Poking meat with sharp objects question.

My guess, and it is only that, is that these professional chefs have been cooking so well and for so long that they can judge the "doneness" by feel. Logic would say that probing the meat constantly would allow more avenues for the juice to escape. 

it lets out juice from whatever cells are damged in that local area, but meat isn't a water balloon.  it is absolutely not possible to dry out meat by poking it

ever have a juicy hamburger?

that meat was not merely poked, but run through a grinder.  every ounce of it has been shredded.

and you can still cook a juicy burger.

salt does not dry out meat.  poking it does not dry it out.  the only thing that dries out meat is over cooking.

yep, you will lose some juice from the spot you poke it, or by salting it.  but it just is not possible to dry out meat unless you take it to too high a temp.

or dry age over, maybe 75 days or more. 

why do they say it?  well, it is oft repeated.  they were probably told it by someone they respected.  plus, it sounds logical and correct.

but they also say "searing locks in juices" which it doesn't

or salting will dry meat.  which it doesn't (unless you BURY it and make prosciutto.  and even then, it will retain moisture)

there's a lot of logical and cool sounding stuff in cooking.  most of the incorrect stuff survives because it sounds logical. doesn't mean it is correct though

still worried? buy a jaccard.  it pierces the meat a bajillion times with steel blades.  if it dries out when you cook it though, it isn't the jaccard's fault, it's the cook's.
(disclaimer: only jaccarded meat i ever ate was swiss steak.  cheap cuts pierced with the jaccard to make them edible.  mid 1970's. i eat better steaks now.  it's basically pre-chewing, or partially grinding.  mechanical tenderizing)

Try this, I will go one better. 

First, take two steaks or better pork chops--which are cheaper.

Cook both to the same internal temperature.

Poke one occasionally with your thermometer. The other don't.

Pull them and stick them on their own individual plates.

Immediately cut one up into slices. The other leave whole. Go watch TV.

DO NOT EAT ANY---YES THIS IS UNFAIR.--THAT IS WHY A CHEAP PORK CHOP.

After they have cooled down to room temp. Remove them to another plate or the cutting board. 

NOW--measure the amount of liquid that has escaped onto each plate-separately--a shot glass works, use a spoon to scoop up the liquid--You tell me what you find out. 

I eat my steaks and chops hot.

Also, I hate Bobby Flay's grilling show on the food network.  all of his advice is to take skill level 0 to passable.  Very little is helpful for people with any skill.....and I'm not even on one of the more skilled cooks on this forum!

Smoke and Mirrors

Jstroke said:

...

First, take two steaks or better pork chops--which are cheaper.

Cook both to the same internal temperature.

Poke one occasionally with your thermometer. The other don't.

Pull them and stick them on their own individual plates.

Immediately cut one up into slices. The other leave whole. Go watch TV.

...

After they have cooled down to room temp. Remove them to another plate or the cutting board. 

NOW--measure the amount of liquid that has escaped onto each plate-separately--a shot glass works, use a spoon to scoop up the liquid--You tell me what you find out. 

I eat my steaks and chops hot.

Never actually done that. I'd guess they both dry out a lot, both from evaporation, but the cut up one more so. So save me the effort. What is the result?

Also, a variation that might work. Make a pillow of paper towels, weigh them before, and then after the meat samples sit on them. Which pillow sucked up more juices. And so how much bread should be under the meat for sopping in ordinary circumstances.

Another article about resting meats: http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_resting_meat.html

johnnyp said:

Also, I hate Bobby Flay's grilling show on the food network.  all of his advice is to take skill level 0 to passable.  Very little is helpful for people with any skill.....and I'm not even on one of the more skilled cooks on this forum!

That's probably the skill level of the average FN viewer though, so it's probably a good call.  I suspect that most expert level folks are looking for more targeted and advanced teachers.  I'll usually look at the show description to see what he's making; he does have some interesting condiment/side/cocktail ideas sometimes, and I'll check the FN site for a recipe if something catches my eye.

Pigtail flippers are in common use by those cooking large numbers of steaks. No dried out steaks with those

Just doesn't happen

A hole is a hole. 

Truer words were never spoken

Different thing though. A sausage is almost quite literally a water balloon

But even so, a sausage should not express much fat or liquids unless it is overcooked. Just like a ground hamburger

Very informative thread - maybe a fun one to start would be along the lines of a "myth busters" for BBQ; I bet there are more mistakingly held common beliefs out there :-)

Additional Myths:

-Meat 'absorbs' smoke

-smoke only flavors the meat in the first hour or so

-that salt dries out meat (sugar draws more water out of meat, and you never worry about that)

-nitrites in bacon are bad for you

-ziploc bags of water keep flies away

-that foods have expiration dates (nope. No such thing as an expiration date on food)

-that brown meat is bad

-that you want a brisket from whichever side is the one the steer doesn't lie down on

-that bark makes bitter smoke

-that you can marinate in oil

-that meat tenderizer actually tenderizes meat

-that leaving rub (or salt) too long on pork will make it taste hammy (or cure it, or both)

-that searing locks in juices

-that washing mushrooms makes them soggy

-that game is gamey

-that soaking game in milk makes it less gamey

-that meat has 'pores' (but skin does)

-that a three pound cowboy rib eye is a steak (it's a roast)

...for starters