[OT] PING: Good cooks (meat)

Good choice, one of my favorites!
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
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I need advice on cooking a boneless pork chop. Yes, it's true - I've
never done it before. For someone who's been on her own for 35 years,
I know very little about cooking most meats. I can cook chicken and
ground beef or turkey, and fish (eg, salmon, not shellfish), and that's
about it. Oh, I can heat hot dogs in the microwave.

I'd slice it into strips to make stir-fry sweet & sour pork.

Yowie

Yowie wrote:

Technical answer: heat transfer rates.

Simple answer: with a skillet or frypan, the meat is in *direct contact*
with the metal which is an excellent conductor of heat (as well as
electricity) so the heat gets into the meat and cooks it fast.

In an oven, most of the meat is in contact with air, which is a lousy
conductor of heat. It therefore heats up alot more slowly and cooks slowly.

Thanks for this explanation - makes a lot of sense! (So why didn't I
think of it, then?? )

Could just fry it, very simply. Thats the other thing to do with chops. Fry
some onion with it maybe some steamed carrots or greens etc. Mashed potatoes
and gravy. maybe a blob of apple sauce. Perfectly decent meal.

Goes well on a BBQ[1] too.

Don't forget, we northern hemispheric types are still in winter. I might
live in California and have mild winters, but it's far from BBQ season!
Right now it's chilly and raining, definitely not a day for firing up the
grill.

I have some cabbage and a potato, which go together beautifully. (Too bad
I don't have corned beef. ) I'll try frying the pork chop, and today
I'll go get a meat thermometer to monitor the progress.

Thanks everyone!!

--
To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

I got a new grill when they went on sale. It is one of the small ones that
looks like a mushroom on a pedestal. It is outside my back door. I cooked
a steak there when it was zero out and it was wonderful. Had three neighbor
guys call and fuss at me because their wives were nagging them to cook out.
You can, for the most part run in and out and, if you dress right, it isn't
bad. Worth it for the onions and meat.
wrote in message
...
Yowie wrote:

Technical answer: heat transfer rates.

Simple answer: with a skillet or frypan, the meat is in *direct contact*
with the metal which is an excellent conductor of heat (as well as
electricity) so the heat gets into the meat and cooks it fast.

In an oven, most of the meat is in contact with air, which is a lousy
conductor of heat. It therefore heats up alot more slowly and cooks
slowly.

Thanks for this explanation - makes a lot of sense! (So why didn't I
think of it, then?? )

Could just fry it, very simply. Thats the other thing to do with chops.
Fry
some onion with it maybe some steamed carrots or greens etc. Mashed
potatoes
and gravy. maybe a blob of apple sauce. Perfectly decent meal.

Goes well on a BBQ[1] too.

Don't forget, we northern hemispheric types are still in winter. I might
live in California and have mild winters, but it's far from BBQ season!
Right now it's chilly and raining, definitely not a day for firing up the
grill.

I have some cabbage and a potato, which go together beautifully. (Too bad
I don't have corned beef. ) I'll try frying the pork chop, and today
I'll go get a meat thermometer to monitor the progress.

Thanks everyone!!

--
To send email to this address, remove the triple-X from my user name.

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
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Wow! Thanks for all the responses and suggestions!

OK, so what I gather is that this small piece of pork loin (I think
that's what it is - the label says "boneless pork chop") would not
be great for baking in the oven. I do have a broiler (griller), but
haven't used it much. I hope it works OK! I could also cook it on the
stove. I might have a GF grill, too. Someone gave one to me several
years ago, but I've never used it, so I might have given it away,
can't remember. Aren't they hard to clean?

I looked this question up on the web, and saw similar ones to my own.
All of the answers said "bake at 350 degrees for one hour", and this
did refer to pieces of meat as small as mine (I made sure to check).
Yet many of you are saying to fry it on the stove for 5 or 6 minutes?
What accounts for such a big difference in the cooking times?

Technical answer: heat transfer rates.

Simple answer: with a skillet or frypan, the meat is in *direct contact*
with the metal which is an excellent conductor of heat (as well as
electricity) so the heat gets into the meat and cooks it fast.

In an oven, most of the meat is in contact with air, which is a lousy
conductor of heat. It therefore heats up alot more slowly and cooks
slowly.

One question about meat thermometers. (I've never owned one.) How long
do you leave it in the meat before you know that it has reached the
correct temperature?

As soon as it stabilises (ie, stops rapidly going up)

And is it really possible to get an accurate
reading with such a small amount of meat?

If you've got a good one, yes, very accurate. But for cooking it doesn't
have to be the 8exact* temeprature to 4 decimal places. Within a degree or
two is OK.

I've seen thermometers stuck
into things like enormous Thanksgiving turkeys, but not a small slab
of meat an inch thick. Could it even stay in long enough?

If you hold it, sure.

Thanks again. The recipes do sound intriguing! On this maiden voyage,
though, I think I will keep it simple, since my object this time
around is to cook something that will be neither dry as shoe leather
nor full of live parasites. Will give a report!

Could just fry it, very simply. Thats the other thing to do with chops.
Fry some onion with it maybe some steamed carrots or greens etc. Mashed
potatoes and gravy. maybe a blob of apple sauce. Perfectly decent meal.

Goes well on a BBQ[1] too.



BTW I think we may be talking about two different types of thermometer.
Especially if Joyce doesn't roast meat often.

There used to be meat thermometers that you stuck into the roast or turkey
and they stayed in while you cooked. They were glass tubes in a metal
frame.

For quite some time now, most everyone has been using instant read
thermometers that have a metal probe with a dial in the end to read the
temp. You can even measure a thick hamburger with one of these. But the
dial on the end is part plastic and covered in a clear plastic bubble.

You just stick it into the meat (or whatever, Charlie used to use one for
setting up beer dispensers) for long enough to get a reading. If you get
confused like he did back in the day and leave it in, it will melt in the
oven.

Rather embarrassing as his employer had bought it for him to use in bars and
they were still fairly expensive and not generally available.

A couple of things you have to know when roasting meat. The once it gets to
130F the temp starts going up fast. About ten degrees every ten minutes.
And most things will go up another ten degrees after you take them out of
the oven.

Jo

Bridget is exactly right, its all about the temperature, pink in pork, beef
or any other meat doesn't matter after you are at the right temperature...
that is for health, now taste that's a different matter Lee, who prefers her
pork done, her chicken burnt and no beef except if its ground
Granby wrote in message
...
Pleassse don't tell me my beef can't be a little pink!

Gramby
I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she
handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled
Christmas tree lights.


"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
...


Bridget wrote:


Get a meat thermometer. That will tell you if it is hot enough without
you overcooking it. I use one all the time with all kinds of meats -
except maybe chicken - you can't cook chicken too long in my opinion.
Pork doesn't have to get as hot as other meats to kill off the
parasites
in it, so you really don't want to over cook it. It is one of the meats
that can be considered done even if it is a little bit pink

Huh? I beg to differ! I was brought up to be SURE pork was well-done,
however tolerant one might be of "a little bit pink" for lamb, beef,
etc.

and you are 100 percent correct. Lee
Bridget wrote in message
. ..
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


Bridget wrote:


Get a meat thermometer. That will tell you if it is hot enough without
you overcooking it. I use one all the time with all kinds of meats -
except maybe chicken - you can't cook chicken too long in my opinion.
Pork doesn't have to get as hot as other meats to kill off the
parasites in it, so you really don't want to over cook it. It is one
of the meats that can be considered done even if it is a little bit
pink

Huh? I beg to differ! I was brought up to be SURE pork was well-done,
however tolerant one might be of "a little bit pink" for lamb, beef,
etc.

If you cook pork to the temperature required on the meat thermometer, it
will still be slightly pink. My quite comes from a hog farmer who knows
his stuff.

that last sounds nice, Lee
Debbie Wilson wrote in message
...
wrote:

I'm going to bake it in the oven. Can someone tell me how long I
should cook it, and at what temperature? I don't want to overcook it,
because I've had roast pork when it's been done right, and it's
juicy and wonderful. But I certainly don't want to *undercook* it,
what with all the nasties that live in pork.

Just a couple more ideas to add to the excellent suggestions here
already. I would also not bake such a small piece of meat especially
boneless. Either fry or broil would be my recommendation. For roast pork
you really need a proper joint of meat, leg or something.

I usually broil (grill for those of us in the UK) pork chops for about
6-8 mins each side on a medium-high heat depending how thick it is,
until the juices run clear but before it gets tough.

Season the chop beforehand on each side with salt and black pepper, or
if you like, onion salt and/or garlic pepper, plus a sprinkling of dried
mixed herbs. Drizzle olive oil over each side. If you have some, a dash
of Worcestershire sauce is also good for a savoury extra.

Very nice served with mustard and sage mashed potato (mix a spoon of
Dijon mustard and a sprinkling of sage into the mash) and veg of your
choice.


Alternatively here's another idea - pork chops with mustard sauce.
Slice a small onion thinly and fry in olive oil with a knob of butter
until golden. Place the pork chop in the pan with the onion, season with
salt & pepper and fry quickly on each side until it goes white. Lower
the heat, then add to the pan a few (3-4) sliced mushrooms, fry for a
moment, then add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and a tablespoon of
either plain Greek yoghurt or creme fraiche. Mix well and simmer on a
low heat until pork is cooked. If it gets too dry add a splash of water
or white wine if you have some open, to prevent sticking. Serve with
rice and a green salad.


Hope this helps!

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

I guess if you did it in bacon and wrapped it in foil, and then did a
potatoes like that it might be alright, I am sure DH would either panfry it
or cube it and do it in stirfry, Lee
Granby wrote in message
...
I would think the only way you could bake such a small amount would be to
wrap a couple pieces of bacon around it to keep some moisture there and I
would think you would have keep it covered.
"Debbie Wilson" wrote in message
...
wrote:

I'm going to bake it in the oven. Can someone tell me how long I
should cook it, and at what temperature? I don't want to overcook it,
because I've had roast pork when it's been done right, and it's
juicy and wonderful. But I certainly don't want to *undercook* it,
what with all the nasties that live in pork.

Just a couple more ideas to add to the excellent suggestions here
already. I would also not bake such a small piece of meat especially
boneless. Either fry or broil would be my recommendation. For roast pork
you really need a proper joint of meat, leg or something.

I usually broil (grill for those of us in the UK) pork chops for about
6-8 mins each side on a medium-high heat depending how thick it is,
until the juices run clear but before it gets tough.

Season the chop beforehand on each side with salt and black pepper, or
if you like, onion salt and/or garlic pepper, plus a sprinkling of dried
mixed herbs. Drizzle olive oil over each side. If you have some, a dash
of Worcestershire sauce is also good for a savoury extra.

Very nice served with mustard and sage mashed potato (mix a spoon of
Dijon mustard and a sprinkling of sage into the mash) and veg of your
choice.


Alternatively here's another idea - pork chops with mustard sauce.
Slice a small onion thinly and fry in olive oil with a knob of butter
until golden. Place the pork chop in the pan with the onion, season with
salt & pepper and fry quickly on each side until it goes white. Lower
the heat, then add to the pan a few (3-4) sliced mushrooms, fry for a
moment, then add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and a tablespoon of
either plain Greek yoghurt or creme fraiche. Mix well and simmer on a
low heat until pork is cooked. If it gets too dry add a splash of water
or white wine if you have some open, to prevent sticking. Serve with
rice and a green salad.


Hope this helps!

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

I think its a learned behavior with the grill, DH never liked them until the
last mini one, Lee, who has to have the iron skillet or nothing,
Granby wrote in message
...
Am I the only one in the world who likes a plain old iron skillet? People
keeps giving me these grills and I keep regifting, with their knowledge.
Maybe it is how you learned that makes the difference. I use the spray
oil
for the pan.
"Lesley" wrote in message
...
On Feb 2, 10:02 am, mlbriggs wrote:

This is just a suggestion (I"m not interested in complicated cooking) --
invest $20 in a small George Foreman grill. One pork chop can be cooked
in a couple of minutes.

Probably the one bit of kitchen equipment I couldn't live without

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Stormmee wrote:

that last sounds nice, Lee

Thanks! It helps if you love Dijon mustard, and with the creme fraiche
it makes a really savoury thick sauce.

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield