On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 303

meats are riskier, because the contaminated meat surface is broken into small fragments and spread throughout the mass The interior of a raw hamburger usually does contain bacteria, and is safest if cooked well done Raw meat dishes — steak tartare and carpaccio — should be prepared only at the last minute from cuts carefully trimmed of their surfaces Making a Safer Rare Hamburger One way to enjoy a less risky rare hamburger is to grind the meat yourself after a quick treatment that will kill surface bacteria Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, immerse the pieces of meat in the water for 30–60 seconds, then remove, drain and pat dry, and grind in a scrupulously clean meat grinder The blanching kills surface bacteria while overcooking only the outer 1–2 millimeters, which grinding then disperses invisibly throughout the rest of the meat Now that we understand the basic nature of heat and how it moves into and through meat, let’s survey the common methods of cooking meat and how to make the best of them Cooking Fresh Meat: The Methods Many traditional meat recipes were developed at a time when meats came from mature, fatty animals, and so were fairly tolerant of overcooking Fat coats and lubricates meat fibers during cooking, and stimulates the flow of saliva and creates the sensation of juiciness no matter how dry the meat fibers themselves have become Recipes for hours-long braising or stewing were developed for mature animals with substantially cross-linked collagen that took a long time to dissolve into gelatin However, today’s industrially produced meats come from relatively young animals with more soluble collagen and with far less fat; ... we understand the basic nature of heat and how it moves into and through meat, let’s survey the common methods of cooking meat and how to make the best of them Cooking Fresh Meat: The Methods... fibers during cooking, and stimulates the flow of saliva and creates the sensation of juiciness no matter how dry the meat fibers themselves have become Recipes for hours-long braising or stewing were developed for mature animals... Many traditional meat recipes were developed at a time when meats came from mature, fatty animals, and so were fairly tolerant of overcooking Fat coats and lubricates meat fibers during cooking, and stimulates the flow