Low temperature cooking is a cooking technique, a variant of
roastingRoasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered a flavour enhancement. Meats and most root and bulb vegetables can be roasted...
, which is claimed to produce more tender and tasty results than traditional high-temperature roasting. In low temperature cooking, the food to be cooked (typically a
red meatRed meat in culinary terminology refers to meat which is red-colored when raw. Red meat includes the meat of many—but not all—mammals.- Gastronomy :In gastronomy, red meat is darker-colored meat, as contrasted with white meat...
, such as
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
) is cooked for a long period of time (in the region of 10–20 hours) at a low temperature (in some cases, as low as 55°C, 130°F). The technique is favoured by
avant-garde chefs including
Heston BlumenthalHeston Marc Blumenthal OBE is the chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in the village of Bray in Berkshire voted Best Restaurant in the UK by the Good Food Guide 2007 and 2009, and voted Best Restaurant in the World by fellow chefs in 2005...
.
Meat is cooked for four reasons - to tenderise it, to provide additional flavours, to kill harmful
bacteriaThe bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
, and to kill parasites such as
Trichinella spiralisTrichinella spiralis is a nematode parasite, occurring in rats, pigs, and humans, and is responsible for the disease trichinosis. It is sometimes referred to as the "pork worm" due to it being found commonly in pork or rat products that are undercooked....
and Diphyllobothrium.
Low temperature cooking is a cooking technique, a variant of
roastingRoasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered a flavour enhancement. Meats and most root and bulb vegetables can be roasted...
, which is claimed to produce more tender and tasty results than traditional high-temperature roasting. In low temperature cooking, the food to be cooked (typically a
red meatRed meat in culinary terminology refers to meat which is red-colored when raw. Red meat includes the meat of many—but not all—mammals.- Gastronomy :In gastronomy, red meat is darker-colored meat, as contrasted with white meat...
, such as
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
) is cooked for a long period of time (in the region of 10–20 hours) at a low temperature (in some cases, as low as 55°C, 130°F). The technique is favoured by
avant-garde chefs including
Heston BlumenthalHeston Marc Blumenthal OBE is the chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in the village of Bray in Berkshire voted Best Restaurant in the UK by the Good Food Guide 2007 and 2009, and voted Best Restaurant in the World by fellow chefs in 2005...
.
Theory
Meat is cooked for four reasons - to tenderise it, to provide additional flavours, to kill harmful
bacteriaThe bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
, and to kill parasites such as
Trichinella spiralisTrichinella spiralis is a nematode parasite, occurring in rats, pigs, and humans, and is responsible for the disease trichinosis. It is sometimes referred to as the "pork worm" due to it being found commonly in pork or rat products that are undercooked....
and Diphyllobothrium. While all four can be achieved by cooking a joint of meat at high temperature for a long period of time, this is not the only way: each goal is achieved at a different temperature, and takes a different length of time to achieve.
Tenderisation
Raw meat is tough because of a variety of
proteinProteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
s it contains, including
actinActin is a globular, roughly 42-kDa protein found in all eukaryotic cells where it may be present at concentrations of over 100 μM. It is also one of the most highly-conserved proteins, differing by no more than 20% in species as diverse as algae and humans...
,
myosinMyosins are a large family of motor proteins found in eukaryotic tissues. They are responsible for actin-based motility.Following the discovery by Pollard and Korn of enzymes with myosin-like function in Acanthamoeba castellanii, a large number of divergent myosin genes have been discovered...
and
collagenCollagen is the main protein of connective tissue in animals and the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content. It is naturally found exclusively in metazoa, including sponges. In muscle tissue it serves as a major component of endomysium...
. Heating these proteins causes them to denature, and break down into other substances that do not make the meat tough. This happens at a range of temperatures between 55°C and 65°C.
Flavour
Flavours may be enhanced by the
Maillard reactionThe Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. It is vitally important in the preparation or presentation of many types of food, and, like caramelization, it is a form of non-enzymatic browning...
, which combines
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
s and
amino acidAmino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and one of the twenty R-groups. These molecules are particularly important in biochemistry, where this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H
2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent...
s at temperatures in the region of 100°C. A roast meat typically has a brown crust, which is caused by such a reaction and is generally considered desirable.
Bacteria
Bacteria are typically killed at temperatures of around 68°C. Most harmful bacteria live on the surface of pieces of meat, so in the case of red meats, it is usually safe merely to bring the surface uniformly to this temperature and hold it there for a few minutes.
Gravy
Since this method of cooking causes the meat to withhold its fat content, producing gravy from the joint is impossible, however, gravy is unnecessary since the meat is sufficiently moist when cooked using this technique.
Practice
A typical recipe for low temperature cooking would include briefly raising the temperature of the outside of the food to be cooked to a very high temperature, perhaps using a blow torch. The food would then be placed into a low temperature oven for a long period, before being rested briefly prior to serving. One variant places the food in a
dishwasherA dishwasher is a mechanical device for cleaning dishes and eating utensils. Dishwashers can be found in restaurants and private homes.-How dishwashers work:...
(see
Dishwasher salmon).
See also
- Temperature (meat)
Temperature, or doneness, is a description of how thoroughly cooked a cut of meat is based on the color, juiciness and internal temperature when served...
- Molecular gastronomy
Molecular gastronomy is a scientific discipline involving the study of physical and chemical processes that occur in cooking. It pertains to the mechanisms behind the transformation of ingredients in cooking and the social, artistic and technical components of culinary and gastronomic phenomena in...
- Sous-vide
Sous-vide , French for "under vacuum", is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period of time at relatively low temperatures...
- Food safety
Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards. Food can transmit disease from person to person as well as...
- Critical control point
Critical Control Point is a point, step or procedure at which controls can be applied and a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels...
External links