The theory of baking in the oven. Simmering mode in a multicooker Recipes for cooking dishes by simmering in the oven

Modern ovens have made baking the most reliable way to prepare a guaranteed delicious dish with a minimum of hassle. Just put the fish, vegetables or meat in a preheated oven, “forgot” about it for a period of time from 10 minutes to several hours - and voila, you have a full dinner ready without additional movements.

If you randomly open any recipe that involves baking in the oven, it will most likely indicate a temperature in the range of 180 to 220 degrees, or even higher. This method has both advantages and several disadvantages.

Pros and cons of baking in the oven

The main distinguishing feature of oven baking (let's call it traditional) is the temperature used, which significantly exceeds the product's readiness temperature, which we strive for.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to get Medium Rare roast beef oozing with juice (readiness temperature - 55 degrees) or, to be on the safe side, you prefer to fry the meat completely (readiness temperature - 70 degrees): both results are equally far from the range of 180- 220 degrees. Figuratively speaking, we use a hydraulic press to hammer in a small nail. Why is this happening?

Baking at high temperatures has several advantages, the main ones:

• Time. The connecting link between the heat source and the products placed in the oven is air, and as you know (or don’t know) from your school physics course, air has extremely low thermal conductivity and low heat capacity. This means that it slowly heats itself and slowly heats what it comes into contact with. This is why we can steam in a sauna at a temperature of about 100 degrees, and the roast beef that comes out of the oven remains juicy and pink when cut. However, it also means that we need to set the temperature well above our desired doneness temperature, otherwise we'll have to wait forever.
• Convenience. What does good, appetizing roast beef look like, since I took it as an example? Yes, it is juicy and pink inside - but its surface should be ruddy, crispy, and appetizing. This roastiness is a direct consequence of the Maillard reaction, during which caramelization of sugars occurs when temperatures reach 120 degrees or higher. By baking meat at high temperatures, we create suitable conditions for this reaction, which allows us to do without additional frying: everything happens right in the oven, without any extra effort on your part.

But the disadvantages of traditional baking are also too significant to turn a blind eye to:

• Supervision. I put the word “forgot” in quotation marks in the first paragraph of this article for a reason: you won’t be able to forget about chicken or fish baking in the oven. Otherwise, if you miss it by just half an hour, you risk getting an inedible dish, or even a whole pan full of coals. What’s most offensive is that this process is irreversible; minced meat, as the old song sang, cannot be reversed.

• Evaporation. Cooking over 100 degrees has another consequence, and you know exactly what I'm talking about even if you didn't get an A in physics. At this temperature, water evaporates, and if we are talking about water contained in the product itself, it will become drier as a result. It’s very easy to over-dry a piece of meat or fish; duck pans and molds with lids help - but they only help, and do not solve the problem completely.
• Temperature difference. It still exists, and heat capacity and thermal conductivity do not cancel this fact. While we use a meat thermometer to measure the temperature in the center of our roast, the outer layers are exposed to much more extreme heat and dry out quickly. In a well-cooked roast beef, this layer of dry meat will be thin and will not prevent us from happily eating our piece, but if we miss a little, that’s it, turn out the lights.

All these disadvantages can be combined into one - “If you don’t look after what is being cooked in the oven, you can spoil the food” - and, of course, the advantages of traditional baking outweigh it in most cases. But there is also the opportunity to go the other way - reduce the temperature and increase the cooking time. Several cooking methods follow this principle.

Low temperature cooking

Low-temperature cooking, in all its diversity, usually operates at temperatures in the range from 50 (lower is no longer baking, but light heating) to 100 degrees, that is, no higher than the boiling point (and, what is much more important for us, active evaporation) of water. You probably know the main types of low-temperature baking:

Boiling and stewing

Cooking food in liquid allows you to not worry too much about drying out: for this, the liquid in which you boil or stew must first dry out or, more precisely, evaporate, and this is much easier to track than measuring the moisture content in a piece of meat.

Cooking in a water bath

The products (usually liquid or at least viscous) are transferred to a container, which is placed in another container filled with water. You don’t have to worry about overheating - the water that surrounds the container with food on all sides will not allow it to heat above 100 degrees until it evaporates completely. This is how desserts and pates are prepared, and read.

Steaming

Sous vide

The products are packaged in a plastic bag, immersed in water, the temperature of which is controlled to within a fraction of a degree, and cooked in this way for several hours, or even days. As a result, the dish receives uniform roasting throughout its thickness, retains its taste and remains incredibly juicy. Of course, the sous vide method cannot be described in a nutshell, so I recommend that you refer to my article for details.

Low temperature baking

Since I did not write a separate article about low-temperature baking, unlike other methods of low-temperature heat treatment, we will dwell on it in a little more detail. Low-temperature baking is still the same oven baking as we know it, but at a much lower temperature, in the same range of 50-100 degrees. It may seem like this method was invented recently as chefs began to move away from decades-old recipes and feel free to experiment, but in reality, low-temperature baking has a long tradition.

In the old days, when all food was cooked in one oven, it was thoroughly melted, and then, as it cooled, it was used to prepare various dishes. First, under the hot arches, they baked things that required high temperatures, but were cooked quite quickly - bread, flatbreads, and so on. Then came the turn of soups and dishes that were cooked at a slightly lower temperature, but still quite high. And at the very end, when the oven was no longer so hot, tough pieces of meat were sent into it, which simmered for many hours at a low temperature, softening and gaining flavor.

Today, low-temperature baking is used for approximately the same purposes: slow baking at a low temperature helps soften tough cuts, transform connective tissue into gelatin, and low temperature helps such meat retain more juices, because it is already not rich in them.

However, low-temperature baking also has its disadvantages - for example, the meat still dries out, because the evaporation of moisture occurs naturally one way or another. In order to slow down this process, the meat can be placed in a form to which a little water has been added (or not, depending on how juicy the meat itself is that we are preparing) and covered with foil. Another disadvantage is that meat prepared in this way is completely devoid of crust. For this reason, it is usually cooked at a higher temperature or fried, either at the very beginning or at the end, before serving. However, for those for whom fried foods are contraindicated, this drawback may well become an advantage, giving them the opportunity to try delicious meat baked in the oven.

Low Temperature Baking Recipes

In principle, you can bake any piece of meat this way - just reduce the temperature and increase the cooking time. Vegetables and fish can also be baked at low temperatures, but there is no point in doing so; they will not benefit much from this approach. To give you an idea of ​​the method, here are several ready-made recipes. Some of them use temperatures slightly higher than 100 degrees, so technically it's not low-temperature baking, but something in between, but they can also be cooked using this method.

Languor- This is a method of preparing food, which is carried out in an oven or oven. In this case, the dish is subjected to uniform and at the same time not very intense heating for quite a long time.

You can cook a wide variety of foods using simmering - meat, cereals, vegetables or even fish. For example, the national cuisines of some Finno-Ugric peoples give stewed dishes a central place - almost all products that are used for food are necessarily subjected to stewing.

Modern cooking offers recipes for stewed dishes, which are mainly prepared in the simplest oven. To do this, it is turned on at the lowest power, and the ingredients of the dish are reliably isolated from hot air (for example, for this purpose, the food is covered with a tight lid or several layers of food foil).

The most suitable utensils for cooking dishes using the simmering method are considered to be ceramic: these can be pots, bowls or pans with a tight-fitting lid. It must be remembered that absolutely any stewed dish requires long-term heat treatment - pots of meat, vegetables and other products can be cooked in this way for six to eight hours.

The main and obvious advantages of stewed dishes include their delicate taste and pleasant texture. Soups, porridges, and meat dishes prepared by simmering are very easily distinguished in taste from similar dishes prepared by stewing or boiling. By the way, you can also simmer dishes that contain dairy products - cheese, milk, cream, sour cream.

Simmering can sometimes be simulated in a special slow cooker or oven, for which a small amount of boiling water is periodically added to the dish. This prolongs the cooking process by suppressing the acceleration of liquid evaporation.

However, such dishes often turn out not very tasty, as if they were boiled down. Although, for example, meat is boiled just as well as in true stewed dishes, it is not possible to recreate the characteristic taste of stewing in any other way, except for such cooking in a real Russian oven.

Unfortunately, not many chefs love and know how to cook stewed dishes, since their heat treatment takes too much time. True, if you like incredibly tasty meat or tender porridge, aromatic vegetables or thick soup, you should definitely try cooking them using the simmering method.

If you liked the information, please click the button

The main purpose of the simmering process is to give the food softness and juiciness. Simmering is carried out by gently and slowly heating the ingredients. This process is simple, but has its own subtleties.

When mastering the culinary alphabet, beginners often come across such a term as “Simmering”. The point of this process is to warm it up for a long time and slowly, that is, simmer the food at a low temperature and with the lid tightly closed. In this case, the heating temperature should be in the range of 70-95 degrees and evenly distributed over the area of ​​the dish. The languor usually lasts several hours, so housewives need to be patient before they see the result of their efforts. However, once you try cooking this way at least once, you will see that the time investment is worth it.

Simmering cannot be attributed to the inventions of modern chefs. Since ancient times, it was carried out in a Russian oven along with cooking and stewing. But the frying process appeared much later, after Emperor Peter I brought a frying pan from Holland. Languishment is akin to, but is a longer process.

For what purpose is the simmering process used?

A dish that has been stewed acquires special tenderness, softness, juiciness, a pleasant consistency and a unique taste. In addition, during intensive cooking, most of the nutrients and vitamins are washed out of the products (meat, vegetables) into the broth, and a huge percentage of vitamins are destroyed. Naturally, the benefits of such a dish are minimal. Simmering requires a minimum of water; not too hot air gently and gradually warms up the food, leaving the bulk of the vitamins and minerals intact. In addition, stewed vegetables practically do not lose their color, retain their brightness after cooking and maintain their integrity.

What foods can be simmered?

You can simmer any food: vegetables, meat, fish, cereals, milk. This method can be used to prepare soups, stews, porridges, meat, fish dishes and even desserts. They acquire a unique taste and differ sharply from analogues cooked on the stove.

Stewed milk turns out to be especially tasty; it acquires an orangeish or pale pink hue and a delicate creamy aroma. Well, the stewed porridge just melts in your mouth! Watch a very short video of preparing stewed milk in a slow cooker:

What are the subtleties of the process?

It is advisable to simmer dishes in a Russian oven. But, since this is not realistic in a modern apartment, you can carry out the process in an ordinary oven or slow cooker. The convection oven is very close in heating technology to the oven, which successfully copes with the task of simmering.

To carry out simmering, the oven should be turned on at minimum power, the food should be tightly covered with a lid, foil or special paper to insulate it from intense exposure to hot air. It is recommended to use ceramic or earthenware for simmering. A cauldron or cauldron is also suitable. You can choose cookware made from stainless steel, heat-resistant glass, or cast iron. Such dishes gradually, slowly release heat and keep the dish hot for a long time after cooking.

Simmering can be carried out in a tightly closed multicooker bowl. The main thing is to set the desired “Simmering” mode. Many housewives have a special ceramic pan with electric heating, which is called a “slow cooker” or “slow cooker”. You can also cook your intended dishes using the simmering method.

The process of simmering vegetables usually lasts 2-3 hours, and simmering meat can sometimes take up to 6-8 hours.

The simmering temperature is 5-25 degrees lower than the boiling point.

If there is no temperature sensor, just make sure that there is no violent bubbling of water bubbles rising to the surface.

Cooks know two methods of simmering. The first method is to bring the dish to a boil and then reduce the temperature to low. According to the second method, a low temperature regime is initially established, during which a boil is slowly and gradually reached, turning into simmering.

Simmering is carried out in a small amount of liquid (water, wine, milk, broth, juice, sour cream, cream) or without it at all. Some foods, such as meat, can be lightly fried or boiled before simmering.

Cooked dishes are salted at the very end to speed up the cooking process. Do not rush to take out the dish immediately after turning off the multicooker or oven; let it cook for a quarter of an hour.

Master the process of simmering and delight yourself with new shades of taste!

It is no longer a secret for many that the modern products from which we prepare food have long ceased to be healthy and harmless. They no longer contain the same composition of vitamins and minerals as in the old days. And, on the contrary, they are replete with harmful components due to the treatment of the soil with various chemical fertilizers.

This is due to the specifics of growing crops on an industrial scale. Businesses from agriculture around the world need one thing - increased profits. And soils are depleted due to intensive farming. Productivity is falling. What to do?
She needs to be promoted. Due to what? It is known that it is possible to accelerate the growth of plants, increase their size, weight, in other words, increase productivity. To do this, you need to add a couple of “ingredients” to the soil. These are fertilizers. They actually stimulate plant growth. But the plants themselves no longer contain the wealth of useful substances that they would have had in abundance if they had been grown on fertile soils. For example, according to data for 2002, compared to 1985, potatoes lost calcium by 78%, carrots lost magnesium by 75%, apples lost vitamin C by 60%, bananas lost vitamin B6 by 96%.

And so we go to the store and buy these products. At home, we cook. And cooking in most cases involves heat treatment of foods. This is further depletion of products, because... At temperatures above 70 degrees, the breakdown of vitamins and minerals begins. And after 110-120 degrees this process intensifies many times. And we end up eating nutritionally poor food. Such food can deceive the stomach, but the cells of our body will remain on a starvation diet.

Languor

You can simmer not only in the oven for many hours. There is a way to simmer on the stove. To do this, you need a dish with a tight-fitting lid, a saucepan or a stewpan. The general principle is simple. Place the necessary ingredients in a bowl, bring to a boil and reduce the temperature to low. Of course, each dish has its own specifics. The main thing is that we cook at a temperature below the boiling point. At the same time, the dishes turn out very tasty.

In a way like languor You can prepare soups, main courses, and desserts. This is not a new type of cooking at all. Everything new is well forgotten old. Previously in Rus', before Peter I brought a frying pan from Holland, the cooking methods were boiling, stewing, baking and languor.

What happens to products, say, during cooking? Water transfers temperature from the bottom and walls of the dish to the food inside, such as potatoes or carrots. It releases heat, but washes some of the nutrients into the broth. Then this broth, along with vitamins and minerals, will be poured down the drain. And our potatoes and carrots will become less healthy.

When cooking in a double boiler, the heat carrier is steam. It also transfers heat and, by condensing, “washes out” vitamins. But when simmering water, you need a minimum. Hot air saturated with vapor transfers heat and washes out practically nothing. In this case, almost no broth is formed. And all the beneficial substances remain in the products. They are destroyed a little by the temperature itself.

In the photo you see a comparative table about the content of elements in vegetables cooked in the usual way (left columns) and cooked by simmering in a tightly sealed container (columns on the right). No comments needed. It should also be noted that the vegetables remain juicy in color, and the taste of the food is much brighter. But, I repeat, languor on the stove is only possible in a tightly sealed container. You need to make sure that steam does not escape from the pan, otherwise it will start to burn.

Advice. To make cooking go faster, add salt at the very end.

That's not all. Try it, share your impressions, good luck!

Today you can increasingly hear the culinary term “sous vide”. What this is, however, not every housewife knows. And not every chef who is used to working “the old fashioned way” likes this word, since he is not familiar with it. Meanwhile, this technology is becoming more and more popular every day, since it allows you to cook food at low temperatures and at the same time preserve its structure. Thus, we receive environmentally friendly food in which all its vitamins and nutrients are preserved. At first, this method may be puzzling, but over time you will learn to appreciate all its delights and realize that sous vide is really great.

History of the method

Sous vide - what is it? This question is primarily asked by those who have never heard anything about this method of cooking before. Sous vide is a technology for low-temperature cooking of food in a vacuum. The method appeared in France - a country of gastronomic gourmets and restaurateurs who know a lot about food. The inventor of the technology is considered to be chef Georges Pralu, who worked at the French restaurant Troisgros. Using new vacuum technology, the chef prepared foie gras in 1974.

But Georges Pralu was not the only person thanks to whom sous vide technology appeared. At the same time, another person came up with it. And it all happened like this: initially this elite technology was not created for haute cuisine establishments. The owner of a restaurant, part of a chain of fast food establishments, wondered how to cook tough and inexpensive meat much tastier than competitors do. To solve this problem, the restaurateur asked for help from his friend Bruno Gousso, a biochemist by training. He asked his friend to come up with a cooking method so that the dry meat would become juicy and soft. At the same time, the aforementioned chef Georges Pralu was thinking about how to preserve invaluable fat while cooking foie gras. Thus, the same stunning idea simultaneously dawned on two strangers: both chefs thought of packing the product in a vacuum, immersing it in water at the required temperature and simmering there for a long time. Therefore, it is quite difficult to understand who was first. It doesn’t matter, the main thing is that a new and ingenious food preparation technology has emerged in the culinary world. And since then, the vacuum method has been successful in many places on the planet.

Brief description of the method

The Sous Vide method is associated with both cooking and storing food. The whole essence of the technology comes down to the following: a fresh product is packaged in a vacuum bag for cooking (if necessary, various spices are placed in it) using a special vacuum packaging apparatus. Then the bag is dipped into a tray of warm water and cooked at a certain temperature for a certain time. And then the “vacuum” product is put in. In the refrigerator chamber, such a product can be stored for a long time.

Before serving, meat dishes can be lightly fried on the grill or in a heated frying pan to enhance the aroma and create a golden crust. The sous vide cooking temperature is 50-70 degrees. Absolutely any products are suitable for this method, but this technology is best suited for preparing seafood and fish.

Benefits of technology

Sous vide technology is extremely popular these days. We have already told you what it is, now we will look at the advantages of this method. So, as a result of using vacuum cooking, the following goals are achieved:

1. During baking or frying, the surface of the meat is exposed to temperatures that are several times higher than the cooking temperature. The sous vide technology allows you to cook food gently, the temperature inside and on top of the finished product will be the same, nothing will burn or dry out.

2. Dishes will be more juicy, since low-temperature processing leaves cell membranes intact.

3. Vacuum packaging allows you to preserve all its smells and tastes in the middle of the product. It also promotes better penetration of marinades and spices into the product.

4. Correct selection of temperature and cooking time makes the food softer. In tough cuts of meat that are stewed or boiled, muscle collagen is converted into gelatin. As a result, even the cheapest cut can be prepared in such a way that it has a divine texture and taste.

5. Vegetables prepared in this way retain a crunchy and fresh texture, which is almost impossible to achieve with regular cooking.

What and how to cook

Cooking using the sous vide method can last from 20 minutes to half an hour. This time is necessary for preparing omelettes, foie gras, and small fish. But tough pieces of meat and pork ribs take a couple of days to cook. The time required to heat a portion of food to the desired temperature depends not on its total mass, but on its thickness. The density of the food determines the amount of time it takes for the food to warm up to the desired temperature. The softness of the food affects the cooking time.

Delicate and soft foods such as lamb chops, pork and veal fillets, foie gras and shellfish will be ready to eat as soon as they reach the correct temperature.

Flaw

Sous vide cooking has its downsides. If food is cooked for more than four hours at a temperature lower than 52 degrees, then there is a chance for the bacteria that causes botulism to grow. In such conditions, these pathogens feel as comfortable as possible. To avoid infection, you should choose higher temperatures for foods that take longer than four hours to cook.

Best before date

Many gourmets prefer products prepared using sous vide technology. They know firsthand what it is, since most modern restaurants specialize in such dishes. These delicacies are good not only for their taste, but also for their long shelf life (for most of these dishes it is at least five days, including the day of production and consumption). But some products can be stored much longer, however, only if these periods have been verified experimentally.

So, fish can be stored for four to six days, but beef and veal can be stored for as long as 25-30 days. For pork, this period is slightly shorter: from 15 to 18 days. Poultry can be stored for 10-18 days, and the shelf life of vegetables breaks all records. It is 45 days.