Healthy Gourmet: the slow cooking revolution

A revolution is under way: the cooking rules of the past are being overthrown by a modern approach that draws on scientific insights to make food tastier and healthier.

Fear not: this does not mean that Sunday's roast will be served with the consistency of jelly or that a family reunion will feature pumpkin caviar. It is about understanding what happens to food as it cooks in order to make great meals consistently.

At the heart of this revolution is accurate temperature control. Home cooks have been relying on exotic tips and tricks in their quest to cook food perfectly. For example, using a toothpick to check if the cake is ready, or comparing the consistency of the steak with the muscle in the palm of the hand. But these solutions are approximations at best. Measuring temperature precisely is the only reliable method.

Take Thanksgiving as an example: it is often a source of frustration for the dinner host, with the turkey not turning out as succulently as hoped. The recipe calls for a given amount of cooking minutes for each kilogram; you follow the advice religiously, but it still turns out overcooked. The reason for this is that meat does not conduct heat well. The shape of food affects internal temperature more than weight, as does the percentage of water in the fibres, the amount of fat, whether or not bones are present, and so on.

The solution is simple: use a digital thermometer to control the core temperature. At 55 degrees Celsius, a steak is medium rare, at 65 degrees it's medium, and at 70 degrees it's well done. Always.