LOW Temperature Cooking Introduction

LOW TEM PER ATU RE COO KI NG FACTS

MEAT AND NUTRITION


Mea t play s a sign ific ant role in the diet;
therefor e, one of the pri mary goal s in food
preparation is proper nutrit ion . Meat is one of the
best sour ces of protein;		is a rich sou rce of B
vit amins suc h as thiam ine , ribof lavi n, and			niaci n;
and includes fats, carbo hydr ates, minerals ,
pigments, enz ymes, and wate r.
All of these	elemen ts are affec ted by cookin g,
but over-heatin g destroy s many of them. Low
tem pera ture Halo Heat cooki ng helps preserve
unstable, hea t-sensitive		vit ami ns and nutrients .
A repo rt on the Nutrien t Analysi s of Roast Beef ,
con ducted by the Unive rsi ty of Wisconsi n-Stou t
in July 1971, concluded, “…it is appa rent that the
Alt o-S haam coo kin g meth od result s in lower
moisture losses.	Even after a 24 hou r holdi ng
perio d, the Alto-Shaam		prod uct is nut rit ion ally
equ al to, and possibly		better than beef roast cooke d

in a convention al ove n and removed immediat ely aft er cooking .”

Fat contrib utes greatly to the flavo r of meat. During the cooking process, fat not only melt s, but also cha nges chemically. With low temp erature coo king there is les s che mical change and less fat melt result ing in a more flavo rful finis hed product.

The enzyme s found in meat break down the tissues and act as natur al tend erizing agents. A premiu m price is paid for aged meats where this enzyme action has alread y start ed; however, enz yme s are destro yed by hig h temperatu res .

Low tempe rature cookin g does not destr oy these enzym es and, parti cula rly in the hold cycle, creat es this nat ural chemic al action to tend eriz e or age the meat right in the oven. For this reason, it is import ant to use fres h beef and it is essenti al to allow the product to remain in the hol d cycle for at least the mini mum amount of tim e suggest ed in the indivi dual procedu res. The longe r meat is left in the hold cyc le the more tender it becomes , maki ng the purcha se of more exp ensive , aged meat unneces sary.

Meat is seventy to seve nty-fi ve percen t water. High tempe ratu res cause this water to eva porat e during coo king resul ting in loss of produ ct moist ure. Cookin g at low tempe ratures in a Halo Heat ove n retains the maximum amount of water conten t result ing in a juici er finishe d produc t and an ext ended hold ing life.

Along wit h better nutriti on, a more tender finishe d product, less shrinka ge and highe r

moist ure conte nt, meat will not require the addit ion of as much salt as need ed with con ventio nal cooking methods . Natu ral fla vors are pres erved . This is a signi fica nt fac tor in today ’s hea lth

consc ious die ts.

LOW TEMPERATURE COOKING INTRODUCTION

LOW TEM PER ATU RE COO KI NG FACTS

MEAT AND NUTRITION

Mea t play s a sign ific ant role in the diet;