The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 457

It’s not the end of the world—what’s left of the skin is still relatively crisp, and the flesh underneath may be perfectly cooked, but it’s certainly not the kind of thing that’s gonna impress the mother-in-law After cooking my way through several pounds of salmon fillets at various temperature ranges, I found that the key to getting the skin to stay intact is serendipitously the same method that gets you the most evenly cooked, moistest, tenderest salmon And guess what? This technique will work fo r any firm-fleshed thick fish fillet, such as halibut, bass, grouper, or snapper I’ve broken it down into a few easy steps Perfect Fish Tip 1: Preheat the Oil Know why that fish likes to stick to the metal pan? It’s not just a matter of being, well, sticky, it’s actually a chemical bond that occurs between the fish and the pan at a molecular level This happens with all meat With land-dwelling animals like beef or pork, though, it’s not quite as big a deal The robust flesh of land animals sticks to itself better than it sticks to a pan The worst you’ll get is a deposit of browned proteins that have been expelled from the meat as it cooks With tender fish, on the other hand, it’s very easy for it to stick to the pan better than it sticks to itself Rather than lifting cleanly, it tears The key to preventing this is to make sure that the skin heats up as fast as possible With enough hot fat in the pan, the skin will have heated up, causing its proteins to tighten and coagulate, before it comes into direct contact with the hot metal This prevents it from forming a strong molecular bond with the metal and makes subsequent ... With tender fish, on the other hand, it’s very easy for it to stick to the pan better than it sticks to itself Rather than lifting cleanly, it tears The key to preventing this is to make sure that the skin heats up as fast as possible... as big a deal The robust flesh of land animals sticks to itself better than it sticks to a pan The worst you’ll get is a deposit of browned proteins that have been expelled from the meat as it cooks...Know why that fish likes to stick to the metal pan? It’s not just a matter of being, well, sticky, it’s actually a chemical bond that occurs between the fish and the pan at a molecular level This