Thursday, February 01, 2007
Using Sautee Pans in Ovens
I read an article today in the New York Times extolling the virtue of the oven broiler. I'm not a big user of broilers since we moved a bit over a year ago and no longer have the gas oven that had the broiler in a bottom drawer. That forced the food close to the heat, which is what you need. Many ovens don't let you get the food really up close, which partially defeats the purpose of having a broiler in the first place.
But this got me thinking about a cooking technique I've recently been using: going from stove-top to roasting. You need a pan with a metal handle that will go into the oven without hard. Start by preheating the oven. (I've found about 425°F to 450°F seems to work well.) Heat a little oil in the pan and brown the food - maybe chops, or even something like a beef or port tenderloin. I've even done a chicken this way (which is a classic type of preparation), though in any case you need to turn the food to get everything browned. That caramelizes the sugars on the surface, adding flavor. Then you put the entire pan into the oven and cook it through. Browning the outside seems to save some cooking time because you've had direct heat transfer (conduction) rather than depending on some combination of radiation and convection. If you want, add a glaze to the food right before it goes into the oven. An oven glove makes the handle an easy way to get the roast out while reducing the chance of burning an arm on a hot rack.
But this got me thinking about a cooking technique I've recently been using: going from stove-top to roasting. You need a pan with a metal handle that will go into the oven without hard. Start by preheating the oven. (I've found about 425°F to 450°F seems to work well.) Heat a little oil in the pan and brown the food - maybe chops, or even something like a beef or port tenderloin. I've even done a chicken this way (which is a classic type of preparation), though in any case you need to turn the food to get everything browned. That caramelizes the sugars on the surface, adding flavor. Then you put the entire pan into the oven and cook it through. Browning the outside seems to save some cooking time because you've had direct heat transfer (conduction) rather than depending on some combination of radiation and convection. If you want, add a glaze to the food right before it goes into the oven. An oven glove makes the handle an easy way to get the roast out while reducing the chance of burning an arm on a hot rack.
