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Cooking of True Proteids Continued: Meat
We know that some cooked meat is tender and some so tough that it seems impossible to divide it with the teeth. We also know that some pieces of meat, naturally tough, may become tender if cooked in certain ways rather than in others, as a piece of round steak may be tough when broiled, and tender if braised or stewed. To know how to select tender cuts of meat, or to choose the method of cooking adapted to give the best results with the cuts at hand, one must know the situation, structure and use of the various parts of the creatures used for food. However, at this time we shall consider the subject only in the most general way.
Outside of game, we use for food, under the terms beef, veal, mutton, lamb, pork and poultry, the flesh of beeves, calves, sheep, lambs, swine and fowl. The general structure of all these is the same, viz.: a frame work of bone, encasing and protecting the vital organs, padded on the outside with fat and muscle or lean meat. This lean meat (muscle), rather than bone or fat, is the portion that interests us principally. Perhaps we can best understand the construction of lean meat, if we observe, first, a whole joint of meat, as a shank of beef.
In structure the muscle seems to be composed of layers and bundles of small fibers; these, under the microscope, are shown to be tubes filled with matter in solution. The walls of these tubes are elastic albuminoid, and the contents, water holding in solution proteids, salts and extractives; these last give the characteristic flavor to the different varieties of meat. The fibers or tubes are covered and bound together by a very fine network of white connective tissue; the quantity of tissue varies with the length of the muscle fibers, long fibers needing more tissue to hold them in place than short fibers. In the breast of chicken, where the fibers are short, there is but little connective tissue. Connective tissue is largely made up of collagen, which, containing nitrogen and thus classed as a proteid, differs from true proteid in that it is softened by high heat, in the presence of moisture, and becomes gelatine.
In cooking meat we wish (1) to coagulate the proteids in solution in the tubes, and (2) to loosen the fibers, that they may fall apart easily, by changing the connective tissue, which holds them together, into gelatine. We know that use strengthens muscle and makes it firmer; and we are wont to associate strength and firmness with the connective tissue; thus age and work thicken and harden connective tissue and render the process of loosening the fibers difficult. We would, then, expect to find tough flesh in the neck and leg of an ox, and would not choose cuts from these portions of a creature, when quick cooking is essential. The upper, back portion of four-footed creatures contains the tenderest meat and the least bone. TO PREPARE MEAT FOR COOKING Formerly it was necessary to remove meat from the wrappings the instant it was received, as the paper absorbed the juices of the meat. If the meat be first surrounded with waxed paper, this point is not essential. Store in a cool place till the moment of cooking, then wipe exposed surfaces with a damp cloth. Remove unsightly or bloody portions.
COOKING TENDER MEAT From what has been said, it will be seen that tender meat contains but little connective tissue. The object in cooking is simply to coagulate the proteid substance in the tubes. This coagulation, we know, takes place at a temperature between 134 and 180 deg F. One thing must be looked out for during the time of this coagulation. When the muscle is cut and subjected to mild heat, the juices in the tubes on the exposed sides are drawn out and often lost. High heat will harden these juices at once. Then by subjecting the cut surfaces to high heat for a few moments, we may form a coating that will keep in the juices; then, by lowering the temperature, the juices within may be cooked just enough to jelly them, and change the color from bright red to a dull brownish hue.