What Makes Slow Cooking So Delicious?

The cold weather is here, and that means it's time for those gentle, slow cooked comfort foods that bubble on the stove for hours on end. Kelly has already covered the energy efficiency of the crock pot, and introduced us to her delicious looking crockpot beef stew, but I've been wondering what it is that makes slow cooked food so delicious.

I've often heard home cooks argue, for example, that there is little difference between a vigorous, hard boil, and just a gentle simmer. After all, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius (that's 212 Fahrenheit, at sea level, at least), and the temperature difference between a simmer and a boil is just a fraction of a degree. That's never made much sense to me. I've tasted hundreds of stews, casseroles, and soups, and there is no doubt that a beautiful alchemy occurs when you let them gently and slowly cook for hours on end. Especially if there's meat involved.

On re-reading some of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's fabulous River Cottage Meat Book, I was finally given an answer to this debate. And I was right! As Hugh notes, the difference between a slow and fast boil may be a fraction of a degree, but the behavior of the water molecules is vastly different—just take a look at the way the water is bubbling and spitting when you turn up the heat. Given the fact that meat is 80 percent water to start with, and many veggies are at least that, it's no wonder that they behave differently if treated with a kid glove. With meat in particular, a fast boil can drive out all the meat juices, and the fibres will contract, making the meat less juicy, less tender, and less likely to soak up the juices it is sitting in.

So trust your instincts folks. Slow really is better sometimes. And for more on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's wisdom, check out what he thinks of hypocritical meat eaters.