Foods, their selection and preparation

When moist heat is used for cooking meat, tenderness is obtained at some sacrifice of flavor and soluble nutrients in the meat it¬ self. To compensate for this, an effort should be made in cooking the less tender cuts to develop the flavor of the meat dish. The meat should be browned slowly on all sides for developing meat flavor before applying moist heat, and seasonings should be used to add flavor. Use should be made of the pan drippings or broth in which the meat is cooked for gravy or sauce to retain the flavor and the nutrients leached out of the meat into the drippings. Less tender meat may be made tender by breaking up the connective tissue by pound¬ ing, scoring, cubing, or grinding. After it is made tender by mechanical means, it can be cooked by dry heat, roasting, broiling, panbroiling, griddle-broiling, or frying, just like any tender cut. Cooking Losses. Heat shrinks muscle fibers, so that a piece of meat tends to de¬ crease in size during cooking. The shrinking squeezes out the soluble meat juices (ex¬ tractives), and as the meat becomes hot the fat melts and collects in the pan or the cook¬ ing water. These juices and fat make up the drippings that collect when meat is roasted. In addition to the loss in weight in the drip¬ pings, there is loss in weight from the evapo¬ ration of water and volatile flavors from the surface of the meat when it is cooked un¬ covered in dry heat. Keeping shrinkage at a minimum is of great importance in meat cookery. Shrinkage not only affects the weight of the meat, but it also affects its appearance and its palatability, especially its juiciness and tenderness. Factors Affecting Shrinkage. Two factors are important in keeping cooking losses low. The higher the temperature at which the meat is cooked, the greater the shrinkage. The higher the internal temperature to which the meat is cooked, the greater the shrinkage. Cooking Temperature. Low cooking temperatures prevent losses in cooking, whether the method used is roasting, broil¬ ing, frying, braising, or stewing. From 15 to 20 per cent of the meat shrinkage occur¬ ring in the kitchens of many homes and in¬ stitutions, as a result of high cooking tem¬ peratures, can be prevented by the use of low temperatures. The illustrations of paired1 or other very similar meat cuts which follow are dramatic proof that low cooking temperatures pay. The illustrations show the meat cuts before and after cooking, one cut in each case cooked at high temperature and its mate at low tem¬ perature. The shrinkage, in weight and per¬ centage, and the cooking time for each cut are given and the amount of drippings is shown. identical cuts from the right and left sides of the same carcass. [194] These Pictures Show the Shrinkage and Dripping Loss of Two Comparable Pork Loins, One Cooked at 500° F. and the Other at 350° F • Both were cooked to an internal temperature of 185° F. The first required 1 hour and 15 minutes and the second 2 hours and 20 minutes National Live Stock and Meat Board Tables XXXV and XXXVI show the effect of roasting temperature on shrinkage of hams and lamb legs. The figures given in these tables are averages of a large number of roasts. Table XXXV • Effect of Roasting Temperature on Shrinkage of Commercially Cured Hams 1 OVEN TURE AVERAGE WEIGHT OF HAMS INTERNAL TURE OF HAMS (DONENESS) SHRINKAGE