Searing is a cooking process that involves briefly cooking meat or fish at a high temperature to create a caramelized crust and enhance flavor and texture. It does not seal in juices, but can make slow-cooked dishes more savory. Searing can be done on a stovetop or broiler, and only high-quality red meats and saltwater fish should be seared.
Searing is a cooking process that involves placing a food item such as meat or fish at a very high temperature and cooking it briefly before lowering the temperature or removing the food from the heat. It is also sometimes called browning and is used to prepare meats for cooking and to create stand-alone dishes. There are a number of reasons to include searing in food preparation, and they all boil down to, shall we say, enhancing the flavor of the food and giving it a more interesting texture. Burning is also very easy and requires no special equipment.
One thing that doesn’t burn is “seal in the juices” of the meat, although many people mistakenly believe this. In fact, seared meat appears to lose its juices just as easily as unseared meat, as shown by tests conducted by food scientists like Alton Brown. However, there are many other benefits to searing, as we’ll see.
The first thing it does burn is create a caramelized, brown crust through the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is a complex term for what happens when sugars and amino acids are heated together, creating a distinctive crust and a huge assortment of flavor compounds. This crust will make the meat tastier if it is cooked further. Also, searing will give the food an interesting mouthfeel, with a tender inside and a crunchy outside.
To sear, a cook needs a pan and high heat. Many cooks sear on the stovetop, although it can also be accomplished on a broiler or in a broiler. Usually the meat is allowed to come to room temperature so that it relaxes and any surface moisture is gently removed before heat is introduced to the pan. Some cooks burn with a small amount of oil, while others don’t. In either case, the meat is allowed to brown completely on one side before being flipped to sear the other side.
After cooking, a meat can be roasted, braised, or cooked in a variety of ways. Seared meat will eventually have a more complex and savory flavor, especially in slow-cooked dishes like stews. If you’ve had trouble with mildly bland stews and chili, you should probably sear the meat first. Seared meat can also be served plain, if it is of high enough quality. Seafood such as tuna is usually served seared, with a crispy outer crust and a buttery, essentially raw, interior. The creamy center interacts with the crunchy crust in a way that this wise GEEK writer likes, and you might too. He advises that poultry, freshwater fish and pork should never be served rare and that only the highest quality red meats and saltwater fish should be seared.
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