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Medical Forum / General / Nutrition / April 2006Roast beef juices ....
Roast beef, done in a covered pan, releases "gravy" that appears to consist of three main components. One is the fat which hardens at room temperature and looks very much like suet. Another remains liquid or semi-liquid and relatively transparent in small quantities. At refrigerator temperatures it seems to have a weak jelly consistency. The third is opaque light to medium brown and tends to cluster a bit. My guesses are: The first is, as it appears, fat that has liquidized and escaped from the muscle (meat). The second part might be the serum (liquid) part of the blood. This would leave the cells that 'float' in the serum as the third component - including red and white cells, etc. etc. Am I even close? Next question - how many of the three, and which ones would contain cholesterol? ..... and is there any health hazard in consuming any or all of these (aside from the need to avoid oxidized cholesterol)? NOTE: Vegetarians, vegans, other "meat is poison" extremists are politely invited to ignore this post. Ben F. > Roast beef, done in a covered pan, releases "gravy" that appears to > consist of three main components. My paternal grandparents, came from Germany around the late 1920's and ran a mom and pop grocery store in Scarsdale, New York. They made their own roast beef and other stuff like coleslaw and potato salad. Hence, the roast beef that I grew up on was always blood red or cooked rare. This type of roast beef juice is very thin. The South on the other hand likes to kill their meat by always cooking it to death. In the South roast beef juice is opaque and brownish. Hence, I beg to differ about your listed characteristics. : > Roast beef, done in a covered pan, releases "gravy" that appears to : > consist of three main components. : My paternal grandparents, came from Germany around the late 1920's and : ran a mom and pop grocery store in Scarsdale, New York. They made : their own roast beef and other stuff like coleslaw and potato salad. : Hence, the roast beef that I grew up on was always blood red or cooked : rare. This type of roast beef juice is very thin. : The South on the other hand likes to kill their meat by always cooking : it to death. In the South roast beef juice is opaque and brownish. : Hence, I beg to differ about your listed characteristics. ...... so, in what way are you "differing"? We cook to the lowest temperature on the range given by the "authorities on the subject", ie, "Beef - rare" and that produces exactly what I have described **in the covered pan or 'roaster'. When we slice the meat to serve, we get lots of red juice from the obviously lesser cooked interior of the cut. As there are only two of us, and we prefer 'freshly roasted' to the later 'cold or reheated' left-overs, we do only a small roast each time - rather than a large 'family size'. The juices in the pan, by the way, are semi-opaque brownish before they separate, so there is no real difference there. What I described was the components after they cooled and separated. I suppose that it is possible, maybe even probable, that herbs, spices, salt, .... whatever ... might act as a 'wetting agent' and keep the components from separating? .... resulting in a non-separating opaque brownish fluid of mixed ancestry and questionable nutritional specifications ..... We do not ruin or hide the delicious taste of the beef by polluting it with such annoying additives. My question still stands, fully unanswered. .... and I think that your family roast beef sounds delicious, just so long as it is not spiced or otherwise contaminated. :-) Ben F. > .... and I think that your family roast beef sounds delicious, just so > long as it is not spiced or otherwise contaminated. :-) The biggest problem with moving to Virginia came from my stomach. The bakeries in Virginia are absolutely laughable. There is nothing comparable to a New York Deli in Virginia. And, meat is routinely killed by over cooking it. I have never seen anything in Virginia remotely comparable to the roast beef sandwiches that my grandmother (or Oma) used to make. Any time meat is remotely red in Virginia, the waitress makes a major scene over it. Virginians don't how to cook meat. And, I have given up trying to reason with them. In my youth, I never got sick from eating rare beef. : > .... and I think that your family roast beef sounds delicious, just so : > long as it is not spiced or otherwise contaminated. :-) : The biggest problem with moving to Virginia came from my stomach. : The bakeries in Virginia are absolutely laughable. There is nothing : comparable to a New York Deli in Virginia. And, meat is routinely : killed by over cooking it. : I have never seen anything in Virginia remotely comparable to the roast : beef sandwiches that my grandmother (or Oma) used to make. : Any time meat is remotely red in Virginia, the waitress makes a major : scene over it. Virginians don't how to cook meat. And, I have given up : trying to reason with them. : In my youth, I never got sick from eating rare beef. I can see both sides of this part of the question ......... More than one 'historical novel' that I have read recently have pointed out that it was not at all uncommon for hunters to eat parts of the newly killed animal (deer, buffalo, moose, strayed or stolen cattle, etc.) while it was not only raw, but still warm from the kill. However ...... In those early days, and probably also in your youth - unless you are very young - beef had NO antibiotics, growth hormones, other man-made chemicals (from modern chemical based farming and ranching), and no contamination from high speed, high volume, 'assembly line' meat packing factories. ..... and so, I question that your comment has any significant application to the beef that most people eat today. Ben F. > Roast beef, done in a covered pan, releases "gravy" that appears to > consist of three main components. > > One is the fat which hardens at room temperature and looks very much like > suet. Tallow, beef fat. Healthy stuff. > Another remains liquid or semi-liquid and relatively transparent in small > quantities. At refrigerator temperatures it seems to have a weak jelly > consistency. Collagen and water. > The third is opaque light to medium brown and tends to cluster a bit. Probably proteins in water. > My guesses are: > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Ben F. It doesn't matter which contains cholesterol or how much. Dietary cholesterol has nothing to do with your blood cholesterol levels and your blood cholesterol levels has nothing to do with heart disease. Consume all you want. Make a nice brown gravy or a thin au jus sauce from the pan drippings, aka the fonds. We've eaten this stuff for 1000s upon 1000s of years and we are still here. If you are looing for the cause of modern disease like heart disease, look at the new foods like wheat and grains, hydrogenated vegetable oils and all the sugars and starches used in food manufacturing. Meat is real food and it is real healthy, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise either is trying to save the planet by eating grass seeds or they are trying to sell you a new, fake, manufactured food. The healthiest foods are real animal sourced whole foods. Bone broth soups are the best nutrition available to man. TC |
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