Basting with cold or lukewarm liquids?


 
D

David Lohrentz

TVWBB Pro
Many people say that you should not mop or baste with cold liquids. Just what exactly is the harm in doing so?

I usually spray rather than mop. Typically I warm up the liquid for basting and put it in a spray bottle. However, I'm inclined to not worry about warming the liquid for subsequent applications. What will this do to my Q?
 
Baste liquid temp is immaterial. More important is the make up of the mix. If it is water-based (which of course means water, juice, wine, broth or stock) it slows cooking because when you baste you set up an evaporative cooling scenario. This slowing is most noticeable when basting/mopping is frequent but occurs nevertheless.

An oil-based baste speeds cooking as it stymies natural evaporation thus holding the heat in. Oil bastes can result in as much as a 20% shorter cook time if the baste is applied frequently or heavily.
 
Thanks, Kevin. So if it is a long cook with infrequent basting and there is plenty of time built in to rest the meat, then it is really a non-issue.

OK, one more question. In order to reduce the cook time by applying an oil-based baste, what proportion of the baste mixture would need to be oil/butter?
 
Yes to your statement. As to your question: It would need to be substantial enough to create a barrier. Since water and oil don't really mix well the oil proportion would need to be high enough to assure coverage. The oil percentage could be lower, however, if the mix is emulsified. If you wish a fat inclusion for flavor purposes but want a neutral timing variable use a low portion of fat and emulsify the mix. This will suspend the fat evenly throughout the mix and offer significant space between the fat globules for evaporation to occur.

Note that size and shape of meat as well as cook temp also are factors in determining the level of speed increase if using a high fat mix.
 
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