We are all a bit convinced that cooking in the oven, whether it is meatballs, roasts or even desserts (see Carnival chatter) is lighter and healthier, but is it really true? Answers Sabrina Lucchetti of CREA (Council for research in agriculture and analysis of the agricultural economy) Food and Nutrition: Important do not exceed the times, e for temperatures do not reach the smoke point of fats usati to cook because this causes an oxidation of fatty acids which leads to the formation of substances, in particular aldehydes, which are not exactly healthy. And this regardless of the type of cooking chosen.
Any advantage, then, in oven preparations?
There is an advantage: constant temperature in the oven and if you set it correctly for degrees and cooking times, without exaggerating with either of the two, you can more easily avoid those scorching, often typical of foods prepared on the stove, where the control of the temperature is entrusted to the skill of those who prepare them, since few use thermometers in home kitchens to measure the degrees reached by the fats used. This advantage, however, is somewhat lost as cooking in the oven is longer than in a pan.
What is so fearful of the scalding crust?
precisely that to signal that cooking has exceeded the safety limit giving rise to insidious compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic aromatic amines, certainly dangerous, especially some, due to their involvement in carcinogenic-mutagenic processes. When you cook a roast, or a large fish, in any way you do it, you need very high temperatures and an hour and a half, two hours of cooking and this inevitably causes the fats, and not only, to degrade. Here’s why it would be it is better to choose foods of small “size””, Just like meatballs or morsels. Which are also more digestible.
illusory hope that baked foods make you fat less than those fried in a pan?
The fried food, even if well dried by the frying oil, certainly hides more calories. When cooking in the oven, cooking fats are much more limitedFurthermore, it is possible to take greater advantage of those released by the foods themselves and then add them at the end of cooking as desired. It should also be said that even a pan with a very thick bottom can be useful in reducing fat, for example in sautées.
Are there any other tricks to limit fat in baking?
perhaps it is easier to abound with tomato sauces or broth, even if nothing prevents them from being used in a pan as well, like a splash of wine, to be evaporated to leave only the aroma and not the alcohol content.
If you want to cook vegetables, is it better to use the oven or stove?
What has already been said is valid, avoid long cooking times, very high temperatures and burns. And, by the way, attattention to grilled vegetables too, better to give them only every now and then to “celebrate”, scorching is never healthy.
Any other suggestions?
Mix the ingredients. For example, in meatballs add vegetables instead of ham or cook the stew enriching it with vegetables in order to reduce the amount of meat. IS always choose quality condiments, starting with extra virgin olive oil.
Chat in the oven or fried? Are the former less threatening to the line?
Baked chatter is lighter, but let’s not demonize fried foods made with the right timing and methods.