are the usual fast methods. Tough cuts are
best heated for a prolonged period at
temperatures approaching the boil, usually by
stewing, braising, or slow-roasting.
It’s Easy to Overcook Tender Meat Cooking
tender meat to perfection — so that its
internal temperature is just what we want —
is a real challenge. Imagine that we grill a
thick steak just to medium rare, 140ºF/60ºC,
at the center. Its surface will have dried out
enough to get hotter than the boiling point,
and in between the center and surface, the
meat temperature spans the range between
140ºF/60°C — medium rare — and
212ºF/100°C — cooked dry. In fact the bulk
of the meat is overcooked. And it only takes a
minute or two to overshoot medium rare at the
center and dry out the whole steak, because
meat is cooked but juicy in only a narrow
temperature range, just 30ºF/15ºC. When we
grill or fry an inch-thick steak or chop, the