iron skillet would be a good solution to the overcooking problem.

Sautéing, Pan-Frying, and Griddling Each time you cook meat, you must judge how much heat and how much fat to use to get the best results. It will depend on the kind of food and the size of the pieces.

Deglazing the Pan A sauce made by deglazing the pan often accompanies sautéed meat. To deglaze means to swirl a liquid in the pan to disolve the cooked particles. Two ways: Add the reduced glazing liquid to a prepared sauce after straining Use the deglazing liquid to make a new sauce

Stir-Frying The Chinese technique of stir-frying is like sautéing except in sautéing the pan is used to toss or flip the food, while in stir-frying the pan is stationary and the food is flipped with spatulas or other tools. The traditional Chinese stir-fry is done on a wok, which has a rounded bottom and uses very high heat.

Simmering Simmering is not usually used as a cooking method for meats. They generally lack the flavor of browned meats by dry heat. Simmering can be used to prepare lesser quality meats like ham or corned beef, cured tongue, and fresh beef brisket. Stewing means to cook smaller pieces of meat by simmering or braising (combining browning and simmering).

Braising A combination of dry-heat and moist-heat cooking methods Method: Meat is first browned or seared in fat or in an oven, then simmered in a flavored liquid. The popularity of braising is due to flavor imparted by the browning and the sauce that is made from the simmering liquid. Fricassees are white stews made by cooking white meat over low heat without browning and adding a liquid.

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