How to Dry Meat Without Paper Towel
Why Dry Meat? If you’re not planning on breading and frying your meat, you may be wondering why it’s necessary to dry it at all…. The reason is that moisture is the enemy of browning…. If there’s water on the surface of your meat, it will never brown as nicely as it could — or should.
Drying your meat is an important step in the cooking process…. It helps get rid of any excess moisture on the outside of the meat so it can brown more easily and helps keep it from sticking as much to the pan when you cook it.
Even if a recipe doesn’t call for drying, it’s a good idea to get rid of excess moisture because drying the meat allows you to develop a nice brown crust when cooking methods like searing and roasting are called for.
12 Ways to Dry Meat Without Paper Towel
Drying any kind of meat can be time-consuming but well worth the effort for delicious results…. You’ll need some absorbent material that takes up moisture without adding flavor.
1…. Use a Microfiber Cloth
Microfiber cloths are great for drying meat because they absorb so much moisture and they’re reusable…. I have used them many times and they work great! But note that you can only use them once with meat due to the possibility of bacteria growth.
2…. Use Paperless Towels
Paperless towels are reusable towels that are made out of cloth, but they feel and perform just like a paper towel…. They can be washed in the washing machine and reused multiple times, just like a microfiber cloth.
Use a Cotton Dish Towel
Cotton dish towels are another great option for drying meat after it has been washed or rinsed…. I usually use one towel for drying and then switch to another one when it gets wet from the moisture on the meat.
3…. Use a Paper Bag
Yes, you read that right! If you’re in a pinch and don’t have any paper towels, try using a paper lunch bag…. A paper bag is designed to absorb liquid and oil without ripping, so it will work perfectly for drying meat…. You can even crumple the bottom of the bag to create more layers if you need more absorbent material.
4…. Use Lint-Free Cloths
If you don’t have any paper towels or dish towels, you can use lint-free cloths to dry your meat after washing it…. These work great for soaking up excess moisture from the surface of the meat before cooking or eating it!
5…. Use Cheesecloth
Cheesecloth is a type of thin cotton gauze fabric traditionally used for making cheese, but it’s very useful in the kitchen for other purposes as well…. You can wrap the cheesecloth around the meat and pat it dry – this method works particularly well with fish!
6…. Use a Cotton T-shirt
Another wonderful material for drying meat is a cotton t-shirt…. This is similar to the microfiber cloth in that cotton is great for absorbing moisture, but it will not be reusable…. It’s also a great option if you’re like me and don’t have any microfiber cloths lying around!
7…. Use a Wire Rack
The easiest way to dry off any type of ground beef or meat with a large surface area is to place it on a wire rack and allow the air to circulate around it…. This is fairly effective and works great for larger items like chicken breasts or a whole turkey…. However, it doesn’t work very well for small pieces of meat like ground beef because they tend to fall through the gaps in the rack.
8…. Use a Salad Spinner
Salad spinners are perfect for drying smaller pieces of meat, such as hamburger patties or chicken cutlets…. Just place the damp piece into the spinner, close it up and give it a few spins to dry off the excess moisture.
9…. Use a Dehydrator
A dehydrator will work great for drying ground beef or other small pieces of meat if you don’t want to use your oven or stovetop…. If you have one available this is definitely the easiest way to dry off any type of meat without paper towels!
10…. Use Cloth Napkins
Cloth napkins are usually larger than paper towels and can be reused over and over again…. So why not use a cloth napkin to dry your meat instead of paper towels? You can also use a dish towel too!
11…. Place It On a Plate Or Cutting Board
If you don’t have a wire rack you can use a plate or cutting board instead…. This works great if you have some small cuts of meat that you need to dry off such as ground beef and it’s quick and easy too! Simply lay your piece of meat onto the plate or cutting board and pat it dries with paper towels if needed before serving.
You can also use this method for larger cuts like steak but it will take longer than using a wire rack since there isn’t much airflow around them when they’re sitting flat on the table.
12…. Use parchment paper
Parchment paper is another common material found in most kitchens and it does a great job of drying meat…. It’s also reusable so it’s environmentally friendly! However, parchment paper is not as absorbent as other materials so you may have to change it out several times before the meat is dry enough for cooking.
In summary, meat and other foods need to be dried before being cooked…. Drying is done by removing the moisture from the surface of the meat so that it can be properly cooked without any difficulty.
Meat, as well as most of the ingredients on a recipe, needs to be dry before you can cook it in order to get rid of the excess moisture from its surface.
This is especially important when we are frying or browning…. If there is too much water present on the surface of the meat, it will never really get brown and crispy because of the steam that is created by the high heat and water combination…. Unless you want to steam your meat, you have to make sure it’s dry before you cook.
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