Temperature, both cooking temperatures and internal temperatures are key to having juicy, flavorful meat. The goal here is to use appropriate cooking technique that allows the ingredient to have that beautiful brown color on the outside, while hitting the targeted internal cooking temperature so it’s safe to eat, yet doesn’t dry out on us.
If you haven’t seen Dry Brine: The First Secret to Juicy, Flavorful Chicken & Steak, start there and come back to learn this second secret to master.
What is a Mallard Reaction?
Mallard (pronounced May-yard) reaction is named after the French scientist that discovered it, but simply put it’s the browning on the outside of the food that offers loads of flavor and often the desired crusty crisp texture as well. To be clear, maillard reaction is not burning it’s browning. It’s a chemical reaction that occurs when cooking temps reach between 300 to 500ºF.
How do I acheive this in the oven?
Use high heat, usually over 400ºF on convection bake or broil at the end. Be sure to coat the outside of the meat with oil and protect the meat when you can. This Juicy Oven Roasted Chicken recipe is a great example of protecting the chicken breast by buying skin-on, bone-in meat.
How do I acheive this in a pan?
Heat up your pan and splash a little water in. If it’s a weak sizzle, keep heating it up. When you do have a strong sizzle that’s not a scary sizzle, the pan is ready. If you don’t like playing the sizzle game, consider investing in a Laser Thermometer and aim for the pan to be around 400ºF for fish and chicken and 500ºF for beef.
Once the pan is heated to the right temperature, then fully coat the pan with a fat, usually butter or oil. This creates a barrier between your pan and the food, so those yummy brown bits are less likely to stick to the bottom of you pan instead of staying attached to your food.
Once the outside is seared, turn down the heat to finish cooking the meat through to the targeted internal temperature.
Internal Cooking Temperatures
Internal cooking temperatures are extremely important to ensure food is safe for your family to eat as heat kills bacteria, such as e-coli. But for lean meats if the internal temp gets too high, the proteins seize up and squeeze out all the juices, leaving you with a dry brick. To get this right, there is one piece of equpiment I absolutely recommend you buy, it is a Meat Thermometer. There is no finger or visual test that can accurately tell you the internal temperature of your meat and it’s really not worth risking.
Free Internal Cooking Temperature Chart
On our free Internal Cooking Temperature Chart, you’ll see both a chef temp and USDA temp listed for each type of meat that you’re cooking. Most bacteria will be confined to the surface of the meat as long as the meat isn’t expired and it’s been kept refridgerated. So that’s why the chef temp referenced on the chart is lower for solid pieces of meat, but that goes out the window once you ground meat. Once it’s been ground it has to be cooked to 160ºF – 165ºF to kill bacteria.
If you’re worried about dry burgers, use a little fattier meat to protect it. Fattier meats are a lot more forgiving because that fat protects the meat during the cooking process. In fact, chicken thighs and beef chuck roast or ribs can benefit from low cooking temps over a long time (aka low and slow) so that the internal temp of the meat will be much higher to allow fat & connective tissues to melt.
For leaner meats, you’re cooking it to the required internal temperature and then pulling it off the heat as quickly as possible. This method should be used for chicken breast and whole chicken, turkey, fish, and good quality steak.
Recap & Next up
Remember, using high heat to sear the outside of food will help you create that Mallard reaction or browning that is extremely delicious and fun to eat. Then turn down the heat and finish cooking to the targeted internal tempature to ensure it’s safe for the family to eat.
I go into more specifics during each recipe, but I hope that gave you some great overall knowledge to help you on your cooking journey and master the art of juicy, flavorful chicken & steak!
References:
USDA. (2020, May 11). Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart | Food Safety and Inspection Service. Www.fsis.usda.gov. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/safe-temperature-chart
Wikipedia Contributors. (2019, March 21). Maillard reaction. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction