Roasting Meats For Best Results

By Author: ALM
Total Articles: 83
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Roasting can be defined as the cooking of foods (typically meats) using a dry heat at a high temperature.
This can be achieved either in an oven, or by cooking on a spit over an open flame. This allows the heat to penetrate the meat, whilst the outside is caramelized, thus improving the flavour. In the past, roasting was almost always achieved by cooking the meat in a hearth or over a large fire using a spit so that the meat turned over the flames and was evenly cooked. Since Victorian times, however, where kitchen ranges became far more common, roasting has come to meat the cooking of meats in an oven. For meat to be properly roasted it must be cooked uncovered (otherwise it steams in its own juices rather than roasting). Typically the meat is placed on a rack in a roasting tin (this means that the meat is not sitting in its own juices, reducing the risk of its stewing). The oven is pre-heated to a high temperature (typically 220 to 240°C) and the meat is placed in the hot oven to be cooked for 30 minutes. This gives an initial heat boost and helps caramelize the outside of the meat. Subsequently the oven temperature ...
... is reduced to 160°C and the meat cooking period is timed. Halal meat exporters Typically the amount of time the meat is left in the oven is based the weight of the meat. For example, after the initial high temperature cooking beef would be cooked for 30 minutes per kg at 160°C for medium (the same for lamb). Pork would be cooked for 50 minutes per kg and chickens would be cooked for 45 minutes per kg at 180°C. Turkey, as it tends to be a drier meat is typically cooked for 40 minutes per kg at 165°C (with the oven temperature increased to 210°C for the final 20 minutes to ensure the roast is nicely browned). If the meat is cooked through, then at the end of the roasting time the juices should run clear when the meat is pierced in its thickest part with an internal temperature of at least 65°C when measured with a meat thermometer. After being roasted, meat should be covered in kitchen foil and allowed to rest from between 10 and 25 minutes (depending on the size) before being carved and served. This resting time allows the protein chains in the meat to relax, making it more tender. It also allows the meat juices to spread from the centre of the meat to the outside, making it more succulent.