WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Can You Microwave a Steak to Perfection?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hi brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and this is another classic episode.

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<v Speaker 1>The modern kitchen contains some amazing technology, from refrigerators to

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<v Speaker 1>air fryers, but when it comes to cooking, the microwave

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<v Speaker 1>is often looked down upon. But with enough care you

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<v Speaker 1>can use it for lots of things. You can even

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<v Speaker 1>cook a steak to a perfect medium rare. Here's how

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<v Speaker 1>it works, Hey, brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb. Here. For

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<v Speaker 1>convenience in cooking, a microwave oven can be tough to beat.

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<v Speaker 1>The common kitchen appliance introduced for residential use in the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifties, can cut down on the time and electricity

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<v Speaker 1>necessary to cook or reheat food. But despite its many benefits,

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<v Speaker 1>can a microwave oven match its other cooking counterparts in

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<v Speaker 1>all ways? Frozen dinners and revitalized oatmeal or one thing.

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<v Speaker 1>A prime cut of beef, often considered a paragon of

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<v Speaker 1>traditional cooking methods, is quite an other. On a stovetop, sure,

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<v Speaker 1>in an oven, you bet on an outdoor grill, heck yes,

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<v Speaker 1>But can a microwave oven cook a steak to a

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<v Speaker 1>perfect medium rare? A discussion on the online forum chef

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<v Speaker 1>Talk spans six years with little consensus aside from a

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<v Speaker 1>shared sense of outrage, disgust, and perplex miunt. Though other

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<v Speaker 1>precision and science based cooking techniques suvied and various molecular

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<v Speaker 1>astronomy approaches, for instance, have captured the imagination of professional cooks,

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<v Speaker 1>microwave cooking has not. We spoke with E. J. Hodgkinson,

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<v Speaker 1>the executive chef of King and Duke, a meat focused

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<v Speaker 1>restaurant here in Atlanta, Georgia. He said, I have never

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<v Speaker 1>attempted to cook a steak in a microwave. I did

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<v Speaker 1>once witness a chef use a microwave to cook a

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<v Speaker 1>steak two well done after removing it from the grill.

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<v Speaker 1>I promptly resigned from my position with that restaurant. If

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<v Speaker 1>you're going to consider trying to cook a steak two

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<v Speaker 1>medium rare in a microwave, it's important to know how

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<v Speaker 1>a microwave oven works. On the electromagnetic spectrum, microwaves sit

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<v Speaker 1>between radio waves and infrared radiation. Water, fat, and sugar

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<v Speaker 1>molecules absorb waves in this frequency. Thus, microwaves excite the

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<v Speaker 1>substances very molecules, producing heat, The adage that microwaves cook

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<v Speaker 1>from the inside out isn't exactly true. Microwaves do penetrate

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<v Speaker 1>deeper than the surface of a food, but they have

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<v Speaker 1>difficulty going deeper than an inch or so. Think of

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<v Speaker 1>how a microwaved beverage can be piping hot on the

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<v Speaker 1>exterior but still just sort of warm in the center.

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<v Speaker 1>Microwave ovens also cook food unevenly and unpredictably, a factor

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<v Speaker 1>somewhat mitigated by microwaves with rotating plates or by cutting

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<v Speaker 1>food into small, even sized pieces, though that's the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of thing you'd want to avoid if looking for an

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<v Speaker 1>even consistent medium. Rare Hodgkinson said proteins like steak benefit

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<v Speaker 1>from intense exterior heat, both in the caramelization of the

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<v Speaker 1>protein and the texture achieved in the proper preparation. The

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<v Speaker 1>benefits of cooking on grill and open flames are vast,

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<v Speaker 1>though I may be a little biased. His restaurant, By

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<v Speaker 1>the Way, cooks its New American Fair over an open

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<v Speaker 1>wood burning hearth, he continued. Cooking over wooden charcoal specifically

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<v Speaker 1>gives a depth of flavor that is simultaneously unique and nostalgic.

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<v Speaker 1>Proteins and vegetables alike take on wonderful characteristics when treated

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<v Speaker 1>and manipulated appropriately over open flame. That said, if a

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<v Speaker 1>microwave is your only option, you may not be entirely

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<v Speaker 1>out of luck. The New Magic of Microwave cookbook, published

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<v Speaker 1>in the Food Looking Heyday of nineteen seventy eight, suggests

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<v Speaker 1>using a browning dish or grill pan designed for a microwave,

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<v Speaker 1>which can mimic some of the exterior browning achieved through

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<v Speaker 1>traditional cooking. The strategy involves preheating a browning dish in

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<v Speaker 1>the microwave for seven minutes, then placing an eight ounce

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<v Speaker 1>that's two and thirty gram rebi steak on the plate,

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<v Speaker 1>cooking on high for one minute, flipping the steak, and

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<v Speaker 1>cooking for another minute or more if needed. The cookbook

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<v Speaker 1>also recommends limiting the stake's thickness to no more than

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<v Speaker 1>three quarters of an inch that's about two centimeters, and

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<v Speaker 1>using a room temperature piece of meat. Food Beast recipe

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<v Speaker 1>suggests a similar method, but instead proposes using the medium

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<v Speaker 1>setting on the microwave oven for juicy nous purposes. However,

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<v Speaker 1>because all microwave ovens vary, you may want to do

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<v Speaker 1>an experimental run before trying this method out for your

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<v Speaker 1>next dinner party. Oh and by the way, the cooking

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<v Speaker 1>possibilities of microwaves were discovered by accident. Percy Spencer, a

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<v Speaker 1>radar researcher, noticed a candy bar that he had in

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<v Speaker 1>his pocket melted after he stood in front of a magnetron,

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<v Speaker 1>an electric vacuum that creates high frequency radio waves. Spencer

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<v Speaker 1>subsequently tested his observation with popcorn and an egg, and

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<v Speaker 1>microwave cooking was born. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article and you microwave a stake to a perfect medium

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<v Speaker 1>rare on house to works dot com, written by Christopher Hassiotis.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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