increase the savoriness of foods, but it also adds complexity
and a depth of flavor not present in raw foods or foods
cooked at too low a temperature.
That’s why your steak tastes so much meatier when it’s
properly browned, and that’s why for most people, the outer
crust of the meat is the tastiest part.
Q: I’ve read that letting your meat come to room
temperature before cooking gives you better results. Any
truth in that?
Let’s break this down one issue at a time. First, the internal
temperature. While it’s true that slowly bringing a steak up
to its final serving temperature will promote more even
cooking, the reality is that letting it rest at room temperature
accomplishes almost nothing.
To test this, I pulled a single 15-ounce New York strip
steak out of the refrigerator, cut it in half, placed half back
in the fridge, and the other half on a ceramic plate on the
counter. The steak started at 38°F and the ambient air in my
kitchen was at 70°F. I then took temperature readings of its
core every ten minutes. After the first 20 minutes—the time
that many chefs and books will recommend you let a steak
rest at room temperature—the center of the steak had risen
to a whopping 39.8°F. Not even a full two degrees. So I let
it go longer. 30 minutes. 50 minutes. 1 hour and 20 minutes.
After 1 hour and 50 minutes, the steak was up to 49.6°F in
the center—still colder than the cold water that comes out of
my tap in the summer, and only about 13 percent closer to
its target temperature of a medium-rare 130°F than the steak
in the fridge.