I would guarantee this thing is overcooked to hell, dry as a paper towel in the center. It probably swam in day-old red sauce in a pot for 90 minutes to prevent lawsuits, then cooled off, cooking another 20 holdover minutes. Then into the fridge to be microwaved when anon orders it.
Comment on Anon eats Italian
Gullible@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The question is whether it’s actually cooked. I don’t even know how long that meatball would need to sit, cooking in sauce. Small meatballs require 15 minutes to drink in the flavor but only 10 to cook completely through. This monster needs at least an hour on medium-low for a pink center. Is that even safe? How long can you let bacteria live in pleasant warmth and multiply before turning dangerous? Not to mention the lack of char, meaning this is just a boiled meatball with the texture of boiled meatball.
GreenShimada@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
nuggsy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
My nan got a recipe from this Italian lady, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The recipe says to cook the sauce for one hour and then you add the meatballs and cook them for 1.5 hrs.
LOLseas@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
You must giveth the recipeth hereth noweth.
nuggsy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Sure! As requested
It says to roll into small balls, but small could be anything depending on context.
lessthanluigi@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
Who knew dinosaurs had color image printing!
QualifiedKitten@discuss.online 3 weeks ago
2 eggshells of water
What a random measurement! Does that mean just half the shell, full of water, twice? I realize precision here is probably unnecessary, but my brain is just really struggling!
Gullible@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I personally can’t stand overcooking meat. Searing the exterior to trap the juices and then letting the meatball split or the sauce overcook just pisses me off. Why go to the effort of sealing in the juices if they’re just going to render out? My parents had many recipes involving overcooked ground beef, and all of them bother me. They might have been what spurred me into becoming a vegetarian. I honestly can’t remember, but there was a straw, camel, and a back to break
nuggsy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Fair enough. There’s a video I watched by Mythical Kitchen not too long ago and they go through the different techniques used when making spaghetti and meatballs. I think they went for a sear type thing, but mostly because cooking it in the sauce for so long made the meatball really soft and fall apart easily and they preferred a tougher meatball. I don’t really remember though, so don’t take my word for it. Was an interesting watch regardless.
I have nostalgia tied with that way of making meatballs. So, it may not be the best way to cook them, but they’re still delicious and reminds me of my nan.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Never heard of this program before. I can’t say that I like them as hosts but their information was decently high quality and accessible.
To recap, mix the meat longer to produce a crunchier meatball (if you want), sear the ball to produce umami flavor (if you want) and cook in sauce to impart flavor into the sauce and (over)cook the meatball (if you want). Though there was a dark horse, boiling raw meatballs in sauce for a sort of soup meatball texture.
Nothing inherently wrong with your baking method, but I have overriding trauma that would leave me stink eying you if I witnessed it. Caring about others’ food preferences beyond the improved expression of your own desired flavors and textures doesn’t make sense to me, for the most part. Almost always, really. I’m glad you found a food that produces such fond feelings for you and wish you many pleasant dinners.
TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
I remember learning that searing actually doesn’t trap in juices. it’s only value is in the maillard reaction and is best done at the end of cooking as a reverse sear
HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
trap the juices
No.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
i smoke my meatballs/MOINKs for about two hours at 225. they’re about 2/3 that size. they typically don’t have char marks, but they have smoke ring.
Master@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
God damn it why did I click that link. I knew better but now im hungry!
ngwoo@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Why would this be unsafe compared to something like a pot roast that cooks in simmering liquid much slower
Gullible@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Temperature. Granted, liquids more quickly convey energy to solids than gas, but a low simmering pot of sauce should be below pot roast temps. Which is fine for a tiny seared meatball, but for a half kilo beef sphere? That meatball is like 5 cm thick. It would take a while to heat up the center unless you’re upping the temp, but then you’re interfering with the sauce. In short, it’s a major recipe change.
dmention7@midwest.social 3 weeks ago
Whenever I’ve made homemade meatballs, we just bake them in the oven to cook, then either add to the sauce or serve separately.
I guess you’d just cook this monster like a lil meatloaf.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
If it had been baked, there’d surely be some dark bits, right?
dmention7@midwest.social 3 weeks ago
I mean, the outside looks pretty close to what I’d expect for unsauced meatloaf–there are clearly some darker brown areas. I do personally like to bake them at a bit higher temp to get some of those browned bits, but for a larger meatball, you may need to stay a little cooler to let it cook evenly without nuking the outside.
Knightfox@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Are we looking at the same meatball because I don’t see any darker areas? I see some flecks of spice, but that looks like an unseared ball of meat to me. There are some tinges of red, but those are from the sauce poured over it, not from cooking. You can see the remnants of the sauce at the base of the meatball mixing with another completely different sauce. Pretty sure that meatball is just unseared boiled meat.