The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 365

9. Rest before serving . For maximum juiciness, it’s
important to let your meat rest for at least a few
minutes after cooking.This allows muscle proteins to
relax and the meat juices to thicken slightly so that
they stay in place until the bite of steak reaches your
mouth.


THELEIDENFROSTEFFECT,
ANDHOWTOTELLIFYOUR
PANISPREHEATED

P

opquiz:I’vegottwoidenticalpans.Oneis

maintainedat300°Fonaburnerandtheotheris
maintainedat400°F.Ithenaddahalfounceof
watertoeachpanandtimehowlongittakesforthe
watertoevaporate.Howmuchfasterwillthewater
inthe400°Fpanevaporatethanthewaterinthe
300°Fpan?
A.Abouttentimesasfast.
B.Atone-and-a-thirdtimestherate.
C.Atalmostthesamerate.
D.Noneoftheabove—I’vealreadyseenthrough
yourtrickquestion.

You got it. The water in the 400°F pan will
actually take longer to evaporate. In fact, when I
performedthistestathome,ittooknearlytentimes

as long for the water in the hotter pan to vaporize.
This seems contrary to pretty much everything
we’velearnedsofar,doesn’tit?Imean,hotterpan
= more energy, and more energy = faster