There are rules of "cooking" that many of us ignore with a certain hussar carelessness. Well, or think that all these dances with tambourines around food were invented by famous chefs with a single purpose. - to fill our own worth, and we are such masters, and we can do without shamanic dances.
I remember, in the old days, when steyhouses just started to appear here, a good friend, having cut a steak in an institution and, chewing the first piece, with contempt he literally pushed the plate aside, stating that the meat was sprinkled with water and salt, and after cooking.
I remember asking where this input came from. The answer was simple:
- Too wet!
Now, fifteen years later, probably later, this answer seems comical. But let's be honest, the ability to cook juicy meat, in pieces, but fried, was not genetically absent from us, but... There were no such dishes in our culinary culture of the last hundred years. And before that, the same roast beef got on the table only for very wealthy citizens. As well as other baked or fried meat delicacies.
I myself once, already feeling pretty confident in the kitchen, screwed up - in the most natural way I screwed up - a whole lamb leg. The leg of lamb with mint jelly was another youthful gestalt. I don’t remember the name of the book in which I read the description of this dish, I don’t even remember the plot. Unless it was about a lawyer a la Perry Mason, but not about him (here you have to draw a smiley with a smile).
I did not dare to take up the preparation of mint jelly (or I was too lazy), but I baked my leg according to the rules. The guests invited to the mutton benefit were sitting intently peering into the glass of the oven and swallowing their saliva - the aroma was simply amazing.
He solemnly pulled out a baking sheet, stuck a huge two-pronged fork into the pulp (I don't even remember where it came from), juice spilled out from under the knife ...
As a result, juice was everywhere. On a serving dish with a leg, on eaters' plates... But the meat, such an infection, became dry, as if rubbery and completely tasteless.
How so?
Everything is simple.
The rule of meat rest must be strictly observed. The larger the piece (even if it is with bone), the longer it should stand, cooling slowly after cooking. To prevent the cooling from becoming critical and not going too fast, it is better to cover the meat with foil or a plate.
Why is this necessary?
When the meat is heated, the muscle fibers contract, pushing out the juices. When we remove the meat from the grill or frying pan, take it out of the oven, cooking does not end - the residual heat works and the meat continues to push out the juice.
During "rest" this residual heat is balanced by the less hot middle, the middle heats up, the surface cools down. And when the meat becomes evenly heated (a balance is achieved between the surface and the middle), the muscle fibers relax, drawing back the liquid that they gave up earlier.
Therefore, never serve meat hot, hot. Juice will flow from it, and the meat itself will be tasteless.