Cooking Terms

When I was younger, I thought that I would have to learn new concepts of cooking with every recipe I got. I did not realize that once you know the general cooking terms, like bake, fry, boil, chop, dice, spear, beat, whip, roll, etc. you can follow those with any recipe. When I was a kid, I thought, “How am I ever going to learn every cooking concept with every recipe.” When I attended a training center in 1999, I was taught many cooking techniques.

Bake

When you bake something you are completely cooking it in the oven. In order to put things into the oven I will first open the oven door all the way. I then use a potholder or oven mitt over my hand to pull the oven rack out. I then lower the dish or pan onto the oven rack. When I feel the bottom of the pan touch the oven rack, I will gently push the pan toward the back of the oven. My oven rack is slanted in the back, so I can easily feel when the dish has reached the back of the rack. Then I push the oven rack back into the oven and shut the door. I simply reverse the whole procedure to take something out of the oven.

Baste

When you baste, you brush or spoon liquid fat or juices over meat during roasting to give it more flavor and to prevent it from drying out. I like to use the disposable oven roasting bags available at most grocery and discount stores. You put the seasoned meat into the bag, tie it and place it into a roasting pan. You need to poke the bag with a fork a few times so that some of the steam can get out.

A roasting pan with a lid also works well. Or the old fashioned way of just simply ladling juice from the bottom of the pan onto the top of the meat.

Beat

To smoothen a mixture by briskly whipping it with a spoon, fork, roddery beater, wire whisk or electric mixer. You are also adding air, which will make your cake light and fluffy. Most cakes, pies and other recipes call for this before baking. If you are doing it with a hand mixer, make sure you have the mixers completely in the bowl before turning on the mixer. Then be sure to turn the mixer off before removing it from the bowl. If you are using a spoon or a whisk, make sure to get a big enough bowl so none of the liquid will spill out while you are stirring or beating the ingredients together. Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl periodically throughout the process, so that all the mixture is beaten.

Blend

You mix or fold two or more ingredients together to obtain equal distribution throughout the mixture. You will be able to tell if your mixture is consistent throughout by paying attention to how the spoon goes through the mixture. Be sure to scrape the sides back into the center of the bowl. Sometimes if I’m not sure if I have gotten all the lumps out, I will draw a fork through the mixture and then check with my finger to see if there are any lumps left on the fork. This works only with liquid or batter mixtures like cake batter or gravy. The liquid drains through the tines of the fork, but the lumps will be too large to fall through.

Boil

I learned that when something is boiling, the sides of the pan will vibrate. I never knew this growing up. When I would make hard boiled eggs, I could never tell when they started to boil. I did not realize I should listen to the sounds made and it would make a different sound when it started to boil. When I attended the training center, one lady showed me that if I touched the pan handles when the water came to a boil, they would vibrate, and that’s how you know for sure when it has come to a boil. It also sounds different, with practice and experience you’ll get to know when something is boiling from across the room.

Bread

You coat the food in bread crumbs or another powdered seasoning mix, usually soft and dry bread crumbs. You can do this with pork chops, chicken or chicken fried steak. Depending on the recipe you will sometimes need to first coat the meat in beaten egg or another liquid. Shake ‘n bake is one type of breading. coat the meat with plenty of the mixture by rolling it in the bag of shake ‘n bake mixture.

Broil

When you broil, you cook food directly under the source of heat. Many broilers are in the very bottom of your oven. There is a special setting on the oven that says broil that you will need to mark.

Chop

When you chop, you cut into irregular pieces. I lay the vegetable or other food to be chopped on the cutting board. I will first cut off any parts that I don’t need, like stems, roots or bad spots. Then I hold the vegetable firmly against the cutting board with one hand and place the knife onto the food with the other hand. I usually keep the fingers on the hand holding the food slightly curved back away from the knife. When I am sure of the placement of my fingers I pres down with the knife and cut the vegetable.

If I need to cut the vegetable into even smaller pieces, I go back and cut the opposite direction. Soft foods like cheese are the easiest to cut. If you are just beginning or are very nervous start with a softer food to get the hang of it. The most important things are to know where the knife is in relation to your other hand, which you can know by feel. The other important thing is to have control of the knife and the food you are cutting.

Cream

When you cream, you beat vegetable shortening, butter, or margarine, with or without sugar, until light and fluffy. This process traps in air bubbles, later used to create height in cookies and cakes. It’s managed the same way as mixing or blending.

Crisp

You do this to foods when you want to restore the crunch to foods; vegetables such as celery and carrots can be crisped with an ice water bath, and foods such as stale crackers can be heated in a medium oven to toast them back to crispness.

Deep Frying

I love to use the deep fryer to make hot wings. A deep fryer has a basket and every few times you use it, you must take out the basket, drain the old oil, and clean the deep fryer, refill it with new oil and put the basket back in. The oil will smell differently when it goes bad. To me oil that has gone bad smells like paint thinner. If the oil doesn’t smell appetizing it is probably gone bad.

You have to make sure the basket is not too full or the food will not cook properly. When I put wings into the basket, I dump them in, close the fryer, and hit another button to release the basket down into the oil. I can tell its working right because the deep fryer will sizzle real loud. You may want to time how long it takes once you put the food in until it gets done. Then you can set a timer for that time for each additional batch. Also the sizzle of the food will change as it gets done. With practice you will be able to determine when the food is done by the sizzle.

Drizzle

To pour a liquid such as a sweet glaze or melted butter in a slow, light trickle over food. I use this mostly for desserts. I use one hand on the edge of the plate or pan to keep me oriented as to where exactly the food is. I pour the frosting or glaze slowly over the food moving it around slowly as I go. I have found that using a plastic sandwich type bag with a small hole cut from one corner works very well to control the liquid. I first fill the plastic bag with the glaze. Then I cut off one of the corners. I gently squeeze the bag to push the glaze out through the hole and onto the food. This way you get a constant thin stream of glaze.

Dust

To sprinkle food lightly with spices, sugar, or flour for a light coating. I measure out the amount of spices or coating first and then sprinkle it over the food.

Fry

When I first started cooking on the stove top burners I would put the pan on the burner first. I could check to see if the pan was sitting in the middle of the burner when it was still cool. Now I check by sliding the pan just a bit, feeling for when it is solidly on the burner. If it feels like it will tip, I know it isn’t on the burner correctly. After the burner gets hot, I also check for an uneven amount of heat in one area around the edge of the pan. I will hold my hand about 8 to 12 inches over the burner. If there is one area that feels much hotter than the rest, I know a part of the burner isn’t covered by the pan and I need to slide it into the hotter area a bit.

Depending on what you are frying you will need different amounts of oil. I try to eat as healthy as possible, most of the time, so I usually will only coat the bottom of the pan with a small amount of oil, butter or cooking spray. This keeps your meat or vegetables from sticking.

Grate

To shred or cut down a food into fine pieces by rubbing it against a rough surface. I grate cheese a lot for my lasagna. It is cheaper to grade the cheese yourself than to buy it already grated.

A grater is a piece of standard kitchen equipment. It is usually metal either flat or in a hollow square shape. I have the square design. Each side of the grater has different surfaces for grating different things. The smaller the holes in the grater the smaller your food will come out. I usually use the next to the largest size for grating cheese.

Hold the cheese, carrot or other food firmly in hand. Start at the top of the grater, sliding the food firmly against the grater in a downward motion. Check on the other side of the holes to see how it worked. If there isn’t anything there, you either need to press harder or use a side with larger holes. Check how much space is between your finger tips and the grater surface periodically. Adjust your grip on the food accordingly. I usually stop grating when I get the food down to about a 1 inch square.

Knead

To work dough with the heels of your hands in a pressing and folding motion until it becomes smooth and elastic. I, first, lightly sprinkle flour over the surface that I will be using to knead the dough. This keeps it from sticking to the table or countertop. I remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the floured surface. I take off any rings and watches because they will get caked with flour and dough. I press the heels of my hands into the dough, pressing down and away from me. Then I fold the dough in half and repeat the pressing down and forward with my hands. I do this a couple of times until the dough begins to become long and narrow. Then I turn the dough 90 degrees, fold the dough and repeat the pressing and folding. Depending on the dough and how much energy I have I will need to repeat this whole thing for around 10 minutes or so. When the dough changes it’s consistency into just slightly sticky and very elastic, I know it’s done. Usually when making bread the dough will then need to rise for a while. Then it will be kneaded again. The second time of kneading takes less work than the first time.

Marinate

To combine food with aromatic ingredients to add flavor. For example, if you are barbecuing ribs, I like to marinate them in a powder called rib rub over night before throwing them on the barbecue pit, because it gives them more flavor.

Purée

To mash or sieve food into a thick liquid. I do this in the blender. Be sure the lid is on the blender before you turn it on! I listen to the blender very carefully to determine if I need to stir the food or use a different setting. If the food has moved away from the blades and needs to be stirred, the pitch of the blender will be higher. If the food is too course or large to be blended on the current setting the pitch will be lower. I also keep one hand on the handle of the blender pitcher. In addition to keeping the blender stable the vibrations also help me to know what’s going on. Always turn the blender off before stirring.

Sauté

To cook food quickly in a small amount of oil in a skillet or sauté pan over direct heat. Many recipes will ask you to sauté mushrooms or another vegetable for the recipe. It’s done the same way as frying.

As you can see, there are many cooking terms and methods. We have just begun to touch on some of the more basic ones. We did not even have time to mention more of the foreign terms. Hopefully these basic concepts can get you started cooking! I always say to try anything you want, you will only know how it tastes if you attempt to make it.

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