As I've begun to change the way I eat, I've had to take the lead in my household in learning to cook. Unfortunately, all my meats seem to come out dry on the inside. Is there a way to ensure moist meats?

Thanks!

Congratulations on entering the world of cooking!

The easiest way is to get an instant read theremometer and use the following guidelines:

For Beef and Pork:
Rare 120°-125°F
Medium Rare 130°-135°F
Medium 140°-145°F
Medium Well 150°-155°F
Well Done 160°F and above

For Lamb:
Lamb Rare 135°F
Medium Rare 140°-150°F
Medium 160°F
Well Done 165°F and above

It's always better to take meat from the heat when it is 5-10 degrees below the desired temperature and letting it rest. 5-10 minutes for steaks and chops and 20-30 minutes for large roasts.

Never cut a roast without letting it rest. The juice inside the meat is still active and it will pour out of the meat if sliced, leaving the meat dry and grey looking.

Most health advisories state that chicken and ground meat be cooked to an internal temperature of 180°F.

Here's a linkto a previous discussion to cooking chicken breasts.

Karen

Karen,

Thanks for the info. I bought a digital thermo. yesterday and made your Chicken with Bacon, Cream, and Thyme. It was very moist and delicious.
However, I couldn't get the whipping cream to thicken. Is this perhaps possible because I didn't allow the mixture to boil long enough before transferring to the oven?

Mjb

Either that or you used a pan that was too small. Cream needs surface area to evaporate, so the more area, the more the evaporation.

Karen

Karen, I have a crockpot cookbook that suggests things like, 6 chicken breasts in the crockpot, on high for 6 hours. Now, my slow cooker is actually pretty big, a good sized oval, I could fit a whole chicken in there if I wanted, but I don't eat most the chicken so I buy parts.

This is going to read like one of those word math questions or something.... if I wanted to cook 16 (they come in pkgs of 8 here) boneless skinless breasts of chicken in the crockpot, at once, would I
(a) double the time?
(b) some other standard %?
(c) doesn't matter, wouldn't change it (?!)
(d) take it down to low and then cook twice as long?

I have no idea how to "adjust" cooking times in a slow cooker when I change recipe quantity.

I realize you are a world class professional chef and not a crock pot mom :-) but I thought you might know the answer.

Regards,
PJ

LOL! It doesn't matter PJ, the physics behind cooking still remain the same. I've actually been thinking about getting a crock pot...

I would tack on an extra hour. If there is a load of chicken in the crockpot, it takes longer for the crockpot to get up to temperature and actually start cooking the chicken.

Karen