Summary of Coating Terms

Bread, dredge, and coat All are used to cover a food, often before frying, either to keep it from drying out or to give it a crisp exterior or brown color

How are they different? Coat is the most general term, meaning to cover with another ingredient, which is often a thin batter. Dredge is a thin coating with a dry ingredient, such as flour or cornmeal.

Bread, dredge, and coat Bread is the thickest coating, with 3 steps: dredge in flour, then dip in beaten eggs, and last coat in bread crumbs or crushed crackers.

Brush, baste, and glaze All are used to add a liquid to the outside of a food, either to add color or flavor, or to keep it from drying out. Brush is the act of applying the liquid, usually with a pastry brush.

Brush, baste, and glaze Glaze is done usually once, to add color and flavor, as in hams. Baste is done repeatedly to keep from drying out, as in a turkey.

Dot, sprinkle, dust All involve adding an ingredient to the top of something, often in baking.

How are they different? Dot is largest and furthest-apart pieces, such as dotting a coffeecake before baking with pieces of butter.

Differences… Sprinkle is closer together than dot, as sprinkling cheese on a pizza. Dust is very small particles, added very close together in a thin layer, such as dusting a cake with powdered sugar after baking.

Summary of Misc. Terms

Drain, vent, marinate All have to do with cooking with liquids. -Drain- removing excess water from a cooked food. -Vent- allowing excess steam/vapor from cooking. -Marinate- soaking food before cooking in a liquid to tenderize it or to add flavor.

Reduce, scald, melt All involve heating a liquid or fat. Scald- bring to almost boiling and then cool. (milk)

Continued-- Melt- heat a solid, usually a fat, to a liquid state.

Continued-- Reduce- boil a stock to remove water, making it more flavorful.

Season to taste/ Chill and cool Seasoning (often the salt/pepper) until it tastes right to the cook-- But, wait until almost ready to serve because the stock is reduced during long cooking time.

Continued-- Cool is taking to a lower temperature. For instance, you need to cool scalded milk before adding it to any yeast bread recipe. Chill involves bringing it to refrigerator temperature. You must chill any gelatin (as Jello) before it will become solid enough to serve.

Summary of Cooking Terms

Roast, bake, broil, grill, toast, preheat, and grease All are forms of DRY HEAT COOKING. All are done in an oven or by direct heat, such as a grill, and use no liquids. We grease pans before adding ingredients to keep food from sticking. Evenly coat with a thin layer of cooking spray or shortening.

How are they different? Roast/bake- put it in the oven and cook it. Roast refers to cooking meats and bake refers to cakes and pies.

Broil/grill/toast- all done by direct heat (heat source is <6” away from food). Broil- heat source is above the food, in a stove. Grill- heat source is below the food, cooking outside. Toast is only until surface is brown in color.

Fat cooking, which includes: Fry, sauté, pan-broil, pan-fry, brown, pan-fry, sear, deep-fat frying, stir-frying All are cooked in different amounts of fat, which may include oil, butter, shortening, natural fat in the meat, or lard.

How are they different? Fry is the most general term. From least fat to most fat, there are: -Pan-broil- cooked in skillet in natural fats. -Sear- cook in own fat or a bit of oil to seal in all outside edges. -Pan-fry- use just enough oil to keep the food from sticking.

How are they different, cont. Saute - also a small amount of oil, foods are chopped up and cooked quickly.

Continued-- Stir-fry- Just enough oil to keep from sticking. Often done in a wok with Oriental foods. You constantly stir as thinly sliced foods cook quickly.

Continued-- - Brown- often first dredged in flour, and then cooked in fat to make it brown color. You may finish cooking with some other method, as in oven-fried chicken.

Continued-- Deep-fat frying- immersing the food completely in hot fat, cooking at a controlled temperature. (Food must be DRY in order to brown properly!)

Boil, simmer, steam All involve cooking food in varying amounts and intensity of water. Boil (as in potatoes)- A lot of water, many bubbles -Simmer (as a crock-pot)- Lots of water, but few bubbles, usually means long cooking periods. -Steam (fresh peas)- very little water under food, tight lid, quick cooking.

Stew, braise, poach, blanch, pre-cook Starting with shortest cooking time: -Blanch- quickly immerse fresh vegetables into a lot of boiling water for 1 to 5 minutes, then into ice water. It’s blanched before freezing.

Continued-- Poach- cooking whole food, such as an egg or fruit gently in simmering water, until done.

Continued-- Pre-cook- Partially cooking and then finishing cooking in another way, such as simmering chicken until almost done and then taking it to the outdoor grill.

Continued: Braise- long, slow cooking pot with tight lid with very small amounts of liquid, often done with meat. -Stew- long, slow simmering meats in a lot of liquid.

Microwave cooking Basic rules include: Don’t turn it on empty, no metal!--both of these will break your microwave! Undercook your food, if in doubt, because overcooked food tastes like shoes! (i.e. dry, tough, leathery) Arrange food in shape of “doughnut,” fairly flat, circular, nothing in the middle

Continued-- Best for these things: reheating leftovers, & cooking veggies, soups When turning on, set time and push “Start” and NOT “Jet Start” which adds another 30 seconds to the time you’ve set!

Candy, caramelize, crisp, clarify, skim, and render All cooking terms which use fat or sugar. Sugar terms: Candy- add sugar to a non-baking dish, as candied carrots. Caramelize- heat white sugar until it melts and turns a light brown.

Crisp, clarify, skim, and render Crisp- cooking in fat to make crisp or cooling in refrigerator to become crisp, as lettuce. -Clarify- to remove non-fat particles, as melting butter and take away milk solids. -Skim- remove fat and impurities from broth, also to remove top thin layer of any liquid.

Render- to heat meat or poultry to separate the true fat from the skin and fatty tissue.

Juices poured from roasting chicken- hot, liquid fat floats to the top.