What's the point of salting meat before you cook it?
What's the point of salting meat before you cook it?
When to salt meat is a controversial topic in cooking circles.
Some claim that salting early in the cooking process dries out the meat and inhibits a crust from forming. But we agree with the early salting advocates who believe that the salt has time to penetrate the meat, tenderizing it and improving flavor, and that salt (particularly coarse salt) help form for a crisper crust.
Those concerned about their salt consumption should note that if you wait until a steak is cooked to add flavor-boosting salt, you will probably end up adding more salt than if you'd salted before cooking.
An old chef's trick is to salt meat early, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it for up to a few days before cooking. When you cook the meat, its texture will be improved by the tenderizing action of the salt.
Also, note that pork can take about the double amount of salt that you would use for other meats. If you have a mediocre pork loin, for example, double salt it, let it rest in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it, then rinse off the excess salt and pat dry before cooking. It works like a charm.
Ham is a cut of meat taken from the hind leg of a hog.
Ham can be bought fresh, but most host ham is sold already processed in some way. The salting, smoking and aging of pork was an invention of the Gauls and was an ancient European method of preserving backyard pigs that were slaughtered in the autumn and preserved for winter.
Ham can be dry-cured by coating it with salt -- as in the case of Italian prosciutto -- and may also be smoked like Spanish Serrano ham or Bayonne ham from France. It can be brined in a process called sweet-pickle curing (when sugar is added it's called sweet-cured) or injected with brine like the majority of mass-produced hams. So-called country-cured hams from the American south include Virginia's famous Smithfield ham.
Blenheim apricots are prized fruits grown in the Santa Clara Valley region of California. Similar to a Royal apricot, and sometimes called Royals or Royal Blenheims, the Blenheim is small, with a greenish tint that sometimes makes people mistakenly think it isnt ripe.
Blenheims have been grown in the region for more than 100 years but have become harder to find in recent decades, displaced by more early ripening, bigger and heartier apricot varieties. Because they are delicate and hard to ship, you're most likely to find Blenheims at the farmers market. When they are in season, Blenheims are notoriously delicious fresh, and work well for canning, drying, baking or making jams.
Once a prize kept under lock and key in wealthy households, sugar is now ubiquitous and comes in many forms. Most commercial sugar is made from cane or beet root. Here's a look at the most common types of sugar used in the kitchen.
Granulated white sugar: White sugar is highly refined and made from sugarcane or beets. This all-purpose refined white sugar has small but fairly coarse crystals and is used to sprinkle on food, sweeten beverages, or add to dishes during cooking. Golden granulated sugar is a brown sugar made from sugar cane molasses that is similar but has a light brown color.
Castor (caster) or superfine sugar: This refined white sugar has fine crystals that dissolve more quickly than regular granulated sugar, making it a good choice for baking meringues. Golden castor sugar is made from unrefined cane sugar.
Brown sugar: Brown sugar is nothing more than white sugar that has been mixed with molasses to color it and give it a moist texture. Light brown sugar has less molasses than dark brown sugar. Brown sugar should not be confused with raw sugar, which has a similar color and taste but is actually the residue from processed sugarcane.
Turbinado sugar: A sugar cane extract that is made by steaming unrefined raw sugar. It has large crystals and a slight molasses flavor. It's a shade paler than brown sugar and can be substituted for brown sugar in recipes. We like to use turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top of muffins, cookies and scones. It holds its texture well and, when cooked, has a nice sweet crunch.
Demerara Sugar: True Demerara sugar is raw or partly refined sugar with large crystals, but some impostors are nothing more than white sugar stained with molasses.
Muscovado Sugar: This raw cane sugar comes in light and dark varieties and is used to make cakes and desserts.
Powdered, icing or confectioner's sugar: This sugar is made by reducing granulated sugar to a powder and mixing it with starch to prevent it from lumping up. It's used to decorate cakes and can also be used in making sweet dishes and baked goods.
Golden, fragrant and naturally sweet, honey is the fruit of a long-standing arrangement between men and bees. Worker bees buzz around snatching nectar from the flowers, returning to the hive to concentrate the nectar and stash it in the viscous form of honey. Then the beekeeper snatches the honey from the bees.
Honey can be drizzled in its liquid form, whipped to prevent crystallization or creamed and spread like butter. Finding crystals in your honey is actually a testament to its high quality. To smooth it out, set the honey jar in a pan of freshly boiled water, until the honey turns liquid again.
Honey has longstanding connections to love and sensuality. In the fifth century B.C., Hippocrates prescribed it for "sexual vigor." And Rosh Hashanah is celebrated with honey and honey desserts, to help ensure a sweet coming year.
Recipe: Honey Cake (Cookthink)
Recipe: Breakfast Quinoa With Dried Cranberries, Toasted Walnuts, And Honey (Cookthink)
Recipe: Greek-Inspired Honey-Roasted Shallots (hogwash)
