Text 16572, 73 rader
Skriven 2008-11-18 08:35:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: FOOD CONTAINERS 226
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 -=> Glen Jamieson said 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.
 JW> You can heat the pan hotter without oil. Salt the pan generously and
 JW> drop the steak onto the pan.

One should use coarse salt, then heat the pan to smoking,
then put in the meat. The reason for the coarse salt, I've
been told, is to allow air around the crystals for water
evaporation - also, I would imagine, to retard the salt
going into solution in the first place.

 GJ> I haven't tried using salt, although I have read it can be used for
 GJ> seasoning a pan.  I rub a little oil onto the surface of the steak,

Salt is used to scour impurities from the surface before
seasoning. I don't think it can actually aid the seasoning
process itself.

 GJ> which works to prevent sticking, and assists in crusting.

Oil works pretty well but makes an unholy mess and stench.
The dry method is neater and to me tastes better.

 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
 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.

1. It's absorbable, as it's organic acid bound rather than
in the oxide.

2. No. If it were just a question of iron oxide suspended in the
food (which is some but not a major part of the story), the iron
would be only scantily bioavailable.

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

For me, that's two minutes in the pan. But as I've noted elsewhere,
I've actually come to like that taste.

 GJ> That "rusty" flavour occurs if the pan is allowed to cool with the
 GJ> sauce in it.

With contact of any length between cast iron and acidic
liquid, the taste appears. Cooling just means prolonged
contact.

   It is important with iron to avoid any situation which
 GJ> allows corrosion to occur.  Remove sauces with plain, hot water, wipe
 GJ> thoroughly and oil immediately before storing.  (Another reason I
 GJ> prefer cast aluminium.)

This is the preferred method, but even it doesn't produce a
miracle coating impervious to tomato or wine acids.

 JW> Title: How To Turn Cheap Choice Steak Into Gucci Prime Steak
 GJ> An interesting, if excessively verbous article.  Do you agree with its
 GJ> apparently somewhat exaggerated claims?
 
Seems to be a variation on brining. If the article had been
written well, I might have been tempted to try the method,
but the quality of the prose vitiates the information by
association.
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