Text 16412, 125 rader
Skriven 2008-11-14 21:47:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: Re: FOOD CONTAINERS  8111
=================================
-=> Quoting Glen Jamieson to Jim Weller <=-

 JW> Steaks get crustier and are much tastier when done in cast iron,

 GJ> Kangaroo (and probably your reindeer) steaks are best done in a steel
 GJ> (or cast iron if you don't mind getting it that hot) pan, heated to a
 GJ> dull red.  Oil the steaks first, and don't let the smoke ignite.

You can heat the pan hotter without oil. Salt the pan generously and
drop the steak onto the pan.

 JW> Acidic foods cooked in cast iron dissolve a lot of iron; I don't
 JW> know whether it's in a form that is absorbable by the body or not
 JW> though.

 GJ> Does it really, or only if the steel is allowed to rust so that the
 GJ> rust (ferrous oxide) goes into suspension in the food?  If the steel
 GJ> or cast iron is heated to incandescence, ferric oxide is formed, which
 GJ> is much harder and more stable, and less likely to enter the food.

Tomato sauces will eat right through the seasoning (glaze) and
attack the pan to the extent that there's so much iron in the sauce
that it tastes "off".

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: How To Turn Cheap Choice Steak Into Gucci Prime Steak
Categories: steak, info
  Servings: 1

           steak
           salt

For the past 4 months, we have been experimenting with how to get
full, juicy, beefy flavor of a ribeye with butter-knife tenderness
of a filet mignon without paying up-the-butt for Prime cuts. And
after 4 months of eating steak 2x a week, I think we've figured it
out. So, my friends, I am offering you a very juicy secret, one that
will turn an ordinary Choice cut of steak into a gucci Prime cut.

Do you know the joy of buying Choice and eating Prime? It's like
buying a Hyundai and getting a free mail-in rebate for a BMW
upgrade!

Massively salt your steaks 15 min - 1 hour before grilling. Notice
that I didn't say, sprinkle liberally or even season generously.
I'm talking about literally coating your meat until you can't see
red. It should resemble a salt lick.

Let that meat be totally overwhelmed with the salt for 1 hour or
less. Rinse, pat dry dry dry and then you're ready to grill. Before
y'all throw a hissy fit, just hear me out. I first learned of this
technique from Judy Rodgers' The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of
Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant.
Judy massively salts her chicken before roasting, and I've adapted
the practice to steaks. Thanks to a couple of other books (McGee's
On Food and Cooking and Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For the Food),
and a few fellow bloggers, I have an explanation of how it works.

How Salting Works

All of you who season JUST before grilling - this is what you are
really doing to the meat. Did you know that? All the water comes to
the surface and if you don't pat super-dry, you're basically
STEAMING the meat. Plus, your salt just sits on the surface of the
steak, leaving the interior tasteless.

Now - note that only a little of the salt gets to go back into the
meat. Don't worry - you aren't going to be eating all that salt!

I can hear it now..BUT!!! What of all the water that stayed on the
surface of the meat? Aren't you drawing all the moisture out of the
meat? Will it taste like a salt lick? (*%!*%!@#!#!!! I DON'T
UNDERSTAND!!! Pull your pants back on and keep reading.

Verification on Technique

Cook's Illustrated January 08 issue - for Improving Cheap Roast
Beef) They are salting 4 lb roast beef (big, fat, thick meat) and
they are using 4 tsp kosher salt - therefore they recommend salting
for 18-24 hrs. It's all related: thickness of meat:amount of salt:
time.

Some key points: Use kosher or sea salt, not table salt <that is
important. It will not work well with tiny tiny grains of table
salt. Plus, table salt tastes like shit. Use steaks 1 inch or
thicker. Follow my timetable (below) If you are Harold McGee, a
member of Alton Brown's research team or Mr. Burke my high school
chem teacher... and think I'm full of B.S. please let me know. But
guys, none of this was in your books. I had to formulate,
extrapolate, hypotholate and guesstulate based on your stuff. Highly
mental activity.

I know this sounds awfully like salt-curing, which dries out meat
(like beef jerky). But with salt curing, you use A LOT more salt and
leave it salting for A LOOOOOONG time. We're talking about a little
tiny nap here - not weeks - just enough to break down the protiens.
Again, don't worry about all that salt. Only a bit of it gets
absorbed into the meat. Most of it gets washed down the drain when
you rinse off. Really. I know you're going to ask so I'll answer it
for you. Why not brine? You could if you really want water-logged
diluted-tasting crappy steak.

And yes, I know what Choice and Prime means - it's the marbling. The
salting doesn't affect fat content - I'm using those terms as a
figure of speech. I understand that this method will cause chaos,
confusion and controversy in your household. But I encourage you to
experiment: try adding spices, crushed garlic and rosemary sprigs to
the salt, which will then act like Christina Aguilera dragging its
entourage of flavors with it into the meat. If confusion in the
household becomes unbearable, just whack'em with the hunk of salted
steak.

From: Jaden's Steamy Kitchen
 
MMMMM-------------------------------------------------

Cheers

YK Jim


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