Cooking types: Oven-baked

“Oven-baked” is one of the most common expressions used in kitchen language, even if it doesn’t refer to a way of cooking but a tool used for cooking.
You can bake almost everything: pizza, bread, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, and the final result of each preparation, can be considerably influenced by a number of little secrets.
Theory
From a technical point of view, oven-baking (except for the microwave) consists of electromagnetic waves that diffuse heat from one or more sides of the oven chamber to the food’s surface.
In this process there is no physical contact between the heat source and the food.
These types of ovens are called static ovens; but there are also convection ovens, where movement of air or steam diffuses the heat (as with ovens with forced ventilation or in steam ovens).
Sometimes food is baked on a baking pan; in this case cooking takes place by conduction, because the food touches a hot surface.
From a physical point of view, oven-baking utilizes all heat transmission methods, depending on the oven type and on the tools used.
The main aspects of oven-baking are the same, regardless of the oven type used. In any case, the heat is surrounding, so the whole cooking-pan is heated.
This allows uniform and slow cooking without burning.
Baking causes a higher loss of moisture than cooking over a burner, so you have to closely monitor the dish’s liquid levels.

To roast with the oven: an art full of tricks

How to make a crust.
Roasting is usually done in an oven, but it can also be done in many different ways: on a spit, in a pan or in a frying pan. Browning, in which the exterior of the  meat is seared caramelizes the surface, giving a pleasant golden color, a typical taste and a crunchy consistency. The caramelized crust seals the surface of the food, in order to maintain moisture during the cooking. However, you have to keep in mind that the crust isn’t a hermetic seal, and while moisture will evaporate more slowly, it’s important to stop the cooking before the meat dries out.
The roast doesn’t have to be browned too much and it shouldn’t be burned, otherwise it won’t cook all the way through; Foods that have to be browned must be kept moist before and during cooking by basting with pan juices or with a sauce.
A roasting pan is the basic tool for oven-baking. It is similar to a baking pan, but it is shorter and has an oven rack to support the meat. The oven rack allows allows air to pass under it. If you are using a pan or a cooking pan, remember to turn the meat and baste it frequently.

“Braising roasts”

Some roasts are cooked using a combination of roasting and stewing called braising.
They are first cooked like a roast (seared in fat or oil), then are stewed in wine, stock or water.

Studding a roast.

Meats with little fat and connective tissues, such as game, can easily dry up when roasted.
To avoid that, you have to stud the meat by making small incisions and stuffing them with pieces of bacon, garlic and aromatic herbs.
If the meat is from smaller game, such as game bird, it’s better to cover it with lard slices in order to maintain moisture.

The meat thermometer.

A meat thermometer is attached to a spike that is inserted into the roast, before baking.
The tip of the spike must be in the center of the roast and away from bones, since bones have a different heat conductivity.
The thermometers face shows the inner temperature of the meat, and indicates the level of doneness from rare to well-done. You don’t want to overcook meat nor fish, otherwise they become tough or dry.
When you cook fish, a thermometer isn’t necessary.
To tell when a fish is ready, you have look at its eyes: if they are solid white, the fish is done.
How to slice the roast.
Slicing the roast is an important and delicate phase of cooking meat.
As the oven’s heat hits the exterior part of the food, it causes a decrease of muscle fibers, and the liquids are concentrated in the center of the roast.
So its important to let the roast rest after removing it from the oven (10-15 minutes for meats, 5 minutes for fish). It continues to cook, but the muscle fibers relax and liquids are evenly distributed.
When you let food rest, it will be easier to cut and be more succulent.
Make sure your knife is sharp, and don’t cut it as if you were using a saw, which cause the loss of liquids.

Main oven-baking

There are different techniques and cooking times depending on the type of meat.

White meats.

When you cook white meat such as poultry and pork, you want it cooked all the way through.
There should be no raw parts.
To roast it, you don’t want to use high temperatures in the first part of the cooking.
During roasting, a golden crust is formed, adding flavor and beauty to the roast. If you want a darker crust, increase the temperature during the last phase of baking. If you are baking poultry and want to know if it is ready, tilt it to one end: if the liquid that spills out is white, it means that it is ready.
You can also pierce it, then press the meat: the color of the liquid that comes out indicates the degree of cooking, from pale pink for undercooked, to white for done.

Red meats.

Not all parts of red meat can be roasted.
In particular, with game such as chamois, deer or boar, we only use the loins, with the exception of rabbit, which can always be baked. Red meats are cooked less in order to retain moisture.
If you prefer a well-done meat, it will be tougher and less succulent. In order to maintain moisture, you have to brown the meat at a high temperature in the first phase of baking (250-280°C), then reduce it.
Meat should only be salted halfway through roasting or when the meat is resting.
Never pierce the surface, or baste the meat with non-fat liquid: the crust will lose its crispy texture.
Mutton and sheep meat can’t be roasted because they are tough and less succulent, and are better off stewed. Red meat has different cooking times, depending on the cut and size.
A rare roast is soft to the touch and red in the middle; if you prefer a medium roast, the meat is firmer but elastic, with pink in the middle; well-done meat is cooked all the way through and is firm to the touch with nut-brown drops of liquid on the top.

Game birds (dark meat).

Game birds, as well as duck breast, must be cooked rare. Pheasant, better if it is a female, scooter, partridge and quail are better if cooked as “braising” roasts.
Game meat is light with little moisture and so should be larded

FOOD                                       INSIDE TEMPERATURES °C
Really red rare meats                      190-230
Red rare meats                             180-220
Red and game medium rare meats             200-220
Red and game meats well done               190-230
Turkey/ veal                               200-240
Pork/ fowls                                190-250

FOOD IN KG                                 TEMPERATURE °C      TIME (minutes)
Beef/ lamb                                 190 – 230           25 – 40
Game meat                                  180 – 220           20 – 40
Veal/ pork                                 200 – 220           30 – 40
Chicken  (1,2kg)                           190 – 230           40 – 50
Roast beef                                 200 – 240           20 – 25