Alto-Shaam 500-TH SERIES, 750-TH SERIES, 1000-TH SERIES manual LO W TEM PE Ratu RE COO KI NG Facts

L O W T E M P E R AT U R E C O O K I N G I N T R O D U C T I O N

LO W TEM PE RATU RE COO KI NG FACTS

MEAT AND NUTRITION

Mea t play s a sig nifi cant role in the diet;
theref ore, one of the prim ary goals in food
prepa ration is prop er nutri tion. Meat is one of the
bes t sources of protein; is a ric h source of B
vitamins such as thiam ine, ribofl avin, and niacin ;
and includ es fats, carbohyd rate s, min eral s,
pigments, enz ymes and wate r.
All of these	eleme nts are affe cted by cooking,
but over -heating	destroys many of them . Low
temper atur e Halo Heat coo king helps preserv e
unsta ble, heat- sens itive vitam ins and nut rient s.
A report on the Nutrient Analys is of Roast Beef,
conducted by the Univers ity of Wiscons in- Stout
in July 1971, concl uded, “…it is apparent that
Alto-Sh aam coo king method resul ts in lower
moisture losses . Even afte r a 24 hour hold ing
peri od, the Alto- Shaam produ ct is nutri tionall y
equal to, and poss ibly bet ter than beef roast coo ked
in a conv ention al ove n and remov ed immedi ate ly
after cook ing .”

Fat contrib ute s greatl y to the flavor of meat. During the cookin g process, fat not onl y melts, but also cha nges chem ical ly. With low temperatu re cooking there is less chemical change and less fat melt resultin g in a more flavorfu l fini shed prod uct.

The enzymes found in meat break down the tissue s and act as natura l tender izing agents. A premi um price is paid for aged meats where this enzyme action has already started, how ever; enzym es are destroy ed by high temp erat ures.

Low temperature cooki ng does not dest roy these enzy mes and , part icul arly in the hold cycle, creates this natura l chemi cal action to ten deriz e or age the mea t right in the oven. For this reason, it is impor tant to use fresh beef and it is essenti al to all ow the prod uct to remai n in the hold cycle for at least the min imum amount of tim e sugge sted

in the indiv idua l proced ures. The long er meat is left in the hold cycle the more tender it become s, mak ing the purch ase of more expensi ve, aged mea t unnece ssa ry.

Meat is sevent y to seventy-f ive perce nt wate r. High tem perat ures cause thi s water to eva pora te durin g cooking resu lting in los s of prod uct

mois ture. Cooki ng at low tem pera tures in a Halo Heat ove n retai ns the maximum amoun t of water conte nt resul ting in a juic ier finis hed produc t and an ext ended hol ding life .

Alon g with bet ter nutrit ion, a more tender finis hed prod uct, les s shrinka ge and high er

mois ture cont ent, meat will not requi re the addi tion of as muc h salt as nee ded wit h conventi onal

cooki ng method s. Natu ral fla vors are preserve d. This is a signific ant fac tor in toda y’s hea lth consc ious diets.

SEC TIO N 1 • LOW TEMPERATURE COOK ING INTRODUCTION

2.