A crash course on how to cook tender, juicy, flavorful meat every time
If you’re tired of inconsistent results when cooking chicken and steak, usually ending in dry, overcooked meat, here are a few tried and true ways to get better results every time.
1. Generously salt your meat 1 hour before cooking.
This helps tenderize the meat from the inside out and makes it more flavorful. If you don’t have an hour, apply salt as long before cooking as possible. Salting more than an hour in advance doesn’t seem to produce any better results in side-by-side testing.
2. Stop throwing cold meat in a hot pan.
If you’re aiming for an internal temperature of 155ºF, but the meat is starting at 40ºF or less, by the time the center is cooked through, the outside is way over done. Remove the meat from the fridge and set it on the counter to bring the temperature up a bit before cooking. I usually aim for about 10 minutes before cooking.
3. Stop guessing... Use a meat thermometer!
A decent meat thermometer will run you between $15-20 and is 100% worth the investment. I prefer instant read, digital version, but any one will work. The one featured in our recent video has a probe attached to a cord so you can monitor temperatures of things while they’re inside the oven!
4. Explore the full meat temp chart.
The “doneness chart” or “safe temperature” chart we’ve all seen or used to is actually much larger. The numbers we usually see on packaging, the side of meat thermometers, cooking cheat sheets, etc. show the temperatures meats have to reach to kill harmful bacteria instantly according to USDA studies.
However, according to the full chart, you can achieve the same results at lower temperatures by holding the meat at that temperature longer. Below is a sample of the extended chart used to determine safe cooking temperatures for chicken.
For example, bacteria is instantly killed in chicken at 165ºF, but the SAME bacteria is killed if chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 155ºF and kept at that temperature or higher for 45 seconds. This might not seem like a huge difference, but that decrease in temperature can make a massive impact on the tenderness and amount of moisture that remains in the meat.
5. Immediately transfer meat to a cutting board when it’s done cooking.
The center of the meat will actually continue to increase in temperature for a short time after it’s removed from the heat, so you don’t want to leave it in the pan or on the cooktop even if the burner is turned off.
6. Let the meat rest.
If you immediately slice the meat after cooking, you’ll lose a lot of moisture. Allowing the meat to rest a few minutes before slicing it gives the juices time to redistribute through the meat.
‼️ WARNING (cause we have to lol): Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of food borne illness.
Try these tips and let us know if they help!
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