Squid is a delicious sea creep. So delicious that it is irresponsible to ignore it and ignore it on the menu.
But many of my acquaintances complain that the squid becomes very tough during cooking, practically nibbling, and therefore they do not like it. Cooking - right, all according to the recommendations.
In general, the rules for cooking squid have been known for a long time - it must be cooked or very quickly. There is no middle way.
A couple of minutes, and the carcass becomes tough. You can soften the squid meat by boiling it or stewing it for another hour and a half, but... How many will bother so much?
I agree that the rules often fail. Because 1-3 minutes is a very general recommendation. It does not take into account the temperature of the squid, nor the cooking temperature, nor the size of the pieces. In order to cook squid always cool, you need to know only one rule - the temperature above which the product cannot be heated!
Why does squid get tough? Everything is simple here - a squid is, in fact, one huge muscle sac. When heated, muscle fibers contract and become denser, and as a result, we get what we get - the sole.
What are muscle fibers made of?
The main substance is protein.
At sixty degrees, the protein coagulates, therefore, the product cannot be heated above sixty degrees.
The optimum cooking temperature for squid is 59 degrees.
But, unfortunately, this is only achievable when cooking in a slow cooker or sous vide - devices that are used for cooking for a long time at low temperatures.
At home, we can control the temperature in the middle of the piece with a probe thermometer.
Well, or if it is not there, on intuition: the higher the temperature of the working surface (if it is a grill or a frying pan) or environment (cooking, baking), the smaller the piece itself, the shorter the contact of the squid with heating. At the same time, do not forget the principle of heat transfer - the cold center will take heat from the heated edges, even when the heating stops, we first heat the squid for short moments, then remove and give to reach.
For a large carcass, it is enough to send it to boiling water (steep) for a minute and a half, for small pieces - even less.
A minute on the grill for a small thawed squid at room temperature and three minutes for a thawed but still cold large squid - that's it.
Bon Appetit!