![]() ![]() Thermapen is one of the only thermometers fast enough to show changing temperature gradients as you pull the probe through meat in real time. In order to get that temp just right, use a fast and accurate instant-read thermometer like the Thermapen ONE. The exterior of a steak is likely to have a significantly higher temperature than the center, so it’s critical that you measure the thermal center of the steak. To temp a steak, you must be sure you’re reading the temperature in the coolest part of the steak. And don’t worry, sticking it with a probe does not make it lose more juice! Temping a steak-doing it right In truth, the only objective way to know if your steak is done is to take its temperature. The presence of nitrates, carbon monoxide, and even certain vegetables can affect meat color independent of meat temperature. External factors can change the way the myoglobin-the protein that colors the meat red-behaves. So…which of these is a “dark rosy color?”Įven if we could agree on exact colors for steak doneness, it still wouldn’t matter as they don’t always hold true. ![]() Accurate information about steak doneness cannot be conveyed via color descriptions. What you consider rosy and dark might be, to me, pink and light. If I tell you that a steak should be rosy and slightly dark in the center, that’s not a precise statement. Color isn’t even a good indicator of doneness anyway.But they don’t take two very important factors into account: I understand that those pictures of steaks all piled atop each other at different doneness-levels are very appealing. One thing you may notice in the above chart is the lack of descriptive color information. With that bit of understanding under our belts, we can take a look at a complete steak temperature chart. A skirt steak has a muscle structure that makes it naturally tough unless cut across the grain, but its medium-rare is still medium rare! A strip steak has more connective tissue than a filet, making it slightly tougher. Obviously a ribeye has more fat than a filet and that will affect its texture. So why do different steaks have different textures? That has more to do with connective tissue and fat content. The proteins in a filet don’t behave any differently than the proteins in a NY strip. And here’s the important thing: this is the same for every cut of steak, regardless of type. The tenderizing enzymes actually deactivate, and juices will run from the steak if cut. If you heat the steak further to medium rare- 130–135☏ (54–57☌)-the protein fibers become slightly more fibrous, losing most of their slickness and turning an opaque lighter red. And naturally-occurring tenderizing enzymes in the meat become very active. They start to lose their protein-bound water. When meat protein fibers are heated to rare doneness- 120–130☏ (49–54☌)-they begin to denature: coiling and changing their structure. ![]() Steak doneness depends on the ways that the proteins have been affected by the thermal energy they’ve been exposed to. To understand the reasons behind doneness, we need to look at what’s happening on a physical, thermal level. (The best way to get that temperature just right is, of course, to use a fast and accurate Thermapen ® ONE thermometer.) Whether you’re cooking up a porterhouse steak or a ribeye, medium doneness is 135–145☏ (57–63☌). In reality that is an unnecessary distinction, as all steaks experience the doneness stages at the same temperatures. Many websites that give information on steak doneness break the temperatures down by steak-type. Porterhouse steak and beyond: temps don’t change
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