Searing Meat

Today I read about the wonders of searing meats, in the book I'm Just Here For the Food by Alton Brown, it says "Searing creates a flavorful brown crust on the surface of many foods. What searing does not do is 'seal in flavors' or 'seal in juices.' If you feel it necessary to seal in juices you should by a laminator" (Brown 23). Before I read this, I thought that searing meat was to seal in the flavors, but that is not the case, it creates a nice flavorful crust. Which is why it appears like it seals in the flavors.

I know that personally, I prefer a stake that has a nice sear on it, as well as a nice medi

um rare inside. Most think that you should cook a meat at a low temperature and cook it for a while, before you pull it off the grill, sort of like a roast. However, this is not the right way to do it, you should cook your stake at about 550-600 degrees Fahrenheit. This is to get a nice sear on the meat.

According to the book I'm Just Here For the Food you should never eat a beef that is cooked above medium rare, "If you are cooking beef so long that it turns to rubber, that is sad, however you should not cook in so that is rare. There is a happy medium, which is medium

rare. Since hamburger is beef, you don't need to cook it all the way through, only to about 135 degrees Fahrenheit" (Brown 24-25). I think that this is the only way to make a good steak, well you also need a good seasoning, but that is for another day.

What would you say is the right way to cook beef?

Brown, Alton. I'm Just Here for the Food. New York, Stewart, Tabori & Chang,       2004.