Alto-Shaam Electronically Operated Ovens Low Temperature Cooking Introduction, Meat And Nutrition

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.

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