The Principles of Low-Heat Cooking

Appears in
Professional Cooking: 10th Edition
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2025

  • About
  1. High heat toughens and shrinks protein and results in excessive moisture loss. Therefore, low-heat cooking should be the general practice for most meat cooking methods.
  2. Broiling seems to be a contradiction to this rule. The reason carefully broiled meat stays tender is that it is done quickly. It takes time for the heat to be conducted to the interior of the meat, so the inside never gets very hot. Meat broiled to the point of being well done, however, is likely to be dry.
  3. Roasts cooked at low temperatures have better yields than those roasted at high heat—that is, they shrink less and lose less moisture.
  4. Because both liquid and steam are better conductors of heat than air, moist heat penetrates meat quickly. Therefore, to avoid overcooking, meat should be simmered, never boiled.