The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 769

BONES Q: Here’s one for you: bone-in or bone-out? I’ve always wondered about this one myself, so I ran a series of tests Many chefs say that cooking meat on the bone is always a better idea because the bone contributes lots of flavor I’m skeptical First of all, most of the flavor in a bone is deep inside, in the marrow If you ever make a stock out of just bones, you’ll find that it’s almost tasteless unless the bones are cracked first And as far as flavor penetration goes, there’s very little movement of molecules across a piece of meat Even marinating overnight will only get you a couple millimeters of penetration (more on that in a moment) What chance does any flavor from the bone have of getting into the meat during the short roasting or pan-searing time? To test this, I cooked four identical prime rib roasts The first was cooked with the bone on For the second, I removed the bone but then tied it back against the meat for cooking For the third, I removed the bone and tied it back against the meat, but with an intervening piece of impermeable heavy-duty aluminum foil The fourth was cooked without the bone Tasted side by side, the first three were indistinguishable from one another The fourth, on the other hand, was a little tougher in the region next to where the bone used to be What does this indicate? Well, first off, it means the flavor exchange theory is bunk—the completely intact piece of meat tasted exactly the same as the one with the intervening aluminum foil But it also means that the bone serves at least one important function: it insulates the meat, slowing its cooking and providing less surface area to lose moisture  ... into the meat during the short roasting or pan-searing time? To test this, I cooked four identical prime rib roasts The first was cooked with the bone on For the second, I removed the bone but then tied it back against the meat for... removed the bone but then tied it back against the meat for cooking For the third, I removed the bone and tied it back against the meat, but with an intervening piece of impermeable heavy-duty aluminum foil The fourth was cooked without the bone... cooked without the bone Tasted side by side, the first three were indistinguishable from one another The fourth, on the other hand, was a little tougher in the region next to where the bone used to be What does