Gregory Toomey wrote:

> Peter Aitken wrote:
>
>
>>"Gregory Toomey" > wrote in message
...
>>
>>>alan wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Disclaimer: I suck at cooking.
>>>>
>>>>I am trying to make a curry recipe that basically goes like this:
>>>>
>>>>Brown beef with onions
>>>>Add to water
>>>>Add other veggies
>>>>boil
>>>>add curry block
>>>>simmer for a while
>>>>
>>>>The problem is this: Even though I don't try to over-cook the beef
>>>>during the browning part, when I start boiling it, it tends to shrink
>>>>and get hard. Is there a way I can prevent this, without resorting to
>>>>simmering for a really long time?
>>>
>>>Some beef (eg chuck steak) needs 3-4 hours simmering to get tender.
>>>
>>>Only add vegetables at beginning, & curry/salt/spices at end. Otherwise
>>>osmosis will make beef shrink.
>>>
>>>gtoomey
>>
>>You're right that stew beef needs a lot of simmering to be tender - but
>>that osmisis idea is nonsense. Spices should go in at the beginning so
>>they can permeate all the ingredients. I don;t think there is anyu way to
>>prevent shrinkage.
>>
> Thinking again, salt should go in at the beginning.

*Some* salt should go in at the beginning. No more than about half
what you think the finished dish will need. You're not creating a
brine with the little bit of salt that's put into foods normally.

> http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking...es-flavor.html
> "Brining meat (that is, putting meat into a salt-water solution) adds
> moisture to the meat through osmosis. Osmosis happens when water flows from
> a lower concentration of a solution to a higher concentration through a
> semipermeable membrane. In meat, this membrane is the plasma membrane that
> surrounds the individual cells. When meat is placed in a brine, the meat's
> cell fluids are less concentrated than the salt water in the brining
> solution. Water flows out of the cells in the meat and salt flows in. The
> salt then dissolves some of the fiber proteins, and the meat's cell fluids
> become more concentrated, thus drawing water back in. Brining adds salt and
> water to the cells so that when the meat is cooked and water is squeezed
> out, there is still water left in the cells because water was added before
> cooking."

This is a misunderstanding of the mechanism at work in brining. Salt
doesn't dissolve protein. But, in any event, brining doesn't work well
with red meats to be braised. The liquids come out of the meat and end
up adding so much salt to the liquid that it becomes inedible.

A brine needs to be about a 5% saline solution or more to affect the
physical properties of the meat. That would be about 1/4 cup to a
quart of liquid, at a minimum. Way too much to add to a stew or
braising liquid.

Pastorio