Leverbeginnerdraft
Temperature
Also searched as: heat, degrees, core temperature, oven temperature
In short: The most important lever in the kitchen. A few degrees decide which process runs and which does not.
Picture it
Like a staircase: on each step a different door opens.
Temperature thresholds30 °C
30 °C170 °C
- 50 °Cprotein cooks
- 60 °Cstarch swells
- 66 °Cfibres squeeze out juice
- 70 °Cconnective tissue dissolves
- 100 °Cwater evaporates
- 140 °Cbrowning
Below 50 °C none of this happens yet. From 50 °C: protein cooks.
What happens
Every process has its threshold. Protein cooks from about 50 °C; starch swells from about 50–65 °C depending on the kind. Connective tissue dissolves from about 70 °C, water evaporates at 100 °C, browning starts from about 140 °C. For meat, the difference between surface and also matters.
Rules of thumb
- A thermometer is the most valuable tool for better results.
- Hot surface, gentle inside: that is almost always the goal with meat.
Related entries
Sources
- ThermoWorks: How Meat Cooks – Heat’s Effects on Muscle Fibers
- Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking (2004), Kapitel Fleisch
- American Society of Baking: Starch gelatinization