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Cook and Hold
Cook and Hold as the name implies, is a two cycle process.
- We will first, roast at a low temperature (225°F) allowing the meat to absorb the heat slowly.
- Next, we will hold the meat at a safe but still lower HACCP compliant temperature (above 140ºF) for service later.
- Meat products will not be ready to serve at the end of the first cooking cycle. The hold cycle is an important part of the cooking process when roasting at lower temperatures.
- The roast times for most products will fall between 2 and 6 hours. Hold time will be a 2 hour minimum.
- Products can be held from 2 to 24 hours depending on the size of the product and the desired internal temperature.
- Never hold food below 140°F.
- You can also Delta T and hold for the ultimate in shrinkage control.
- Cycle 4 will be the most commonly used hold cycle.
When we roast meats, the best way to get the least amount of shrinkage is to roast at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. In some parts of the world that concept is called a “Luau”.
We realize loss when we (roast) apply heat to any meat product. The heat makes the fibers of the product constrict and that pushes moisture to the surface where it is evaporated. The higher the heat, the more violently the fibers constrict, and the greater our loss is. A steak cooked well done has more shrinkage and less moisture, than a steak cooked rare. A roast cooked at 500°F has less moisture than one cooked at 275°F.
This is “Mother Nature” pure and simple. We can’t change the laws of Nature but we can work with them and make these laws work for us.
Let’s program a procedure for you to roast and hold a 12 pound prime rib. We will use a USDA #112a or a boneless ribeye, roasted to an internal temperature of 130ºF for our example.
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