Unraveling the Mystery of Cooking Steak: Why Oil Matters?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter kenewbie
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Cooking Mystery Oil
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the role of oil or fat in cooking steak, specifically addressing why the presence of oil affects the browning process of the meat. Participants explore various theories related to temperature, chemical reactions, and cooking methods, with a focus on the implications for flavor development and texture.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that oil may act as an insulator, reducing direct contact between the steak and the pan, which could affect cooking outcomes.
  • Another participant emphasizes the importance of water content in meat, stating that the temperature cannot exceed 100°C while water is present, which impacts browning reactions.
  • A different viewpoint argues that to achieve browning, the surface temperature of the meat must exceed 100°C, which is facilitated by drying out the surface.
  • One participant asserts that frying in oil does not reach the high temperatures necessary for browning, contrasting it with cooking methods like grilling over charcoal.
  • Another participant agrees with the insulation idea and highlights that oil requires more energy to reach the temperatures needed to char the steak compared to a heated metal surface.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the mechanisms by which oil affects the cooking process, with some supporting the insulation theory and others focusing on temperature and moisture content. There is no consensus on the primary reason for the observed effects.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the cooking process, such as the specific temperatures reached by different cooking methods and the role of moisture, remain unresolved. The discussion does not clarify the exact conditions under which browning occurs when using oil.

kenewbie
Messages
238
Reaction score
0
So, you have steak which you toss on a hot pan. The heat eventually break apart the molecules, making oxygen and hydrogen evaporate and you are left with just carbon, a burnt crust on your steak.

My question is, why does this change when you use oil or fat?

I have two possible solutions that I can think of. The oil might work as an insulator of sorts, since the steak "floats on top of it" and thus it gets less direct contact with the pan. The other is that it might be a chemical reaction where atoms from the oil takes the position of evaporating atoms.

I consider the first explanation the most likely.

So, anyone care to enlighten me?

k
 
Science news on Phys.org
You are forgetting about the water content: as long as there is water present, the temperature cannot exceed 100 C.

Frying, or using oil, allows the temperature to exceed 100C at the surface of the meat. This, in turn, allows the temperature of the surface of the meat to get high enough so that the various components undergo browing reactions (Maillard reactions), which is responsible for the developed flavor.

The same concept holds for roasting in an oven- searing the surface with high heat allows the skin to dry out and brown.

McGee's book "On Food and Cooking" has more information about this.
 
Andy, did you notice he was asking why the steak doesn't brown if you use oil or fat?
 
The OP's question, taken literally, makes no sense. The question seems to inquire about the role of fat and frying in creating a tasty steak.

My answer is correct- in order to brown meat, the temperature must rise about 100C, and this can only happen by drying. Boiling meat will never brown.

If (s)he is truly asking "why the steak doesn't brown if you oil or fat to cook the meat", the correct answer is "Because the heat is too low".
 
The OP's question is just fine.

As someone with lots of experience cooking steak, the only answer I can give is that the oil is not as hot as a grill or pan surface that has been heated with flame. When I cook a steak over charcoal, we're talking about 1000 degrees or more at the surface of the grill. When you fry something in oil, you don't reach those kinds of temperatures. I believe your insulation idea is right. The oil requires far more energy to reach the heat necessary to char the steak than the metal surface does. Whether the crust is formed depends entirely on how hot the meat gets. If the meat only touches the oil (which burns above 450 degrees or so, which is NOT hot enough to char the steak), it will never char.
 
Last edited:
Peter that makes perfect sense, thank you.
 

Similar threads

Cooking (Thermodynamics) Problems
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
4K
High School How to think of molecular orbitals quantum mechanically
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
High School Why don't solids always stick together?
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
4K
Why wasn't fluorine used as a standard for atomic mass?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
Bio Homework Review (Please check and Correct)
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
20K
High School How Does an IEC Fusion Reactor Work?
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
5K
Thoughts on Excerpt from My Chem Prof's Textbook?
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
4K
Can I get my intro Bio problems checked?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Mathematica This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics (Week 231)
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
Mathematica This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics (Week 231)
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K