Cooler Meat is Tougher Meat

Have you ever noticed that as your meat cools it gets tougher? Well, the cooler your steak or roasts are the tougher they will be. The reason for this is that the collagen in meat turns to a gelatin and begins to thicken as the meat cools.

In order to avoid the toughening of your meat you will want to serve your steak or other meats on a warmed plate or a metal plate. If it is a roast that you have made, after carving it place the rest of the roast in a warmer or put it back in the oven.

What to know how to marinade your meats? Visit >> Tips on How to Marinade Meats

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Tips on How to Marinade Meats

Every once in a while I like to marinade some of my meats and poultry. I'm going to share with you some hints and tips for marinading. If you've ever wondered why your meats turn brown really quickly when you are cooking or grilling them, it might be the marinade. You see marinades are for the most part highly acidic. The acidity in the marinades react with the muscle pigments of the meat causing it to brown quickly.

The acid in many marinades will reduce the ability of most meats to keep in moisture, so your meat may not be as moist as you thought it would be. However this lost in moisture is usually offset by the meat absorbing some of the marinade and also the flavor the marinade adds to your meats.

If you are marinading large pieces of meat, it should be done in a large plastic bag, like a Zip-Lock bag. It will require a lot less marinade if you do it this way. With smaller pieces of meat, you can marinade them in a glass dish. One thing you never want to do is marinade in a metal container. This is because the acid in the marinade will react with the metal giving your meat an off flavor.

Do not baste our meats with the marinade you soaked it in, always use fresh marinade. The reason is the marinade may get contaminated by bacterias from your meats. And finally always cover and refrigerate any meats that you are marinading.

Looking for more information on cooking meats? Visit >> Does Searing a Steak Really Seal in the Juices?

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How to Keep Bacon from Splattering

Does your bacon splatter when you cooking it? Mine sure does. However there are things you can do to keep your bacon from splattering. Back a long time ago, there wasn't the problem of splattering bacon. That is because they cured it differently back then.

The old way was to cure the bacon slowly and using salts to dry it. The bacon then would not splatter when it was cooked. Today bacon is cured in brine which cures the bacon a lot more quickly. When the bacon is cooked this liquid from the brine gets released, which causes the fat to splatter more.

If you want to reduce the amount of splattering when cooking bacon, lower your heat settings. Another thing you can do to stop your bacon from splattering is to soak the bacon in ice water for 2 to 4 minutes, then dry it.

A couple other things you can do to keep your bacon from splattering is sprinkling a bit of flour on it before cooking. And if all else fails, use a splatter screen over your frying pan, those screens work wonders.

For more information on pork and purchasing pork visit >> What to Look for When Buying Pork

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