John Myers
Are there any tools to identify the temperature on the stovetop, e.g. achieved when frying meat (without the fat smoking)? Meat juice often separates, then I turn up the heat when I need a roasting effect, e.g. when sliced. Then it steams properly.
As long as there is “moist” food in the pan and the water evaporates, the temperatures do not rise to a level that is harmful to health.
As soon as the meat turns not only brown but black when frying, it is more dangerous and you should immediately remove the pan from the stove.
When oil or fat starts to smoke in the pan, the so-called smoke point has been reached. The fat begins to decompose and harmful substances can develop. This effect occurs quickly if you heat the pan or pot with oil for too long before adding the fried food.
If a fat is already smoking, you should not quickly add the food to be cooked, but let the pan cool down, remove the “old” fat and start again. Under no circumstances should water run into it. This can suddenly evaporate and the hot fat squirts out, which in turn can lead to severe burns.
Adding meat, vegetables, etc. quickly lowers the temperature in the pan.
There can be several reasons for the meat to leak out when it is fried:
If you put too much meat in the pan at once, the temperature in the pan will drop too much. Escaping water does not evaporate immediately, but collects in the pan and slowly boils away. In this case, it steams heavily. But that is “only” the water vapor that rises. The temperatures at the bottom of the pan are around 100°C = cooking temperature. A similar situation occurs when you heat butter in a pan or saucepan. At some point, the butter will begin to simmer and bubbles will form. Here, too, the water is released from the butter at around 100 °C and evaporates. If the butter is heated to a higher temperature, it will splatter.
When frying meat, especially for sliced meat or goulash, it is important not to put too much meat in the pan at once, but to fry it in smaller portions one after the other. It also helps if the meat is not taken straight out of the cold fridge. However, it should not be left at room temperature for too long because of possible bacterial growth.
The quality of the meat can also have an impact on the juice extraction during preparation. In particular, the meat of animals that were exposed to severe stress during slaughter has poorer water-binding capacity. However, such meat is difficult to recognize at the meat counter. It can be seen quite easily in pork because it is shiny when moist and very pale.
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