Going against the grain

So we already know the importance of letting meat rest before we cut into it, right? NO?! well here's a video.

So now we know why we let meat rest. GREAT! So now, do we know why we slice meat against the grain? Wait, what?! NO?!

Ok, no worries. You're not the only one. Whether you're working with beef, chicken, pork, or even fish, you always want to cut across the grain. What does this mean? See the lines that run left and right on this piece of flank steak? They're fibers that run in a certain direction almost like muscle. Now the lines are the "grain"and the direction the lines are "going with the grain." Make sense? Cool.

Now what do you think cutting against the grain means? It just means cutting across the fibers. By doing this, you shorten the fibers in each piece - making it easier to eat.

Think of it this way - I'm sure you've eaten celery before. When you bite into a stalk of celery, have you ever experienced that string that comes off the celery? Think of that as a fiber in the meat. When you cut the celery against the grain it makes the string shorter, making it easier to eat, yes? Same thing with the meat. But instead of preventing eating string, you're preventing eating chewy meat.

So remember this kids: next time you cook meat whether it's roasting, searing, braising, broiling, whatever...remember to let it rest FIRST for about 5 min and then when slicing it, cut against the grain. Same thing goes for food prepping. Even when the meat is raw, always cut against the grain. We don't want chewy food! Think about it the next time you have a steak in front of you with a knife in the right hand and a fork in the left hand. 

I'm glad I added pictures or this shit would've been boring! Left side correct slicing, right side incorrect slicing.

bien manger

-cwis