Tough roast.. what's going wrong?

Question

My housemate often manages to pick up reduced meat from the local supermarket (Sainsbury's in the UK) at the time he comes home.

It's usually silverside, topside or brisket of beef. Occasionally it's pork shoulder.

Without fail however my meat ends up "tough". Here's the exact procedure I follow for my standard "roast":

1. Take frozen joint of meat out of the freezer around 8-10AM.
2. Prepare 2 onions, celery, carrots and half bulb garlic. Throw them in my roasting pan.
3. Season joint with salt and pepper, pour extra virgin olive oil over it, sear it in a frying pan.
4. Cook at 20degC less than the suggested temperatures for the suggested times according to my MasterChef book, specifically for that cut of meat. For instance tonight's brisket was 900g - I cooked it at 160degC for 1h30m.
5. Rest for 10-15m while I make the gravy and finish off the potatoes in another pan.

I cook it at 20deg less because it's a fan oven.

Can anyone explain the factors that affect how tough the meat becomes? Am I not searing properly? Is the meat prone to being tough because it's not fresh (reduced stuff)? Is it not defrosting for long enough?

Thanks in advance,

Asked by dunc

Answer

Meat is tough for two reasons:
1- An abundance of connective tissue.
2- When over cooked.

In your case I'd say you probably have both problems. Cheap meat is tough meat. It is from older animals or well worked muscle groups. This means that it has been fortified with a lot of extra connective tissue. It also means it has a lot of flavor.

The solution to #1 is slow, wet cooking that will melt that connective tissue into delicious gelatin. Braising is the normal way to do this. When meat is heated too far, even if the connective tissue has been carefully melted out, the meat proteins bunch up and stiffen- resulting in #2, a dry, unpleasant meal.

You are buying tough meat and cooking it relatively quickly with no thermometer. You don't have enough time or moisture to melt the collagen and you can't be sure you haven't over cooked the meat because you don't know the temperature. Using time doesn't work because chunks of meat are irregularly shaped so you can't know how long it will take for the heat to penetrate.

Buy yourself a probe thermometer to prevent #2. For #1 look for pot roast recipes. Some are easily done in slow cookers- others use a tent of sealed foil over the meat to seal in moisture. Plan on it taking much longer than your 1.5 hours. 3-6 hours are typical to produce a really succulent pot roast.

The searing is just for flavor and will not play a role in either melting collagen or cooking the interior of the meat.

Answered by Sobachatina

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What is the base of a seasoning blend for something like roast chicken?

Question

I'm not looking for the recipies, I'm just looking for the principle behind this idea.

There is a product that I love which is a seasoning blend that you put in a roasting bag with chicken that then goes in the oven for an hour. The sauce that you end up with in the bag is thicker than water but not very thick at all.

The seasoning blend is floury with lots of herbs and spices in it and I'd love to try and replicate it so that I can get the taste without all of the preservatives in the store-bought version.

I guess that I'll have to experiment with the spices, but can anyone tell me more about the floury base? Is this just flour or is there something like corn-starch in these things?

Asked by Rachel

Answer

Without a reference to the specific product, I would assume that it is in fact flour.

It's very common for many chicken (and other meat) recipes to call for dredging in either seasoned flour, or flour followed by an egg wash and spice/breadcrumb mix. Since these commercial mixes obviously have to be completely dry, they are most likely to be seasoned flour.

Check out some recipes for seasoned flour (alternatively called seasoning flour), you'll probably find them to be very similar to the mixes you've been using.

Answered by Aaronut

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Why tie a non-stuffed beef pot roast?

Question

Recipes for beef pot roasts often include the step of tying the roast with twine prior to cooking, even for roasts without stuffing. Why? What difference in outcome can I expect between a tied roast and an untied roast, all other things equal?

Answer

Since ovens cook by heat radiation, you want to expose as high a proportion of the surface area as possible, which is why most roasts are vaguely cubic or cylindrical in shape. Any part of the meat that's pressed against the pan (i.e. the bottom of the roast) isn't going to get that nice brown crust.

It's also very important with slow-cooking methods that require you to put some liquid at the bottom of the vessel; obviously you want as little of the meat as possible to be in the water, so that most of the work is done by steam.

Tying (or more accurately, trussing) the meat is simply how you maintain the shape in the oven. If you don't truss it, then you'll not only end up with a very flat roast, you'll also end up with uneven cooking, and only the top will be browned since there are no "sides" to speak of.

It's similar with chicken and other birds; you truss the legs so that the oven has a chance to crisp them up on all sides, not just the top.

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Why do you slice whole ducks in half when roasting but not for other poultry?

Question

Last time I made a roast, I used a recipe from BBC good food. Since I have had luck with those recipes, I decided to go for their roast duck recipe.

That recipe involves cutting the whole duck in half and roasting the halves with the skin pointing up. I have never roasted a bird like that before, and I am wondering why someone would do it. Does it have to do with the flavor of the meat? Proportion of fat? I don't think I'd ever do that to a chicken because I'd be afraid the meat would go dry. But obviously the flavor of duck is different, and maybe if I know why people do that, I can use it intelligently in my cooking.

Answer

The main reason why you want to cut the duck in half and roast them with the skin side pointing upwards is so the skin of the duck is nice and crispy. Unlike most roasted poultry where you don't eat the skin, the duck's skin is considered a huge delicacy if it is crispy.

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Why do some whole roast duck recipes slice the duck in half, and not others?

Question

Last time I made a roast, I used a recipe from BBC good food. Since I have had luck with those recipes, I decided to go for their roast duck recipe.

That recipe involves cutting the whole duck in half and roasting the halves with the skin pointing up. I have never roasted a bird like that before, and I am wondering why someone would do it. Does it have to do with the flavor of the meat? Proportion of fat? I don't think I'd ever do that to a chicken because I'd be afraid the meat would go dry. But obviously the flavor of duck is different, and maybe if I know why people do that, I can use it intelligently in my cooking.

Answer

The main reason why you want to cut the duck in half and roast them with the skin side pointing upwards is so the skin of the duck is nice and crispy. Unlike most roasted poultry where you don't eat the skin, the duck's skin is considered a huge delicacy if it is crispy.

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How to adjust an oven to accommodate two items with different cook times and temperatures?

Question

For dinner this evening we are cooking a roast beef and intend to serve a baked brie appetizer. Unfortunately, we only have one oven. To reach medium rare the roast needs 3 hours at 325° while the brie needs to be cooked at 400° for 20 minutes.

Is there a way to cook both of these items in the oven at the same time? Is it a matter of adjusting the length of time the brie needs to be in the oven?

Answer

I would cook the Brie at that same temperature for 30-35 minutes and it should be okay.

Alternatively, you could cook the roast fully, remove it from the oven, tent it with foil and then cook the Brie. The meat can rest while the Brie is cooking and being eaten. Prior to slicing the roast, heat up the pan drippings to a sizzling temp and baste to ensure a crispy crust. But if the appetizer course happens to last for 20-30 minutes, then the roast will have been resting for 40-50 minutes and could lose too much internal heat.

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What causes lemons to be bitter when cooked and how to avoid it?

Question

I know that the bitter taste in lemons is due to the rind (the white part), but I don't understand why there are recipes where it's ok and others where the taste is just terrible.

I recently experimented by mixing curry with limes and lemons. I cut the lemons and placed the slices over chicken thighs that I cooked in the oven. At one point I tasted it and the flavour was good but the meat was slightly uncooked. I left it for another 30 min and when I took it out it was really bitter, so much that there was just a hint of curry.

So, is it time dependant then? Does the cooking method (direct heat, wet heat) have any influence? Can it be avoided by taking out the lemons at a determined point? I love the "citrusy" flavour, specially with chicken and fish, but never seem to get it right. Thanks for any help.

Answer

You can try a few things.

1. Use just the zest from the peel, and then slice and remove the pith and use just the inside.
2. Pre-boil the lemon peels, then add them to your main dish.
3. Remove the lemons before the bitterness gets too strong (i.e. when you tasted the dish the first time) but while there's still a strong taste.

This works because the citrus oils (which are a major primary flavor contributor) are just in the top layer of the peels, while the acid is in the inside. The pith is just plain bitter.

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Has anyone successfully spatchcocked their Thanksgiving Turkey?

Question

My T-Day turkey is looking like it's going to be in excess of 20 lbs this year, and I'm nervous about how long the darn thing is actually going to be in my oven when I have pies, bread, sides, etc. to prepare.

Martha Stewart has a brief article on spatchcocking a turkey (removing the backbone and breaking the breasts so the bird is 'flat') and I was curious as to if anyone has ever done it before with a big bird, and to what degree of success. Did you baste the turkey while it was cooking? Heaven forbid I feed my picky family a dry turkey, I would never hear the end of it.

I would practice with a large bird, but there's no way we'll be able to eat 40 lbs of turkey in a month!

Answer

I've spatchcocked our turkey the past two years and will never go back to the usual way. It just cooks so much faster. The spatchcocking itself isn't to hard, although you do have to be willing to inflict a little violence on the turkey.

I basically follow Mark Bittman's recipe. The video is located here. I do, however cook a larger bird. The time I did it with an 18 pound bird it too a bit more than 90 minutes.

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Roasting multiple vegetables at once

Question

I have plans to make a roasted vegetable soup. The tentative list of veggies (that need roasting) is: sweet peppers, onions, carrots, garlic, zuchini (maybe), small weird purple potatoes.

I've roasted potatoes and garlic before, but usually I do them separately, for different dishes. Ideally, I'd throw all of these in the oven and roast them at once (more efficient than one batch at a time), though I don't know if that will work: Do different vegetables need different temperatures and durations for roasting? If so, what's the optimal temperature/time?

I was very roughly estimating 375F for all of the above, for an hour, but I don't know if that will work or not. Any suggestions as to the most efficient way to roast all of these? I have a small toaster oven that can help, if it's just not feasible to do them all at once.

Answer

The carrots and potatoes need a longer roasting than the other vegetables. Also, roasting onion keeps it with a relatively "raw" flavor; if you want your onion to taste cooked and lose its sharpness, you should sweat it in oil on a stove before roasting in the case of eating the stuff roasted. If you are going to cook this stuff to a soup, don't roast the onion at all, just sweat it in the pot and then add the roasted vegetables to cook the soup.

Generally, roasting time for nonstarchy vegetables isn't that long. I would start with just the carrots and potatoes (carrots are not starchy, but they are woody and need a long time for the cell walls to break apart and soften; potatoes need some time roasting after the internal temperature has reached 70°C because of the starch). The garlic can also use a long roast, but I would cut it very fine and sweat it together with the onion. That depends on whether you prefer garlic-flavored oil infusing your soup or roasted cloves to bite on.

After the potatoes and carrots have been in the oven (tossed with a little oil) for 25-30 minutes (preferably covered, so they half cook, half roast in their own steam), I would add the tender vegetables (if you want to put the sweated onion in, that's the time for it too). Remove the cover to let the vegetables roast nicely. Then leave in the oven for another 25-30 minutes or until tender.

You won't get the strong roasted flavors of, say, a pepper roasted directly on a flame, but you will have some nicely cooked veggies. You can then cook them up for a very short time in a broth to make a soup (under a minute), or use them in other ways, for example as a side dish, or extending the recipe to become a casserole.

The two-step addition of the vegetables is important, because the tender vegetables like sweet peppers and zucchini become mushy when overcooked and dry when overroasted.

If you want to add spices, add them in the beginning, mixed with the oil. Dried herbs can also be added at the beginning, to have time to rehydrate a bit. Don't add fresh herbs at the beginning, they will wilt. Add them 3-4 min before the final dish (i.e. the soup) is ready.

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How to salt and roast pistachios?

Question

I have a bunch of raw pistachios, in their shells, and I want to roast them and also have them be lightly salted.

I presume I would do this in a conventional oven. I like to roast them a few pounds at a time.

At what temperature and for how long, and what is the best way to lightly salt them?

I have a perforated pizza pan which might be good for roasting them since it would allow air to flow around the pistachios, providing even heat.

Answer

To toast walnuts, pecans, pistachios, macadamias, and other nuts, follow the same procedure as for toasting almonds: spread them in a single layer on a baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees until they are light brown and fragrant, about 5-10 minutes depending on the amount of nuts. Check the nuts frequently and stir them to ensure even toasting. Always cool your nuts before chopping them. Nuts have a great deal of oil that has been brought to surface by the heat, and the oil must be allowed to be reabsorbed, or the nuts could turn greasy during chopping.

(information found at: http://candy.about.com/od/nutcandy/a/nuts.htm)

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What are different ways to roast Bell Peppers?

Question

I was wondering if anyone had any tips for roasting bell peppers so that they get a nice blacked skin. I live in an apartment, and if I were to put the peppers directly on the burners, it would not go over too well. (I did start to do that, but when it started to heat, the pepper started to stick to the burner.) I tried to use my George Foreman grill, but wasn't able to get the char on the skin that I was looking for in order to take the skin off. (Note: the flavor did turn out well for what I was making, but I know it would be even better if they were charred.)

Thank you for your suggestions.

Answer

Assuming by your wording, you don't have a bbq on a balcony. Another alternative to the broiler, is a blow torch to get the nice charing. :-)

http://www.open2.net/everwonderedfood/peppers_roastedpeppers.html

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How to Get a Nice Black Skin on Roasted Bell Peppers?

Question

I was wondering if anyone had any tips for roasting bell peppers so that they get a nice blacked skin. I live in an apartment, and if I were to put the peppers directly on the burners, it would not go over too well. (I did start to do that, but when it started to heat, the pepper started to stick to the burner.) I tried to use my George Foreman grill, but wasn't able to get the char on the skin that I was looking for in order to take the skin off. (Note: the flavor did turn out well for what I was making, but I know it would be even better if they were charred.)

Thank you for your suggestions.

Answer

Assuming by your wording, you don't have a bbq on a balcony. Another alternative to the broiler, is a blow torch to get the nice charing. :-)

http://www.open2.net/everwonderedfood/peppers_roastedpeppers.html

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Roasting Bell Peppers

Question

I was wondering if anyone had any tips for roasting bell peppers so that they get a nice blacked skin. I live in an apartment, and if I were to put the peppers directly on the burners, it would not go over too well. (I did start to do that, but when it started to heat, the pepper started to stick to the burner.) I tried to use my George Foreman grill, but wasn't able to get the char on the skin that I was looking for in order to take the skin off. (Note: the flavor did turn out well for what I was making, but I know it would be even better if they were charred.)

Thank you for your suggestions.

Answer

Assuming by your wording, you don't have a bbq on a balcony. Another alternative to the broiler, is a blow torch to get the nice charing. :-)

http://www.open2.net/everwonderedfood/peppers_roastedpeppers.html

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Gluten-free replacement to coat something with before roasting, to obtain crust

Question

A recipe calls for coating (slightly cooked) fennel bulbs in flour before roasting them, presumably to obtain a bit of a crust. Is there anything I could coat them with that is gluten-free?

Answer

Rice flour should work well for this; it produces very crispy crusts.

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Possible Pumpkin Flavors

Question

I am hoping to try out cooking with pumpkin this year and only know a) not to buy jack-o-lantern varieties for cooking, and b) about making it into sweeter things like pies, cakes, cookies et cetera. I have seen recipes for roasting seeds and flavoring them to make them spicy (add red pepper, who'd have thought?), but I don't know what options I have as far as using the flesh/ground pumpkin to head more toward a savory dish. [Please note, I am particularly interested in vegan approaches, though all methods are welcome.]

• Are there particular varieties better for making savory dishes?
• What flavor spectrum does the pumpkin (raw, roasted...) lend itself toward naturally or without much force? How do you coax those out?

Answer

There are terrific Thai pumpkin curries; the flavor profile would be garlic, ginger, lemongrass, coriander seed, cilantro, chiles, Thai basil. Here is one I did with Delicata squash that would work equally well with pumpkin: http://www.herbivoracious.com/2009/10/red-curry-delicata-squash-and-tofu-recipe.html .

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How can I achieve the same flavor and texture as roasted garlic without an oven?

Question

I'd like to make roasted garlic, but I don't have an oven, only a gas range. Is there any way for me to get the same results with the range as I would in a conventional oven?

Answer

I have had great results by taking individual garlic cloves and cutting the root end off each, but leaving them in their papery skins.

Then you put those dry into a small saucepan (ideally one with a thick bottom) over low-to-medium heat. Put a lid on it, and let it go for 20 minutes or so, shaking vigorously every couple of minutes to turn the cloves over. When the cloves are really soft, you're done.

The paper skins protect the garlic cloves from burning, but the direct contact with the hot pan cooks them nicely. When you're done you can squeeze the soft, roasted garlic goodness out of the root end of the skins. This is a particularly nice technique when you want roasted garlic flavor but only need a few cloves, not a whole head.

The first time I did a recipe that called for this process, I was sure the garlic would scorch or the skins would catch fire, but it worked great.

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What is the difference between roasting, baking, and broasting?

Question

For example, when making a turkey for Thanksgiving, I generally place it in the oven (covered in foil or a turkey bag), and cook it for many hours at the recommended heat setting.

I can crock-pot a "roast" cut of meat for many hours, or put it in the oven (again covered) for several hours at a low temperature.

How is that different from "baking", other than when baking the top is generally not covered?

Answer

Traditionally roasting used radiant heat to cook meat. This would have taken place over an open flame, typically on a rotating spit. In modern times this method is now called Rotisserie. Modern roasting refers to dry heat cooking that takes place in an oven, the food is cooked by convection. Until the late 19th century this method was referred to as baking.

Baking is essentially the same as roasting in modern times. Baking most often refers specifically to the cooking of "baked goods" (breads, pastries, etc.). However, the terms baking and roasting are often used interchangeably (baked chicken, roast chicken). There doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule here as to which term is used. For example, you roast asparagus, turkey, chicken, but bake lasagna, casseroles, and also chicken.

Braising uses a combination of moist and dry heat to cook the food. This is what occurs in a crock pot, or in dutch oven/stock pot in the oven. Your meat will be cooked in an ample amount of seasoned liquid such as wine and/or stock.

Broasting I had never heard of before. According to Wikipedia it's a trademarked method of pressurized deep frying. I doubt this is what you were referring to.

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Can I roast peanuts in convection microwave?

Question

I found a small bag of raw un-roasted peanuts, around 200 grams, in my cupboard. Any idea how can I roast these peanuts in my convection microwave oven? Would appreciate if some one can add suggestions :-)

Answer

In the book "Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian", Madhur says one of the few uses she's found for a plain microwave oven is to roast cashews. She dresses them in a little bit of oil, then spreads them out on a plate in a single layer and cooks them in the microwave oven until they turn brown. I assume dressing them in a little bit of oil helps browning. I found a web page which has similar instructions for cashews and other nuts, but which implies the oil contained in the nuts themselves is enough to get them to brown. And finally, about.com has a page which is specifically about microwave roasting peanuts.

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