To avoid wasting meat I’ve been doing this for years. So far it has worked and now I wonder about the science behind it:
If for whatever reason I end up with a piece of raw meat that starts smelling a bit strong I cut the piece into small chunks, press the chunks to remove as much liquid as possible, put the meat in a pan, cover the meat with water, let the pan uncovered, boil it and wait till the water completely evaporates. At this point, meat looks brownish or darker depending on the meat I use and it doesn’t smell as strong. I cook it then as I see fit.
I believe by boiling the meat, convection currents take (at least?) some of the bacteria away and this is a safe way not to waste meat. Is this right? Meat always smells better after ‘washing’ it this way.
The water doesn’t make a difference. What’s killing the bacteria is the heat. The water just changes the method of heat transfer. But as others have already said, killing the bacteria may not necessarily make it safe
Not entirely true. While the heat is doing the real heavy lifting, the water as a medium does transfer stuff out of the meat. That’s why boiled meat tastes like shit.
Boiled meat tastes bad because you’re not adding oil/butter. You’re also not applying enough direct heat (plus keeping it too moist) to create the maillard reaction that is needed for a crust to form
Correct! The second part is far more pivotal. You can take two steaks from the same cut, refrain from seasoning them in any way, and broil one while boiling the other. I guarantee you the broiled steak will taste far better.