Jess Pryles returns with more meat science. She is a live fire cook, the founder of Hardcore Carnivore, and the author of Prime Cuts, a 288 page guide to choosing, understanding, and cooking meat with more than 100 recipes built cut by cut. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Meat Science from Iowa State University and judged Food Network’s Pitmasters. This time she gets into the parts chefs argue about: what to call a cut, how to salt it, and how far to cook it.
Her case starts with the menu. London broil is a preparation, not a cut, and Delmonico has no standard definition, which is how a kitchen can invent a name and get away with it. Then she explains why picanha, duck, and lamb eat poorly when served too rare, and why a chef should cook a duck breast properly instead of asking the guest.
- How an equilibrium brine works, why her recipe adds sugar for balance, and why red meat is harder to brine than pork or chicken
- Dry brine versus cure: why she says salting a steak overnight is a dry brine, and the parts per million math behind her bacon calculator
- Why she likes tri-tip around 138 degrees, and why she believes resting a steak is mostly carryover cooking
André Natera and Jess Pryles cover who Prime Cuts was written for, the steakhouse menu she wants to see with more breeds, grass-fed beef, picanha, flat iron, and hanger, who should decide how a steak is cooked, why curing salt is pink and what happens if the math is wrong, and what to do when a guest says safe chicken is raw because it is pink near the bone.
Guest
Jess Pryles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jesspryles/
Hardcore Carnivore Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardcorecarnivore
Prime Cuts and signed copies: https://www.hardcorecarnivore.com
Links
Lead Like a Chef App → https://studio.com/apps/andre/leadlikeachef
Get the Books → https://chefspsa.com/books
Shop Chef’s PSA Merch → https://shop.chefspsa.com/
Get Episodes Early on Substack → https://chefspsa.substack.com/
Follow Chef’s PSA on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chefspsa/
Listen on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6wC5UCwv9VFIR37E5XkeVO
Listen on Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chefs-psa/id1637261680
Listen on Audible
https://www.audible.com/podcast/Chefs-PSA/B0B84C3BW1
Subscribe to Chef’s PSA on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@ChefsPSA?sub_confirmation=1