I'm Just Here for the Food_ Version 2.0 - Alton Brown [11]
REACTIVITY
When we talk about “reactive” metals these days, we’re talking about aluminum and maybe copper. Metals such as stainless steel are actually surrounded by a very thin layer (a few molecules thick, tops) of oxide that is created at the point where metal and air meet. Despite the fact that it’s technically gas, this film creates a formidable barrier between food and pan.
The film around aluminum is very vulnerable to acid. When acidic foods are cooked in aluminum, traces of the metal leech into the food. This is why every tomato sauce recipe written in English demands that we cook it in a “nonreactive” vessel. And although researchers haven’t been able to pin the cause of Alzheimer’s disease on aluminum despite years of trying, there does appear to be a relationship. Anodized aluminum appears to be safe. (Anodizing uses electricity to deposit an oxide film on a metal, thus rendering it nonreactive.) The film, however, can be scratched, which is why I just stay clear of aluminum cookware altogether. I do allow aluminum foil to come in direct contact with food, which some folks would argue is as bad as snorting the stuff uncut. Sorry, but aluminum foil is just too darned important a tool in my kitchen. I’ll give up antacid tablets and even deodorant first (both of which contain whopping doses of aluminum).
Copper is also reactive, but almost all copper cookware is lined with tin (which does have to be replaced every now and then). A century ago, when pennies were 100-percent copper, it was a common practice to drop one in a pot of cabbage soup to keep it green (copper ions, you know). Copper ions also bring stability to egg foams, which is why I whip egg whites in a copper bowl. Of course, in very large amounts copper is even more toxic than aluminum. Life’s complicated.
Wooden chopsticks If you’re not going to rest your meat, you might as well not cook it. Make your own resting rack anywhere, anytime, with these amazing sticks! Take your average dinner plate. Place five or six chopsticks thusly:
Now you’ve got the perfect place to rest a wide variety of your favorite meats. You should, of course, keep them cozy under a loose layer of foil.
APPROPRIATE FOOD
Searing is unique in that it is not only used to cook food to doneness, but as an opening act for other cooking methods. Why? Because it’s the fastest way to get heat into food so it’s the fastest way to brown the surface of food. Brown is good. Brown works. Of course, if you wish to attain a delicious, golden brown crust you must choose your food wisely. To do so, it helps to understand the reaction responsible for browning.
Any carbon-based life form (and all food used to be alive at some point) will turn black if exposed to enough heat; in other words, it turns to charcoal. However, in order to brown, the food in question must contain high levels of either carbohydrates, which brown via caramelization, or proteins, which brown thanks to the chemical chaos that is the Maillard reaction (see below).
THE MAILLARD REACTION
When certain carbohydrates meet up with certain amino acids in the presence of high heat, dozens if not hundreds of new compounds are created. Some create flavor, others create color. Left to run amok, the Maillard reaction leads directly to the condition commonly known as “burned,” which has its own flavors and colors—none of which are good.
So we need a food containing amino acids and carbs. And since we want to get this crust on as much of the food as possible, a food with a flat surface would be helpful, especially if you intend to sear it until it’s cooked to completion. What we need is meat.
But it should be the right kind of meat.