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The more I learn about cooking, the more “rules” I realize there are. Follow the recipe to a T, never combine cheese and seafood (do it), add vinegar to the water for perfectly poached eggs—the list goes on. This got me thinking, are all of these really necessary?
To find out, I asked five chefs to name one cooking rule that home cooks don’t actually need to follow. To my surprise, they all agreed on one.
The Chefs I Asked
Lisa Robinson: Private Chef, Culinary Stylist, and Founder of LuLu Belle CA
Michelle Doll Olson: Head Chef and Senior Culinary Development Lead at HelloFresh
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The Cooking “Rule” Chefs Say You Can Totally Ignore
According to these chefs, the one cooking rule that’s okay to skip is letting meat come to room temperature before cooking. “The difference between cooking a refrigerated steak and a room-temperature steak is undetectable,” says Lonsdale.
Brown agrees, sharing, “the idea is that letting meat sit out helps it cook more evenly, but in reality, leaving a thick cut on the counter for 20 minutes barely changes its internal temperature. For example, a thick steak might go from 38 to 42 degrees inside, which doesn’t matter once it hits a hot pan.” Instead, it’s totally acceptable to pre-season meat (especially steak) and put it back into the fridge until it’s ready to go on a hot grill or pan, adds Robinson.
Plus, this practice can raise food safety concerns. “The rationale for letting your meats come to room temp before cooking is that it will help to cook more evenly and reduce overcooking the outer layers. The problem with this is that you’re introducing your proteins to the danger zone (40 to 140 degrees)—the temperature where bacteria thrive, especially E. Coli and Salmonella. Modern ovens and grills will cook meat evenly without pre-warming the proteins to room temperature,” explains Olson.
There are more pressing matters for these chefs when making a tasty steak. “I care more about the pan being properly hot and the meat being dry than whether it’s been out for 20 minutes,” says Ryle.
Meanwhile, Lonsdale focuses on flavor, “I advise skipping bringing the meat to room temperature and instead focus on seasoning evenly and generously with salt and pepper just before searing, or dry-brining for at least an hour before cooking.”
Robinson also highlights the importance of letting meat rest after it’s cooked. “More important than the temper idea is actually covering and letting seared steaks rest for 10 minutes after cooking before cutting into them (they will carry-over cook up to 15 degrees or so after being pulled from the heat),” she says.
Read the original article on Simply Recipes
Dining and Cooking