Meat

Generally speaking there are two categories of meat. Tender cuts of meat, pieces like yes, you guessed it, the tenderloin and the rib eye, striploin, sirloin and a few others. These meats will be cooked to a determined internal temperature. If you take a piece of beef and make the entire thing 55 degrees celsius, it will be a rare piece of beef. If you increase the temperature to 60 degrees celsius it will be a medium rare piece of beef. Another 5 degrees and it will be medium and so on, 70 degrees is well done beef and much beyond that you are making charcoal. This is non-negotiable. These pieces of meat are expensive. They should have nice marbled fat, but very little connective tissue, which is usually removed prior to cooking. Don't over-cook them. A helpful way to do that is to use high heat at first, making the outside crispy delicious and then finishing the inside at more gentle temperatures.

Now we can talk about tough cuts of meat. The world is confused. These pieces have more flavour, are more tender when finished and are cheaper. They just require a little technique to prepare. Easy. Use pieces  of meat with a lot of small muscles held together with connective tissue. Pieces like shoulder and shank. If one were to cook such a piece to a particular temperature like 60 degrees celsius it would certainly be medium rare but as tough as Chuck Norris. These meats need to be braised. Some people like to boil them do not ever do that. If you boil meat either stop now or stop reading. Braising is an amazing way to cook. You should try it. These meats are always well done and tender.