Culinary Reactions by Simon Quellen Field

Author:Simon Quellen Field
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2012-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

Meat

Raw meat is tough because each tiny packet of muscle fibers is surrounded by a tough sheet of connective tissue. This is the same tissue that, when boiled, makes gelatin.

When meat is cooked, the tough connective tissue denatures and becomes soft gelatin. The proteins in the muscle fibers also denature. Enzymes in the tissue no longer function when they are denatured, so cooked meat will keep longer than raw meat.

If the meat is overcooked, the water in the fiber bundles boils and the gelatin bag holding them bursts, and the meat dries out. At high temperatures, the proteins also undergo further denaturing and cross-linking, making the meat tough again. Crisp bacon is an excellent example of this. A thick, juicy steak would be inedible if cooked to the hardness of bacon.

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