Cooks Illustrated - The Cooks Illustrated Meat Book

Some say cooking is a science and an art. We would say that geography has a hand in it, too. Flour milled in the United Kingdom and elsewhere will feel and taste different from flour milled in the United States. So, while we cannot promise that the loaf of bread you bake in Canada or England will taste the same as a loaf baked in the States, we can offer guidelines for converting weights and measures. We also recommend that you rely on your instincts when making our recipes. Refer to the visual cues provided. If the bread dough hasnt come together in a ball, as described, you may need to add more flour-even if the recipe doesnt tell you so. You be the judge.

The recipes in this book were developed using standard U.S. measures following U.S. government guidelines. The charts below offer equivalents for U.S., metric, and Imperial (U.K.) measures. All conversions are approximate and have been rounded up or down to the nearest whole number. For example:

1 teaspoon = 4.929 milliliters, rounded up to 5 milliliters

1 ounce = 28.349 grams, rounded down to 28 grams

VOLUME CONVERSIONS

U.S. TO METRIC

1 teaspoon = 5 milliliters

2 teaspoons = 10 milliliters

1 tablespoon = 15 milliliters

2 tablespoons = 30 milliliters

cup = 59 milliliters

cup = 79 milliliters

cup = 118 milliliters

cup = 177 milliliters

1 cup = 237 milliliters

1 cup = 296 milliliters

1 cup = 355 milliliters

2 cups (1 pint) = 473 milliliters

2 cups = 591 milliliters

3 cups = 710 milliliters

4 cups (I quart) = 0.946 liter

1.06 quarts = 1 liter

4 quarts (1 gallon) = 3.8 liters

WEIGHT CONVERSIONS

ounces = 14 grams

ounces = 21 grams

1 ounce = 28 grams

1 ounces = 43 grams

2 ounces = 57 grams

2 ounces = 71 grams

3 ounces = 85 grams

3 ounces = 99 grams

4 ounces = 113 grams

4 ounces = 128 grams

5 ounces = 142 grams

6 ounces = 170 grams

7 ounces = 198 grams

8 ounces = 227 grams

9 ounces = 255 grams

10 ounces = 283 grams

12 ounces = 340 grams

16 ounces (1 pound) = 454 grams

CONVERSIONS FOR INGREDIENTS COMMONLY USED IN BAKING

Baking is an exacting science. Because measuring by weight is far more accurate than measuring by volume, and thus more likely to achieve reliable results in our recipes we provide ounce measures in addition to cup measures for many ingredients. Refer to the chart below to convert these measures into grams.

1 Cup All-Purpose Flour* = 5 Ounces = 142 Grams

1 Cup Cake Flour = 4 Ounces = 113 Grams

1 Cup Whole-Wheat Flour = 5 Ounces = 156 Grams

1 Cup Granulated (white) Sugar = 7 Ounces = 198 Grams

1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar (light or dark) = 7 Ounces = 198 Grams

1 Cup Confectioners' Sugar = 4 Ounces = 113 Grams

1 Cup Cocoa Powder = 3 Ounces = 85 Grams

Butter

4 Tablespoons ( stick, or cup) = 2 Ounces = 57 Grams

8 Tablespoons (1 stick, or cup) = 4 Ounces = 113 Grams

16 Tablespoons (2 sticks, or 1 cup) = 8 Ounces = 227 Grams

* U.S. all-purpose flour does not contain leaveners, as some European flours do. These leavened flours are called self-rising or self-raising. If you are using self-rising flour, take this into consideration before adding leavening to a recipe.

In the United States, butter is sold both salted and unsalted. We use unsalted butter exclusively in the test kitchen. It is especially important to use unsalted butter when baking or you risk producing salty baked goods or an inedible buttercream.

OVEN TEMPERATURES

225 Fahrenheit = 105 Celsius = Gas Mark (Imperial)

250 Fahrenheit = 120 Celsius = Gas Mark (Imperial)

275 Fahrenheit = 135 Celsius = 1 Gas Mark (Imperial)

300 Fahrenheit = 150 Celsius = 2 Gas Mark (Imperial)

325 Fahrenheit = 165 Celsius = 3 Gas Mark (Imperial)

350 Fahrenheit = 180 Celsius = 4 Gas Mark (Imperial)

375 Fahrenheit = 190 Celsius = 5 Gas Mark (Imperial)

400 Fahrenheit = 200 Celsius = 6 Gas Mark (Imperial)

425 Fahrenheit = 220 Celsius = 7 Gas Mark (Imperial)

450 Fahrenheit = 230 Celsius = 8 Gas Mark (Imperial)

475 Fahrenheit = 245 Celsius = 9 Gas Mark (Imperial)

CONVERTING TEMPERATURES FROM AN INSTANT-READ THERMOMETER

We include doneness temperatures in many of our recipes, such as those for poultry, meat, and bread. We recommend an instant-read thermometer for the job. Refer to the table above to convert Fahrenheit degrees to Celsius. Or, for temperatures not represented in the chart, use this simple formula:

Subtract 32 degrees from the Fahrenheit reading, then divide the result by 1.8 to find the Celsius reading.

Example:

Roast until chicken thighs register 175 degrees.

To convert:

175 F 32 =143
143 1.8 = 79.44C, rounded down to 79C

Copyright 2014 by the Editors at Americas Test Kitchen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

AMERICAS TEST KITCHEN
17 Station Street, Brookline, MA 02445

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The cooks illustrated meat book : the game-changing guide that teaches you how to cook meat and poultry with 425 bulletproof recipes / the editors of Americas Test Kitchen.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-936493-86-9
EPub ISBN 978-1-940352-14-5
1. Cooking (Meat) I. Americas Test Kitchen (Firm)
TX749.C66 2014
641.66--dc23

2014016170

Hardcover: $40 US

Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Distributed by Americas Test Kitchen
17 Station Street, Brookline, MA 02445

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Jack Bishop

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, BOOKS: Elizabeth Carduff

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Lori Galvin

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Melissa Herrick

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Rachel Greenhaus, Samantha Ronan

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Elizabeth Emery

DESIGN DIRECTOR: Amy Klee

ART DIRECTOR: Greg Galvan

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Taylor Argenzio

DESIGNER: Allison Boales

ILLUSTRATION: John Burgoyne

PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR: Julie Cote

PHOTOGRAPHY: Keller + Keller, Carl Tremblay

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Daniel J. van Ackere

FOOD STYLING: Catrine Kelty, Marie Piraino

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Guy Rochford

SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jessica Quirk

DIRECTOR, PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Alice Carpenter

PROJECT MANAGER: Britt Dresser

WORKFLOW AND DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER: Andrew Mannone

SENIOR COLOR AND IMAGING SPECIALIST: Lauren Pettapiece

PRODUCTION AND IMAGING SPECIALISTS: Heather Dube, Lauren Robbins

COPYEDITOR: Cheryl Redmond

PROOFREADER: Jane Tunks Demel

INDEXER: Elizabeth Parson

Pictured on Cover: