Blog Name Placeholder: April 2014

TO honor Opa for Easter, Dad made a rib roast, one of his favorite dishes. The interesting thing is that he did it on the stove top.

Really.

The roast never saw the inside of an oven. And it was perfect (for Mom's taste, Dad prefers a little more red and a little less pink, but since it was for her, he made it to her taste.)

Click to read more.

The roast emerged from the refrigerator bone dry on the exterior. It had cured in Kosher salt for five days. Dad wrapped it in a towel and changed it every few days, more frequently during the first few days and less frequently after that. For some inexplicable reason, the grocer decided to tie it up in twine. The indentations are visible above. Likely this was done to appeal to certain buyers since the roast also came with a pop up thermometer. The price was appealing to Dad enough. He didn't need everything else.

http://www.pfaltzgraff.com/set-of-2-pop-up-timers/5052677.html

Not to disparage anyone's culinary taste, but if you are relying on one of these to indicate internal doneness, you are likely to be disappointed. At about an inch and a fraction long, they are designed to pop up at a predetermined temperature, a condition that has only a passing resemblance to what is going on deeper inside the roast. So it was plucked from the roast and unceremoniously discarded.

Actually it was spiked like a football into the trashcan and Buggy might one day tell a tale about her father becoming unhinged while he roared on about the despicable, offending object.

What is necessary to knowing internal temperature is a probe thermometer. Nothing else can disclose the temperature of the meat at the center of the roast. Dad currently uses this one. It is not the best he has owned, but it is reliable.

Programability, wireless remote alert technology, and other fancy gadgetry are worthless if the thermometer doesn't do what it needs it to do, that is reliably indicate internal temperature. Buy or beg for one for Christmas, but don't venture into roasting without it. Then, test it for accuracy. When placed in ice water it should read close to 32 F. if it goes that low. When placed in boiling water at sea level it needs to read 212 F.

Dad took one look into the oven and was greeted by this sight.

Oh come on! Who uses their oven for storage? Dad doesn't want to remove all of that just to roast a roast. Plus it is filthy. Who is going to bother with cleaning it? Not the New Family Dad. Not today at least. Fortunately, he has options.

A glistening jewel.

Nice. It is clean and will work magic. No it is not made by that famous brand that rhymes with Le Crusade. That stainless steel knob on top was an add on bought at the outlet mall. Moreover, the knob is actually inferior to the spun nylon one it replaced. It conducts heat requiring the use of an oven mit. The original one could be grasped bare handed when the top was hot.

Dad began heating the enameled cast iron and sprayed it with cooking spray.

The perfectly done roast is all about temperature control. It took Dad a few years to understand and really appreciate that the gas control knob was like an accelerator. He wouldn't go wide open throttle leaving a stop light just to race to the next red light, but he often cooked that way. He'd dump stuf into a pot and turn the gas on - all the way. And just as he uses a speedometer measure his speed, he uses thermometers to measure the temperature of the cooking vessel.

An appropriate flame and speed for roasting in a pot

Wide open throttle! Not appropriate for roasting.

Disclaimer: the New Family Mom is not responsible for the soiled grates. Dad is. He made the mess and had yet to scrub them in lye.

For browning purposes, the oil temperature needs to be higher than 300 F. But to keep it from smoking it needs to be less than 400 F. For that Dad uses and infrared thermometer.

Point and shoot.

Over the course of the next half hour, Dad browned the roast on all sides except the concave underside of the ribs.

Then he inserted the probe thermometer so that it's tip was in the center of the roast. He lidded it up and set the alert temperature to 140 F.

Now here is something to contemplate, what is the appropriate roasting temperature? Dad could get this pot up to 450 F. and get to done in twenty minutes. Conversely, he could set it on a simmer flame and extend roasting time to almost indefinitely. He chose the latter for a very good reason.

Rapid acceleration leads to a condition known as carry over. That is the roast continues to rise even after it has been pulled from the oven (pot here). And unless you are very experienced, it is difficult to estimate the quantity of additional cooking that will take place. It could be five degrees. It could be much more. However, by going slowly, carry over is minimized. Pulling at at two degrees before final doneness ensure that it will not go over the target.

Also, rapid heating renders the intramuscular fat (the marbling) out of the meat making it dry. Slow heating preserves it. This keeps the meat moist and flavorful.

So how slow to go? In theory, a goal of a final internal temperature of 140 F. would mean keeping the pot at 140 F. until the center of the roast reached that temperature. In practice though, the roast would never get to there because the heat loss emitted above the pot equals the thermal input from below and so represents an asymptote, a point the roast would forever get closer and closer to but never achieve. And all the while the bulk of meat would be in a temperature danger zone ripe for breeding bacteria. Plus he needs to feed the family sometime that day, so he has to heat the vessel to a higher temperature. He chose 200 F.

Maintaining such a low temperature is a challenge even with a simmer burner. An electric appliance might be better suited to that task. As it was Dad had to constantly check and recheck the pot cycling the gas on and off.

Meanwhile he also had asparagus to cook.

In Dad's opinion asparagus is the only suitable green vegetable to pair with beef. Potatoes are good too especially when whipped, but that is a holiday treat. ITs so easy to make. Spray it with a little cooking spray and salt it. Spread it in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place into a 350 F. oven for long as it takes (10 ~ 15 minutes).

Once the probe thermometer sounded its alarm, about ten degrees from final. Dad cut the gas off. A few degrees from done, he pulled it and allowed it to rest on a cutting board. An aluminum foil tent should keep the surface clean.

He was pleased when he cut into it. There is little gray mass. The fat is is glistening and largely intact.

Above is what a perfect 140 F. looks like.

IT is interesting that one's perspective changes when becoming a parent. Before children Dad did not take notice of the playground equipment installed in various parks. He has been to this particular park before, even as recently as this time last year, but gave little thought to the suitability of the equipment to a given child's age. Today, at the urging of Mom, they set off for 5 and under park. He marveled at the thoughtful design, at how appropriate it is for the almost 2 years old crowd.