Low temperature cooking - this is how it works
Meat roast is an art? It is really not difficult to roast a pork loin dry or to form a shoe sole from a roast beef. Then there is always good advice: The pan was too hot, too cold, too round, too deep, the fat too greasy, the meat too cheap and and and. It is definitely annoying when you have left a small fortune at the butcher and the enjoyment then falls by the wayside.
The solution: low temperature cooking. You can not produce dry and hard pieces here because you let physics work for you. However, the method is by no means suitable for spontaneous cooking, because low temperatures mean longer (and considerably longer) cooking times.
The basics
The properties of the main ingredient of meat, protein, are crucial for a good frying and stewing results. In principle, protein clots from 50 ° C, the meat begins to cook. The higher the temperature rises and the longer, the more bound water is released and the meat becomes dry and hard. This is also the tightrope walk with hot and hot roast: when the meat in the core begins to cook, it is often already too far on the outside, too hard, too dry.
A special feature is collagen? this is also a protein, but with a special structure, which occurs mainly in the connective tissue. This degenerates only from 70 ° C, then becomes gelatin and connective tissue rich meat becomes tender and tender.
In low-temperature cooking, the meat is cooked in the oven at 60 to 80 ° C. The advantage: It can not be tough and dry, because the temperatures are too low to drain the bound water. The downside: cooking takes time. Much time.
Monsieur Maillard and the roast aroma
If you throw a piece of meat into a hot pan or grill, it smells quickly seductive. The meat turns brown, slightly crispy and tastes incomparable. This browning / roasting is called Maillard reaction? a variety of side-by-side chemical reactions during searing, which are not all described in detail yet, but clearly bring the taste. Only one thing is clear: you need significantly more heat than you use in low-temperature cooking. That's why you should always fry the meat even when cooking at low temperatures? whether in front of the stove or after that does not really matter.
The core temperature
How long a piece of meat has to cook at 80 ° C depends on how high the core temperature inside the meat must be. Therefore, the purchase of a roasting thermometer is recommended. The closer the oven and core temperature are together, the more carefree you can extend the cooking time. Here is a small overview of the core temperatures of different meats
| beef filet roast beef Entrecote roast meat | pink 38-55 °, medium 55-58 ° pink 53 °, medium 55-60 ° medium 56 ° through: 80-90 ° |
| pig | pink 65-70 ° by at least 75 ° |
| calf | pink 60-70 ° |
| lamb | pink 55-60 ° |
| Wild | pink 50-60 ° |
| rabbit legs | through 65 ° |
| Poultry chicken breast Guinea fowl duck breast | by 80-85 ° 72° 70° pink 62-65 ° |
The cooking times
The cooking time is determined by the size of the piece of meat and what degree of cooking it should achieve. It is recommended to fry the meat before you can put it in the oven and forget about the next few hours. The oven should be set to 80 ° C top / bottom heat, circulating air would dry out the meat too much, some cookbooks recommend a oven thermometer, so you can control the temperature in the oven, but modern ovens keep the heat actually well constant. If you're not sure, stop eating and check the meat thermometer more often. The approximate cooking times with previous searing:
| beef, 600g in a row | medium: 1h30 |
| roast beef, 800g in a row | medium: 1h30 |
| pork loin, 800g in a row | pink: 2h30 |
| Viel, 800g in a row | pink: 2h |
| rack of lamb with bone, 1.5 kg | pink: 1h45 |
| Lamb shank with bone 1.8kg | 5:30 |
| venison with bone, 1.5 kg | pink: 2h30 |
| venison with bones, 2k | 6h |
| Chicken breast fillet | 45min |
| duck breast | 45min |
The technology
Preheat the oven at top / bottom heat, heat an ovenproof ceramic or porcelain dish. Remove the meat from the fridge one hour before searing. Fry over medium heat, prick the meat thermometer in the thickest part and then place in the oven on the hot ceramic dish. Do not cover and do not pour on liquid!
Then you can use the seedling with the help of separately purchased bones and the usual roast vegetables conjure a sauce approach. Since the cooked meat is not overly hot, sauce and side dishes should be very hot when serving, the plates are best preheated!
The middle ground
Low temperature cooking is nothing for spontaneous celebrations, but ideal for guests: you can hours before everything in peace on the way and then take care of his guests. And if someone comes too late, no matter. If you want to cook at short notice, here is the recipe for "Pork Leaning Medium Temperature": wrap a whole pork loin with bacon and sauté well. If you want, you can put rosemary sprigs under the bacon. Cook in an extra shape (not in the pan) at 120 ° for about half an hour in the oven. Meanwhile make a sauce: add some butter to the sauté pan, fry chopped onions in it and deglaze with red wine or some port wine and pour in a little stock. Good Appetite!
Editor's tip:
For the perfect roast we recommend this roasting thermometer
