Have you tried slow roasting meat and fowl?

Food

I have been away from blogging for a couple years. Sorry. There were many distractions, but I’m coming back. I will likely focus on my collected research for my novel about the Korean War. Also, I’m tempted to begin blogging about cooking.

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I began cooking at the age of 10 or 11 when my mother went to work for the telephone company. At first, she’d call with instructions to begin prepping food for her. In a short while, I began cooking family dinners. When I joined the Sea Scouts at age 14, I became the ship’s cook, preparing meals for 10 to 15 hungry teenagers and adult leaders in a four foot galley on a two burner propane stove. With almost 66 years experience, I have some interesting lessons and stories on the subject to share, such as my love of slow roasting.

Slow roast brisket with pot vegetables

My mother-in-law was convinced that I was going to kill the family when I took over duties of cooking holiday meals. Though she and the others survived my cooking for several years thereafter, she never let go of her fear. The issue centered on my use of slow roasting.

Once upon a time, everyone slow roasted meat and fowl. It was the only option. However, with the advent of gas ranges, “the modern woman” was unchained from the kitchen, or so she was told in ads from the early 20th Century. Mrs Modern has plenty of leisure time while her gas range did all the work. And thus the art of cooking was perverted.

Early ad for gas range

I discovered slow roasting while stationed with the Army in Hawaii. The authentic Kahlua Pig, popular at island luaus is prepared by digging a puka (a hole in the ground), lining it with fire heated rocks, and placing the pig wrapped in banana leaves into it. The puka is then filled with burlap and dirt and left to cook the pig until the next day. The meat is tender and moist and most of all, flavorful.

Kahlua pig ready for a luau

There are many other advantages to slow roasting that are not immediately apparent. Firstly, if you examine your roast with a thermometer, you’ll discover that it is cooked evenly throughout. Roasting in a quick (hot) oven set to 325⁰ or higher, will produce meat that is over-cooked at the surface and under-cooked at the center. The desired temperature or degree of doneness is found only in the center.
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Secondly, slow roasting will not boil away the juices and the finished meat will be heavier than meat that is roasted in a quick oven. The reason is that water boils at 212⁰ and escapes as steam. No amount of basting can return the juices to the meat. Basting only treats the outer skin.

Thirdly, slow roasting is healthier. It produces more healthful food inasmuch as vitamins are destroyed above 211⁰ and the slow oven is significantly lower than that. Additionally, animals, especially cattle, have been bred and fed to contain more fat so that beef will be tender when cooked the modern, fast way. Slow roasting tenderizes meat without the need for all that fat. Because of this, wild game, which is naturally leaner, benefits from slow roasting.

Finally, slow roasted meat is more flavorful. Natural flavors are not masked by excess fat. Also, wild game loses it's gaminess in the slow oven.

What about the bacteria? That was my mother-in-law’s biggest concern. Bacteria exists on the surface of unground meat and can be washed away prior to roasting. Inasmuch as most bacteria is destroyed at any temperature above 154⁰, the slow oven need only be kept above that to prevent new bacteria from forming. Thus, the key to slow roasting is temperature control. Just enough to roast the meat to the desired degree of doneness without cooling to the point at which bacteria can grow. You’ll need a good oven thermometer and time to learn your oven.

All ovens cycle on and off. Regardless of the fuel, gas or electric, they will heat to the temperature you set, or slightly above, and then cool until the heat is turned back on. Better insulated ovens will hold the heat longer and tend to cycle within a narrow range of temperatures. Cheaper models will cool faster and cycle over a wider range of temperatures. Place fire bricks in the bottom of the oven will help it retain heat.

Click all images to enlarge

The oven should be set to maintain the same temperature as the desired doneness of the roast. For rare and medium rare beef that are done at a temperature lower than is needed to kill bacteria, you need to keep the oven temperature above 154⁰ and pull the roast when the internal temperature reaches the desired degree of doneness. Remember, the bacteria is found on the surface of unground meat

And, of course, the oven is slow. Roasting times may range from 12 to 18 to 24 hours. Trust me. The results are well worth waiting for and no, you don't have to sit in the kitchen babysitting your roast. The oven is doing all the work...

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Disclaimer: Results are not guaranteed, but I never killed anyone or caused food poisoning in the fifty plus years I have been slow roasting meat and fowl.