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A little molecular gastronomy

Long-cooked meat becomes meltingly soft. What happens to achieve this result?

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Last modified on: September 2^nd 2024

Meat cooked for a long time becomes very tender, almost melting - why is it so?

Meat is mainly made of proteins, which are molecules made up of amino acids linked by two kinds of bonds s:

Peptidic bonds, which form chains (green)
Covalent bonds, which give "3D" structure to the protein (red)

Like in this diagram:

molecular gastronomy

But if proteins are heated for long enough, covalent bonds break down, and only peptidic bonds remain, giving meat a more "fibrous" structure, and a smoother texture.

peptidics bonds

This explication is certainly short, but fairly simple. The information is taken from a lecture given by Hervé THIS and a biology book of Jérémy's from when he was at college.

Which recipes use this method?

Of course 5 hours poultry, but also confit de canard, rillettes, etc.

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