Technique Encyclopedia
This is a comprehensive list of baking techniques and how to execute them.
-Here’s to learning a “cream” from a “whisk”.
Bake:
To cook in an oven with dry heat. The oven should always be heated for 10 to 15 minutes before baking.
Beat:
To thoroughly combine ingredients and incorporate air with a rapid, circular motion. This may be done with a wooden spoon, wire whisk, rotary eggbeater, electric mixer or food processor.
Blanch:
To partially cook food by plunging it into boiling water for a brief period, then into cold water to stop the cooking process.
Boil:
To heat a liquid until bubbles rise continually to the surface and break.
Caramelize:
To heat sugar until it is melted and brown. Caramelizing sugar gives it a distinctive flavor.
Chop:
To cut into small pieces using a sharp knife, appliance or scissors.
Coats spoon:
When a thin, even film covers a metal spoon after it has been dipped into a cooked mixture and allowed to drain.
Combine:
To stir together two or more ingredients until mixed.
Cool:
To come to room temperature.
Cream:
To beat one or more ingredients, usually margarine or butter, sugar and/or eggs, until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
Crimp:
To seal the edges of two layers of dough with the tines of a fork or your fingertips.
Cut in: My Grandmother always said fingers are the best pastry blender you can find!
To distribute solid fat throughout the dry ingredients using a pastry blender, fork or two knives in a scissors motion.
Dash:
A measurement less than 1/8 teaspoon.
Dot:
To distribute small amounts of margarine or butter evenly over the surface of pie filling or dough.
Drizzle:
To drip a glaze or icing over food from the tines of a fork or the end of a spoon.
Dust:
To sprinkle lightly with sugar, flour or cocoa.
Flute:
To make or press a decorative pattern into the raised edge of pastry.
Fold in:
To gently combine a heavier mixture with a more delicate substance such as beaten egg whites or whipped cream without causing a loss of air.
Glaze:
To coat with a liquid, thin icing or jelly before or after the food is cooked.
Grate:
To shred with a hand-held grater or food processor.
Grease:
To rub fat on the surface of a pan or dish to prevent sticking.
Grind:
To produce small particles of food by forcing food through a grinder.
Knead:
To fold, push and turn dough or other mixture to produce a smooth, elastic texture.
Lukewarm:
A temperature of about 105 degrees F. that feels neither hot nor cold.
Mix:
To stir together two or more ingredients until they are thoroughly combined.
Mix until just moistened:
To combine dry ingredients with liquid ingredients until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened, but the mixture is still slightly lumpy.
Partially set:
To refrigerate a gelatin mixture until it thickens to the consistency of unbeaten egg whites.
Peel:
To remove the skin of a fruit or vegetable by hand or with a knife or peeler. This also refers to the skin or outer covering of a fruit or vegetable.
Proof:
To allow yeast dough to rise before baking. Or, to dissolve yeast in a warm liquid and set it in a warm place for 5 to 10 minutes until it expands and becomes bubbly.
Refrigerate:
To chill in the refrigerator until a mixture is cool or a dough is firm.
Rind:
The skin or outer coating of foods such as citrus fruit or cheese.
Rolling boil:
To cook a mixture until the surface billows rather than bubbles.
Rounded teaspoon:
To mound dough slightly in a measuring teaspoon.
Scald:
To heat a mixture or liquid to just below the boiling point.
Score:
To cut slits in food with a knife, cutting part way through the outer surface.
Softened:
Margarine, butter, ice cream or cream cheese that is in a state soft enough for easy blending, but not melted.
Shred:
To cut food into narrow strips using a sharp knife, grater or food processor fitted with a shredding disk.
Soft peaks:
To beat egg whites or whipping cream to the stage where the mixture forms soft, rounded peaks when the beaters are removed.
Steam:
To cook food on a rack or in a wire basket over boiling water.
Stiff peaks:
To beat egg whites to the stage where the mixture will hold stiff, pointed peaks when the beaters are removed.
Stir:
To combine ingredients with a spoon or whisk using a circular motion.
Toss:
To mix lightly with a lifting motion, using two forks or spoons.
Whip:
To beat rapidly with a wire whisk or electric mixer to incorporate air into a mixture in order to lighten and increase the volume of the mixture.
Zest:
The colored outer peel of citrus fruit, which is used to add flavor. The zest is often referred to as grated peel in recipes. To create zest, choose the diagonal-hole side of a box grater—it will give you a cleaner zesting than if you use the nail-hole side—and rub lightly to avoid getting the white pith, which is bitter. For broader strips of zest, use a swivel-blade peeler or a sharp knife to cut away the peel.