Why do you add flour to the oven bag when you bag baste a turkey?

According to Reynolds Kitchens:

to blend the fat and juices and to protect against bursting.

That did not explain enough.

Crowd-sourced answers say that it keeps the bag from sticking to the bird.

Still not enough. Also, doesn’t make a lick of sense.

Dr. Greg Blonder – physicist, inventor, scientist, entrepreneur, author, and all-around fascinating guy – did some experiments on various cooking methods that have to do with various meats and weights of wrap in pressure cookers, convection, oven bags, thermal whatevers, and blahty blahs with or without water and other things. He makes a lot of sense – mostly because he’s smart and uses the word “microburst”:

Performing the same experiment at 350F caused the water vapor to slightly heat above the boiling point, just like in a pressure cooker. These superheated water vapor bubbles burst out, splattering oil in all directions. Curiously, microbursts are why Reynold’s Oven bags suggests mixing a few tablespoons of flour into the bag before cooking. The flour binds the fats to the water, preventing mini explosions that might otherwise cause the bag (which contains numerous vents) to split open.

This might, in fact, be the same statement or explanation, but no one wants any microbursting fats in their oven.

thanksgiving

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.