Imagine this scene: in the morning before leaving for work, Cooker Repair Services in West Midlands you put all the ingredients in a pan and go out. When you come home from work in the evening, you find your meal hot and ready to be devoure.
This scene can become reality with the help of an electric slow cooker, that is to say a container close by a lid, capable of cooking food at low temperature and in complete autonomy, without having to spend hours in the kitchen.
Even the most fibrous and tough meats become tender with such cooking, thanks to a simple scientific process: at equal pressure, time and temperature determine the cooking of a food.
Cooking meat in the slow cooker
To understand the science of the slow cooker , it is necessary to recall some basic notions of cooking meat.
What is commonly called “meat” is the muscle of an animal , ie a set of muscle fibers among which there are collagen fibers , the main protein of connective tissue. The latter, as its name suggests, serves as a link with the other tissues of the animal.
- On the other hand, in order to obtain meat cook to perfection, another mechanism must be considere: between 65 and 70°C.
- The collagen is “denature” in the presence of water (present in the muscles) and is transform into jelly.
- If you cut a slice of boil meat, Best Home Appliance Repair Company in Leicester you will be able to see it between the muscle fibers.
- If a piece of meat rich in collagen was cook at a very high temperature.
- Its outer part would cook quickly, creating a screen that would not allow the heat to reach the inside of the piece.
- The meat would result in being overcook on the outside and raw on the inside.
On the contrary, Cooker Repair Services in West Midlands with slow cooking, the heat reaches the internal fibers of the meat, giving an even cooking .
How does an electric slow cooker work?
For all parts of our piece of meat to be heat to 70°C, the overall cooking temperature must be slightly higher, i.e. around 80°C .
- Commercial slow cookers have become more and more complex and make it possible to adapt the temperature to the cooking of different foods.
- You can use the “low” cooking mode at around 80-87°C.
- Cooker Repair Services in West Midlands the “high” mode at 120-130°C, and some models also allow “medium” cooking at 100°C.
- In order to promote the penetration of heat into the food, the slow cooker heats up on the bottom but also on the internal walls, and its lid keeps a uniform temperature inside the pan.
- This lid should never be open during cooking, so as not to let the heat out.
Cooking times vary depending on the model of slow cooker use, but in general, to cook one kilo of veal, it takes about 7-8 hours at “low” cooking. After this time, most slow cookers automatically lower the temperature to around 40-50°C, in order to keep the food warm while stopping the cooking.
Pork ribs, a real delight!
Finally, a recipe suggestion: here’s how to cook delicious spare ribs in an electric slow cooker.
Start by seasoning the spare ribs with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a little Dijon mustard. Place them in the slow cooker, set the “low” cooking mode for 8 hours and… forget about them!
At the end of cooking, take out the pork ribs. If you wish, you can put them in the oven for about fifteen minutes at 200°C to create a delicious crispy crust. Then, Cooker Repair Services in West Midlands serve them with a simple green salad: you will discover the taste of slow cooking!
