Slow vs. fast cooking

[kevinh]

Say I am cooking some veggies and maybe some meat for an egg dish for breakfast. If I am busy and do not want to keep an eye on the food I would just as soon cook the food at a low temp for a long time.

Same for veggies for a stew or even hamburger.

Is there any difference in cooking slow or fast? I understand for browning in particular alot of heat is needed to cook just the outside.

I suppose if a recipe specifically says saute does that mean slow cooking will not work?

 

[pacanis]

I often slow a dish down by dropping the heat or even turning it off, but I usually start it out at a "normal" heat. I believe that foods can absorb more oils and such if you are cooking them too low, but I don't worry about stuff like that. I'm just talking general cooking, like what you mentioned. I am sure there are some things you would be better waiting until the last minute and cooking fast, when you have the time to watch.

 

[mcnerd]

Meats and most sauces benefit by slow cooking since flavors penetrate, concentrate, and the fibers in meats will break down thus making it more tender. Vegetables are just the opposite and benefit more with short and quick cooking to retain their color, vitamins, and taste.

So it really depends on what you are cooking. When cooking both, vegetables are often added later.

 

[jminion]

Slow vs fast cooking of meat also depends on the cut of meat you are talking about. Any tough cut with a lot of connective tissue, slow cook. Any cut that does have the connective tissue there is no advantage to slow cooking so a higher temp cook is called for.