[Sca-cooks] One for the pros

[Nicolas Steenhout]

I missed the beggining of this, due to being away on a road trip!  But, let
me address a couple points raised by our Very Esteemed Pearlness, Olwen...

>The cut is a good or "prime" grade and can either be cooked dry or in a
>moist heat.  Personally I use a moist heat by setting a pan of water in the
>oven with it (usually under it).

If it is a prime cut, one should not use moist heat, as moist heat is
really meant to be used on tougher cuts.  Kind of a waste.  Of course, in
my experience, *moist heat* is cooking in a liquid, or cooking with a lid
on top of a container so the heat creates its own moisture and it can't
escape.  A pan in an oven is not quite enough to raise the level of ambiant
humidity to qualify as "moist heat".  I could be wrong, and would love to
be proved so :-))

>Let the roast reach room temperature before beginning to cook.

Danger!!!  Danger, Will Robinson!  This might work well on small pieces,
however, on larger pieces such as roasts, you are leaving the meat in the
"danger zone", where bacterias are most happy.  By the time the inside of a
biggish roast has reached room temperature, the outside is a real colony of
nasties.  Of course, this also happens in the oven, but the danger zone
gets passed much, much quicker :-)

>To check the doneness you can do two things.  First, do the math as stated
>above and set a timer.  That will get you in the right ballpark.  Secondly
>you can do the touch method.

Thirdly you can use a thermometer with a probe, they make them that can go
in very far.  Your friendly restaurant supply store should carry them.

Fourthly, you can do a variation of all that, "ol' trick o' da trade".  Use
a roasting fork (the kind with the long straight "pins" instead of the
short curved ones).  When you poke the roast in, leave the fork in a few
seconds.  Pull the fork out, then bring it to your lip, you can feel the
heat of the fork, tells you the internal temperature of the roast.  Takes a
bit of practice, but you can get a feel for things by using your emat
thermometer in hot water, determine which temp you want, then practice
touching the hot fork from the water to your lip.

I should mention that the touch method Olwen told us about work only on
smaller pieces.

Don't forget to let the roast sit a little bit before starting to cut it,
as the juices need to be able to flow within the roast.

Have been doing lots of "hips" of beef that way in the past.

Food for thoughts :-)


Muiredach mac Loloig
Rokkehealden Shire
aka
Nicolas Steenhout
"You must deal with me as I think of myself" J. Hockenberry