The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 800

ULTRA-CRISP ROAST PORK SHOULDER Pork shoulder is the lead of culinary alchemists, just waiting, itching to be turned into gold We’re talking pork butt, in all of its juicy, porky, spoontender-in-the-middle, impossibly crisp-and-crusty-on-theoutside glory The transformation of one of the cheapest cuts of meat in the butcher’s display case into one of the most glorious, festive centerpieces imaginable is nothing short of a miracle At least, it would be if we believed in such things But we’re here for the science of it, right? What makes pork get tender, how we maximize that tenderness, and above all, how we get the crisp, crackling skin that everyone fights over? A full bone-in Boston butt is a formidable piece of meat, usually weighing in at around 8 to 12 pounds, riddled with a significant amount of connective tissue and inter/intramuscular fat, all swathed in a thick, tough skin Our goal is to make this tough piece of meat spoonably tender How you that? Well, first we need to understand the difference between the two major types of muscles in an animal Fast-twitch muscle is the stuff that the animal rarely uses, except in short bursts: The breasts on a chicken that let it flap its wings rapidly when escaping danger The loins on a cow that, well, barely get used at all Fast-twitch muscle is characterized by tenderness (think chicken breast, pork chops, and New York strip steaks) and a fine-textured grain and is best prepared using fast-cooking methods like roasting, grilling, or sautéing (see Chapter 3) With fasttwitch muscle, optimal eating conditions are met pretty much as soon as you reach your final serving temperature (say, 145°F for a chicken breast or 125°F for a steak) As the meat is heated, it contracts, squeezing out moisture at a rate that’s proportional to the temperature it’s raised to So, for example, you know that as soon as a steak hits 150°F, its muscle fibers have contracted enough to squeeze out about 12 percent of its moisture, and there’s no turning back (see here–here for more details) Slow-Twitch muscle, on the other hand, comprises the continually working muscles in an animal: The shoulders and haunches that keep the animal upright and walking The tail muscles that keep the flies off The muscles around the ... 12 percent of its moisture, and there’s no turning back (see here–here for more details) Slow-Twitch muscle, on the other hand, comprises the continually working muscles in an animal: The shoulders and haunches that keep the animal upright and walking... animal Fast-twitch muscle is the stuff that the animal rarely uses, except in short bursts: The breasts on a chicken that let it flap its wings rapidly when escaping danger The loins on a cow that,... animal: The shoulders and haunches that keep the animal upright and walking The tail muscles that keep the flies off The muscles around the