A quick question for the chefs out there in dope-land. If you have some food in the fridge (it’s completely thawed), say something like a marinating steak/chop, do you bring the food back up to room temp before cooking? Are there any pros or cons to doing, or not, doing this in terms of taste, texture,…etc.?
Thanks…Milo.
If it’s completely thawed, I don’t see any benefit. Also, there’s always the chance you’d forget, leave it out too long, and bacteria would grow.
There are a few things where it is worthwhile to use room-temperature eggs, but that’s the only example I can think of.
Certain foods benefit from being brought to ambient temperature before preparation. Eggs are a perfect example. In order to whip the whites to full peak, they really need to be at room temperature first. Other foods are intentionally designed to be cooked directly from the refrigerator. An example of this would be fish sticks. To get the breading nice and crisp, they should not be thawed first. Otherwise the crust will tend to absorb too much water and get mushy while baking.
Many people take advantage of food that has been cooled. Aficionados of rare beef will often grill a steak that has come straight out of the refrigerator. However, frozen meat must first be thawed to cook properly. Food at room temperature will tend to cook more quickly. More importantly, it will also cook more evenly. See the mention of rare steaks above for an exception. For cold whole potatoes that are being warmed again, it would be good to bring them to room temperature first. Otherwise the exterior might begin to deteriorate before the center was cooked all of the way. Bacteria should not be a big problem if the food is kept covered before use.
Harriet, Zenster, thanks for the reply. I knew about the eggs, I just wasn’t sure if something similar applied to other foods. Thanks again.