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www.NYC Studios.com www.NYC Studios.com www.NYC Studios.com www.NYC Studios.com www.NYC Studios.com www.NYC Studios.com www.NYC Studios.com www.NYC Studios.com www.NYC Studios.com A lot of great tips in the book and I want to dive into one in particular, which is the case for brining meat. What is brining meat? So brining meat is the solution to overcooked lean protein. So we're talking about the white meat in chicken or turkey, lean cuts of pork, like a pork loin or pork tenderloin.
There's very little fat. There's, and it can really dry out and be chalky and tough. We've all had a horrible Thanksgiving turkey. The solution next year is to brine the turkey and you are putting the protein in a bucket with a solution of salt and water. And what is happening is that the salt is changing the structure of the muscle fibers and creating spaces that can then trap the natural juices and meat. Most meat is 75% water. And the goal is to preserve that natural moisture.
And by changing the shape of the proteins, it's actually the sodium and chloride, ions have negative and positive charges and they're changing the way the mosaic of charges on the proteins are working and you are getting more water to be held into the meat. It's own natural juices. In addition to obviously some of the water that's in the brine makes it its way into the meat. And basically we found inside by side tests, you can cut moisture loss by 25% which is a really significant.
Doesn't it take salt to the meat when you take it out? You don't want to season it too much. The average amount of salt if you brine it is going to be about an eighth of a teaspoon per serving. So it's about the same if you buy a kosher chicken or if you buy a butter bowl turkey which has been injected with salt, it wouldn't brine those because they already have about that level of salt in them. All right. We have another wonderful in-studio demonstration that we're going to talk about.
What have you got here? I'll let you explain it. I have two identical bowls, two identical whisks inside each bowl are three egg whites. Now whipped egg whites are the secret to everything from soufflé to cakes. We are going to both take a bowl and start whisking and see who can make better progress. I know you're going to say I used to be good at this but this is not working. Well, so what we're doing is we're creating a foam here. And as you can see in my bowl, I'm already, I got nothing.
You got nothing. I actually kind of did something not very nice to your bowl. I sprayed it with a little bit of Pam cooking spray. And dirty red. The fact is the point here is that if you get even a teeny bit of fat and that fat can be leftover grease from not washing the bowl very well to the fat from the yolk, it will prevent those whites from whipping properly. And you really can't get a stable foam. No, I was really surprised because I'm pretty good at making meringue sort of thing.
Or if I make an omelette and make the eggs yolk separate then the whites and put them back together. Nothing. Nothing. And so, it's a really delicate operation. You are taking a couple tablespoons of liquid whites and a lot of sort of horsepower in your arm and turning this into a stable foam. And if there's a little bit of fat in there, it will cause the foam to collapse or really even just prevent the foam from forming. So you want to make sure then it's a very clean bowl.
And you haven't put butter or something in it beforehand. And never use plastic. It's almost impossible to get a plastic bowl really clean. There's always traces of fat and plastic. So I had stainless steel bowls here. Glass is fine, but avoid plastic because it just doesn't really get as clean as it should. What about the temperature of the bowl? Or I mean, I've heard people say you may have cold bowl or the egg yolk should be cold. What's with that?
It is much easier to separate the yolks when they're cold because the yolks are much firmer and taught and the eggs will not separate. So separate the eggs right from their refrigerator. In terms of the whipping, whether those whites are at room temperature or cold isn't going to make much difference in the ability to create a foam. Are there any new techniques based on science? I've heard people using vacuuming. They vacuum pack the food before they cook.
Yeah, I mean, it's a really interesting time in food because in the world of professional cooking in restaurants, there's so much science of technology. I mean, molecular astronomy is really changing the way the lot of chefs prepare dishes in restaurants. So the technology is kind of the same old technology. The microwave sort of came and went and people used a microwave to warm coffee, but they don't really cook in a microwave.
So the technology, even though we spend a lot more on the equipment than we used to in our kitchen, it really is basically the same equipment with nicer finishes. Let's talk a little bit about the different type of cooking oils. There are so many different ones. What's the science behind which type of oils to use for what? So the first thing you want to think about is are you going to be heating the oil? And if you're heating the oil, then the smoke point is hugely important.
And in that case, you want an oil with a high smoke point because once the oil starts smoking, it's a sign that it's breaking down and degrading. And so olive oil, for instance, has great flavor, but because it's not fully refined, it has a fairly low smoke point. It's not really great for frying or sauteing. Vectable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, those can withstand more heat. I don't know if olive Italian cookery is based on using olive oil.
Well, it's long, I mean, for, yes, most of that olive oil that, I mean, my Italian grandmother would saute in it, but she was using refined olive oil. And so, you know, if you've got a really high-end extra virgin oil that's got particulate matter in it, you don't want to be frying in it because that means it's going to smoke at a much lower temperature. So you use a worse grade of oil than to fry in it? Well, if you're going to be cooking, yes.
You know, for salad, I wouldn't use anything other than really good extra virgin olive oil. But for cooking, we use a lot of vegetable oil in that vegetable oil. Peanut oil. Peanut oil has a great high-smoked temperature. It has a sort of nice flavor that can add. Most of the flavors are really subtle, so the difference between corn and safflower and sunflower and canola are really very minor. The one thing is we don't like to fry in canola oil.
We find that it gets a little fishy tasting, actually, when it's heated for really long periods of time when you're frying. So we don't fry in canola oil. Is there one oil healthier? They unsaturate oils. I mean, olive oil is probably, you know, and the canola oil get the best marks from the nutritionists. You know, I think we like olive oil except for super-high heat applications. Jack Bishop, chef and senior content advisor at America's Test Kitchen.
He cooked with us in studio back in 2012 when they released their book, The Science of Good Cooking. And if you like those tips, we're going to have some more for you. Next week, as you get ready for your big holiday meals, we'll have more fun food science. Thanks so much, Ira. We are thankful for all the people who make this show possible, including Danielle Johnson. Jason Rosenberg. Deep Peter Smith. Sandy Roberts.
Coming up tomorrow, a look at the science news of the week, including some super-loud rockets and a saber-toothed kitten. I hope you can join us. I'm John Dinkowski. WNYC Studios is supported by Mint Mobile. Say bye-bye to your overpriced wireless plans jaw-dropping monthly bills and unexpected overages. For a limited time, get a deal for Mint Mobile when you purchase a three-month plan. That's with unlimited talk, text, and data. To get this new customer offer, go to mintmobile.com slash wnyc.
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