Now that we understand the basic nature of
heat and how it moves into and through meat,
let’s survey the common methods of cooking
meat and how to make the best of them.
Cooking Fresh Meat:
The Methods
Many traditional meat recipes were developed
at a time when meats came from mature, fatty
animals, and so were fairly tolerant of
overcooking. Fat coats and lubricates meat
fibers during cooking, and stimulates the flow
of saliva and creates the sensation of juiciness
no matter how dry the meat fibers themselves
have become. Recipes for hours-long braising
or stewing were developed for mature animals
with substantially cross-linked collagen that
took a long time to dissolve into gelatin.
However, today’s industrially produced meats
come from relatively young animals with
more soluble collagen and with far less fat;