Searing or pan searing is a technique used in grilling , baking , braising , roasting , sautéing , and the like, in which the surface of the food (usually meat such as beef , poultry , pork , or seafood ) is cooked at high temperature until a browned crust forms. Similar techniques, such as browning and blackening , are typically used to sear all sides of a particular piece of meat, fish, poultry, etc. before finishing it in the oven. To obtain the desired brown or black crust, the meat surface must exceed 150 °C (300 °F), so searing requires the meat surface be free of water, which boils at around 100 °C (212 °F).
8-523: Although often said to "lock in the moisture" or "seal in the juices", in fact, searing results in a greater loss of moisture than cooking to the same internal temperature without searing. Nonetheless, it remains an essential technique in cooking meat for several reasons: Searing does not cause caramelization , which affects only sugars, or simple carbohydrates; the Maillard reaction involves reactions between amino acids and some sugars. Typically in grilling ,
16-634: A seared piece of meat. For this reason, searing is sometimes done at the end of the cooking process to gain the flavor benefits of the Maillard reaction , as well as the benefits of cooking for a greater duration with more moistness. Caramelization Caramelization is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting rich, butter-like flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: caramelans (C 24 H 36 O 18 ), caramelens (C 36 H 50 O 25 ), and caramelins (C 125 H 188 O 80 ). As
24-438: Is broken down into the monosaccharides fructose and glucose . Caramelization is a complex, poorly understood process that produces hundreds of chemical products, and includes the following types of reactions: The process is temperature-dependent. Specific sugars each have their own point at which the reactions begin to proceed readily. Impurities in the sugar, such as the molasses remaining in brown sugar , greatly speed
32-473: Is typically mentioned for larger cuts, especially steaks and chops, of non-poultry meats such as beef, pork, lamb and tuna. Experiments to test the theory were carried out as early as the 1930s and found that the seared roasts lost the same amount of moisture or more. Generally more liquid is lost, since searing exposes the meat to higher temperatures that destroy more cells, in turn releasing more liquid. Moisture in liquid and vapor form continues to escape from
40-465: The Maillard reaction. This technique is typically recommended for thicker pieces of meat, 1–1.5 in (25–38 mm) or thicker, allowing for consistent internal cooking temperature with only the outer portion becoming seared. The belief that searing meat "seals in the juices" is widespread and still often repeated. This theory was first put forth by Liebig around 1850. The notion was embraced by contemporary cooks and authors, including Escoffier . It
48-423: The food will be seared over very high heat and then moved to a lower-temperature area of the grill to finish cooking. In braising , the seared surface flavors and colors the cooking liquid. In reverse searing, the order of cooking is inverted. First the item to be cooked, typically a steak, is cooked at low heat until the center reaches desired temperature; then the outside is cooked with high temperature to achieve
56-426: The process occurs, volatile chemicals such as diacetyl (known for its intense butter-like taste) are released, producing the characteristic caramel flavor. Like the Maillard reaction , caramelization is a type of non-enzymatic browning . Unlike the Maillard reaction, caramelization is pyrolytic , as opposed to being a reaction with amino acids . When caramelization involves the disaccharide sucrose , it
64-434: The reactions. Caramelization reactions are also sensitive to the chemical environment, and the reaction rate, or temperature at which reactions occur most readily, can be altered by controlling the level of acidity ( pH ). The rate of caramelization is generally lowest at near-neutral acidity (pH around 7), and accelerated under both acidic (especially pH below 3) and basic (especially pH above 9) conditions. Caramelization
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