Cooking 101: Resting Meat

How important is resting your meat after cooking? Does it really make a difference?

Water is stored in the muscle fiber of meat, or myofibrils. When heat is applied to the meat, the myofibrils contract, expelling water from the cells. When you allow the meat to rest after cooking, the juices are able to reabsorb into the myofibrils leaving you with a moist, juicy bite. If you cut into the meat right out of pan, all those juices run and are lost.

In an experiment done by Cook's Illustrated, they cooked 5 boneless pork loins in a 400° oven until the internal temperature reached 140°. One was cut as soon as it was pulled out of the oven and the remainder were tented with foil and allowed to rest for 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes.

The roast cut immediately lost 10 tablespoons of liquid. The roast allowed to rest 10 minutes lost 4 tablespoons of liquid. The 20 minute roast lost 2.5 tablespoons, the 30 minute lost 1 tablespoon and the 40 minute lost 2 teaspoons. Tasters said the 10 minute roast was much juicier than the roast cut immediately (which was described as tough and dry). They didn't notice much difference between the 30 and 40 minute roasts.

The difference between the roast immediately cut and the one allowed to rest 10 minutes is obvious. We can all stand to wait a few extra minutes before eating if it means the difference between dry and tough or moist and juicy, right?

Here are some suggested resting times for different cuts of meat. Go with the shorter or longer time indicated based on the relative size of the cut you're preparing in the appropriate category:

Beef

• Steak: 5 to 10 minutes
• Roast: 15 to 30 minutes

Lamb

• Chops: 5 to 10 minutes
• Roast: 15 to 30 minutes

Pork

• Chops: 5 to 10 minutes
• Roast: 15 to 30 minutes

Chicken

• Parts: 5 to 10 minutes
• Whole: 15 to 20 minutes

Turkey

• Parts: 20 minutes
• Whole: 30 to 40 minutes

    

Cooking 101: Cooking Methods

There are so many different ways to cook and many different proteins. If you're a novice in the kitchen, how do you decide what method to use? Here's a helpful guide to get you started.

Saute: to cook in a shallow pan with a small amount of oil or fat over relatively high heat. This method is best for thinner foods, like steak or pork chops or chicken cutlets.. Since you're using high heat, you're able to get a nice sear on your protein. The key is to have a uniform thickness not much more than an inch. Any more than that and you tend to have a burnt exterior by the time the center of your meat is done.

Roast: to cook using dry heat such as in an oven. This method is typically done with larger cuts of meat and whole birds. When you have a steak, for example, over an inch thick, you would do well to use a mixture of cooking methods such as sauteing first to sear the surface and then finish off by roasting in the oven. (See recipe for How To Cook a Perfect Chicken Breast for an example of this method)

Poach: to cook foods in liquid that is well below the boiling point. There are no bubbles breaking the surface of the liquid. This method is a gentle cooking method for delicate proteins such as eggs and fish.

Simmer: to cook foods in liquid at or just below boiling, but higher than poaching temperature. 

Braise: to cook with a combination of moist and dry heat; to cook by sauteing first, then adding liquid and simmering. Braising is ideal for larger, tough cuts of meat that need prolonged cooking times to become tender. The key to this method is low and slow. The tough connective tissue needs time to break down into gelatin to make it tender but in order for you to have good texture, it needs to be seared first. Otherwise you'll end up with boiled meat. (See recipe for Braised Short Ribs Beef Stew for an example of this method)

Stew: to cook as in braising, except with small chunks of food instead of whole roasts.

Tips & Tricks: Room Temperature for Eggs and Butter

You know you've seen those two little words in the recipe and totally disregarded them - Room Temperature. Do they really make a difference?

Room temperature eggs are less viscous and thus make lighter, fluffier baked goods! We all like light, fluffy cakes, right? But who thinks ahead enough to put the eggs out hours beforehand to warm up? Well, here's a tip. Put the eggs in some warm water until they're not cold to the touch any more. Ta-da! Spur-of-the-moment bakers, rejoice!

Now, what about room temperature butter? Having room temperature butter will allow the most amount of air to be beaten into your batter, again, making lighter, fluffier baked goods! When you cream your butter, it creates air pockets that will expand when you add your leaveners (baking powder or soda). Conversely, you'll want to use cold butter for things like pie crusts because the butter won't be absorbed as much and will result in flakiness.

You can quickly get butter to room temperature by cutting it into small cubes and letting it sit for a bit, microwaving it in 5 second bursts, or by grating it.

Tips & Tricks: Fresh Lemons

How many times has this happened to you? You find a recipe that you really want to try out and it calls for lemon zest. You think maybe if you just add a little extra from that bottle of lemon juice you have in the fridge... but no! you are going to do it right, gosh darn it! So you go to the store and now you're hit with a difficult decision. You see you can buy two large lemons for $2 or a whole bag of smaller lemons for $2. If you're anything like me, you want to get the most bang for your buck so you get the bag, not knowing what you're going to do with all those extra lemons. And most likely, all but the lemon you used for the recipe ends up going bad and you toss them. Sigh.

Now here's the trick to buying a bag of lemons. Freeze them! Whenever you come across a recipe that calls for lemon zest, march right over to your freezer, pull out a lemon and zest away!

Tips & Tricks: Cooking with Wine

When your recipe calls for wine, please, please, please use wine that you would actually drink instead of the "cooking wine" you can pick up in the grocery store. The grocery store variety has preservatives in it, and really, if you wouldn't want to sit down with a glass of it at the end of a long day, why would you want to cook with it and have it in your food?

If you're not a big wine person and fear buying a bottle only to have it go to waste, why, send the leftovers to me! Ok, ok. How about this nifty trick instead. Freeze the wine in an ice cube tray and then you always have one ounce servings whenever you need them!

Tips & Tricks: Dutch Ovens

Dutch Ovens. No, not that gross thing males do involving farting, bed sheets and their poor, unfortunate significant other. I'm talking about those glorious, cast iron vessels, usable on the stove top and in the oven. Capable of transforming mere toughest piece of meat into a slow cooked, fall apart tender morsel worthy of song.

"They're expensive," you say. I know. But they really are worth it. Ask for one on your next birthday. Or for Christmas. Or for Valentines Day. Or Mother's Day. Or you anniversary. See? That's five opportunities in one year for you to have someone else get it for you!

 Cast iron isn't a good conductor of heat so it'll take a while to heat up but that also means it will retain it well. Use it to braise meat, simmer stews and soups, deep fry whatever your heart desires and slow cook anything you normally would in a crock pot.

Here's a sampling of dutch ovens for your drooling pleasure and here is a good overview of 5 different brands to help you make your choice.

Also, here are some recipes you can make in your brand new dutch oven:

Braised Organic Lamb & Beans

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats

Barbecue Pork Sandwiches

How to Cook the Perfect Chicken Breast

Have you ever tried to pan sear a chicken breast in a skillet and have it stick to the pan, burn, or get all dried out? I've had that happen more times than I can count. However, I've finally figured out the perfect way to cook chicken breast and would love to share with you now how I do it.

First off, let me give you a little insight into the mechanics of cooking. Have you ever burnt your finger? What happens? You get a blister. The skin sears and stops moisture from getting through. While this is sort of a gross comparison, it's exactly the same procedure with searing the chicken. You want to sear the outside quickly so that it traps the moisture in the chicken, keeping it juicy.

Conversely, what happens when you have a lot of water in the pan you're cooking in? You end up steaming the food. It is very important that the meat you are cooking is completely dry if you're going to get a good sear. Always pat your meat dry with a paper towel before cooking. Also, dredging your meat in flour or cornstarch will help to draw our the remaining moisture and gives and excellent sear. 

Another key to ensuring a good sear is to warm up your stainless steel skillet first before adding any oil (if you're using non-stick, you'll need to have oil in the skillet while it's warming up so you're not overheating the chemicals in the Teflon). You can put a little bit of water on the surface while it's heating up and when it all evaporates you'll know it's the right temperature. Once it's hot, pour some oil into the pan. You'll see it swirl around the pan immediately and steam a bit as hot oil does. Now is the perfect time to put your prepped chicken breast in.

And as a side note, pounding your chicken breast thinner so it is an even thickness will ensure it all cooks at the same time.

Cook your chicken until it's lightly browned on both sides and then pop it into a pre-heated 400°F oven for 5-10 minutes. Voila! Perfection!