The world of food is full of confusing ingredients. Talking about meat, for example, people often get confused about how they will be able to cook it. Experts say you will feel it by touch. But, as a beginner, how will you be able to determine it? Another factor to consider is there are different kinds of meat, and each has its own time before it could be considered edible when cooked.
So, if you belong to the population of people who’re tired of eating undercooked or overcooked meat, here are tips for cooking meat like a pro.
Tip #1: Don’t rely too much on cooking times
Cookbooks or cooking shows often say that each food can be cooked with a specific time. But, it’s best to not worry too much about it.
Focusing too much on the time they provided will only add stress to your cooking. How? You will get worried when the results are not the same. It’s best to throw cooking times at the window because we are sure it’s going to be different.
Anyway, there are other methods in knowing if your piece of meat is ready to be eaten or not. It’s best to know the different doneness of meat, find out how it’s texture and features, research on its supposed temperature, and, lastly, know if the meat is cooked by touch.
Tip #2: Get a thermometer
Having a thermometer at home is a must. Even experts recommend for home cooks to have one just in case. If you don’t have one yet, you can rely on the touch test but it’s best to grab one as soon as possible.
A thermometer will help you determine the current temperature of your meat on the grill. It will provide accurate information, which will help you cook a certain doneness of the meat. This is especially helpful when you have picky meat eaters who only want “rare” or “well done” steaks.
Tip #3: Learn the “finger test”
As we’ve explained earlier, you can also use the “finger test” to determine if the meat is cooked and its doneness as well. So, if you or your guests want their steaks cooked in certain doneness, take for example a “rare” and ‘medium rare”, then the “finger test” will help.
To do the test, you just need your hands and sense of touch. Here are the steps:
- Open up your hand and make sure the palm is facing you
- Relax your hand and meet the tips of your thumb and a specific finger
- Press your other hand’s index finger on the bottom part of the thumb of your relaxed hand
Every finger that meets your thumb will have a different feel to it when the lower part of the thumb is pressed slightly and represents a doneness of the meat
- Thumb meets index finger: rare doneness feel
- Thumb meets middle finger: medium rare doneness feel
- Thumb meets the ring finger: medium doneness feel
- Thumb meets pinky finger: well done doneness feel
Tip #4 Double the check size
Everyone who cooked meat will realise that it will get a little smaller when cooked. So, when you see your meat becoming charred but the size is still the same, your meat will need to stay in the pan or grill a little longer. However, you still need to be vigilant in cooking your meat since it can become overcooked eventually.
Tip #5: Ask the experts
If you really want to step up your meat-cooking game, you can ask experts or let experts teach you through commercial cookery courses offered by one of the sought for training providers in Victoria. MCIE offers classes that directly focus on training students on becoming the best in the respective field they choose.
