In praise of slow cooking
You will no doubt have noticed that in cookery, it's often the actual cooking process that gets neglected. This is understandable; it comes at the end of the recipe and getting the dish in the oven is something of a relief (ah, that's done!), which frees us to cope with what's left: tidying the scene of the action, doing the washing up.. or starting on another recipe.
42 K 4.2/5 (21 reviews)
Last modified on: February 9th 2011
In praise of slow cooking
For a lot of dishes, whether they're cooked fast or slow, hotter or cooler, doesn't really matter. Take a cake for example, as long as it's not actually burnt, when it's done, it's done and it needs to come out of the oven otherwise it will start to dry out and harden, then burn.
But for plenty of other dishes, and especially those containing vegetables or meat, it's possible to use another style of cooking, known as “slow cooking” or “low temperature cooking” .
The principal is as simple a it gets: we turn down the heat and increase the length of cooking time accordingly. The cooking time is therefore much longer, but as the temperature is so much lower than normal, the dish doesn't burn.
This is not a recent discovery of molecular cuisine or the like, it's a principal as old as the hills which we're only now rediscovering.
With this long, slow cooking – and it is real cooking – the ingredients are not shocked by the oven temperature, but gently brought up to the right temperature. A renowned dish of French cuisine which uses this method is the famous “seven-hour lamb” (leg of lamb).
This has two major consequences:
1) The food doesn't dry out. This applies to meat in particular, which stays tender and develops a melting texture (you can break it apart with a fork).
2) Flavours are enhanced, as the process favours the famous Maillard reactions.
So, in short, there is everything to be gained, the only drawback being the extra time required for dishes to be properly cooked, which may not always be available.
One concrete example: to roast a chicken by the conventional method, the oven is normally set to 220°C (430°F) for about 45 minutes. The result is a roasted, browned chicken that's already rather good.
For slow cooking, the same chicken can be put in the oven at 140°C (280°F) for 5 hours, and the result is a roast chicken with an amazing flavour and so tender that it can be eaten simply with a fork; the meat just falls off the bones, even on the drumsticks.
It's five hours poultry.
The same process can be prolonged even further by putting the same chicken in a cooking bag with vegetables and whatever herbs you choose into the oven at 100°C (210°F) for 12 hours. You'll be surprised at the result.
To round up, don't forget that slow cooking is more of a method than a recipe, so the temperature and time are not necessarily exact. You just need to keep the temperature below 150°C (300°F) and above 80°C (180°F), then alter the cooking time depending on the result you wish to achieve, but with a minimum of 2 hours. The simple rule is this: the lower the temperature, the longer the cooking time needs to be.
One tip, even so : if you want to slow cook a piece of red meat, it will look much more appetising if you seal it on each side for one minute in a little really hot oil, and only then put it on to cook slowly.
But for plenty of other dishes, and especially those containing vegetables or meat, it's possible to use another style of cooking, known as “slow cooking” or “low temperature cooking” .
The principal is as simple a it gets: we turn down the heat and increase the length of cooking time accordingly. The cooking time is therefore much longer, but as the temperature is so much lower than normal, the dish doesn't burn.
This is not a recent discovery of molecular cuisine or the like, it's a principal as old as the hills which we're only now rediscovering.
With this long, slow cooking – and it is real cooking – the ingredients are not shocked by the oven temperature, but gently brought up to the right temperature. A renowned dish of French cuisine which uses this method is the famous “seven-hour lamb” (leg of lamb).
This has two major consequences:
1) The food doesn't dry out. This applies to meat in particular, which stays tender and develops a melting texture (you can break it apart with a fork).
2) Flavours are enhanced, as the process favours the famous Maillard reactions.
So, in short, there is everything to be gained, the only drawback being the extra time required for dishes to be properly cooked, which may not always be available.
One concrete example: to roast a chicken by the conventional method, the oven is normally set to 220°C (430°F) for about 45 minutes. The result is a roasted, browned chicken that's already rather good.
For slow cooking, the same chicken can be put in the oven at 140°C (280°F) for 5 hours, and the result is a roast chicken with an amazing flavour and so tender that it can be eaten simply with a fork; the meat just falls off the bones, even on the drumsticks.
It's five hours poultry.
The same process can be prolonged even further by putting the same chicken in a cooking bag with vegetables and whatever herbs you choose into the oven at 100°C (210°F) for 12 hours. You'll be surprised at the result.
To round up, don't forget that slow cooking is more of a method than a recipe, so the temperature and time are not necessarily exact. You just need to keep the temperature below 150°C (300°F) and above 80°C (180°F), then alter the cooking time depending on the result you wish to achieve, but with a minimum of 2 hours. The simple rule is this: the lower the temperature, the longer the cooking time needs to be.
One tip, even so : if you want to slow cook a piece of red meat, it will look much more appetising if you seal it on each side for one minute in a little really hot oil, and only then put it on to cook slowly.
Lasts posts
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20251,1385
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20256,7333
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20256,1705
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20256,2835
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...August 8th 20254,4295
Other pages you may also like
How to zest a fruit?
You will have no doubt noticed that many recipes call for the zest of citrus fruit. The zest is that outer layer of the skin which adds so much flavour to a dish. There are many different ways to peel off the zest and various tools are available. Here is a summary of the “dos and don'ts” of...November 5th 201347 K3.8
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...June 16th 2021146 K4.5
Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?
If you are using sausages in a recipe, you may have already asked yourself the question: Should you prick it before cooking it, or not? You will certainly find as many opinions "you should prick" as "you should not". Let's try to untangle all this.September 29th 201847 K4.1
Too much sweet and savoury
There is a food trend which is creeping in everywhere in France right now: mixing sweet with savoury. In some restaurants, it is becoming difficult to order a classic dish, like “roast veal” for instance, without being served fruits in the garnish or honey/conserves/syrup in the sauce or cooked...November 3rd 201127 K4.5
The 3 kinds of meringue
Meringue – what could be simpler? Just beaten egg whites with sugar added. This makes a fairly stiff mixture which can then be cooked in a cool oven to create those lovely, light confections. But in the world of professional patisserie, meringue comes in three different kinds. Even if the...June 14th 201364 K4.5
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.