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August 24, 2005
Kinky Proteins gone against their Denature!!!!
Or, denaturization of proteins during cooking. I heard the crickets when I mentioned this before, believe me, but I had an interesting conversation during an excellent brisket dinner I had over the weekend, so I thought I'd share it.
Brisket is an excellent example of a cut of meat that can easily be ruined by improper cooking. The cut, located at the breast area of the cow, is heavily exercized and contains a great deal of elastin and collegen, the two types of connective tissue found in meat. There is a third type, located only in the hide, so a cook never encounters it. Elastin is the tougher of the two, it is the tough thread-like sinew you find and is little affected by the cooking process, so proper fabrication and slicing before service are required to remove as much of it as possible.
The other type of connective tissue, collagen, can be mitigated by proper cooking. A piece of meat has pretty much done all the contracting it's going to do by the time it reaches around 170º. As this contraction occurs as collagen begins to denature, liquid is squeezed out that used to be trapped between the fibers that used to allow them to move freely. This is the time that fat is so important. Without fat entering to keep the collagen fibers seperated, it becomes more difficult for the fibers to break down and you get the dry, mealy, over-cooked pot roast most of us grew up with. (Except me- Mom makes an excellent pot roast! Whew!!)
Let's talk about temperature now. We know that the meat has shrunk and lost as much juice as it's going to by the time it reaches 170º. Is it time to eat? The answer is, sometimes. If you've been lucky enough to get a cut with a nice fat cap, and you've cooked it fat side up so the fat can melt through the collagen fibers, they may be denturing nicely and you're good to go. But if you're not so lucky, you're going to dry your brisket out at 170º while you're biding your time.
The solution? The breakdown of collagens happens most effeciently around 205º, just below boiling. By smoking or baking at 205º, you're going to expedite the secondary denaturization, and you're going to do it more quickly, so your brisket will actually retain more of the fat that's dripped down into the fibers and keep the afore-mentioned mealy texture from developing.
And slicing. Terribly important. Take the time to figure out exactly which way the grain is running, and slice across it. This helps cut whatever elastin is present and any collagen remaining into short enough pieces that you won't notice them.
Our host, Chad, was doing all this instinctively. Served with a great homemade BBQ sauce, some awesome mashed potatoes and a terrific selection of grilled veggies I almost felt guilty about not helping to cook. Almost.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at August 24, 2005 7:08 AM
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