Understanding Your Cookbook: Mixing and Cooking Terms

Sometimes when you are reading a recipe you may notice that it calls for you to mix or combine ingredients together. The list of common mixing techniques may help you sort out what the recipe is asking you to do.

Mixing Techniques

Bind - to cause a mixture to hold together by beating in a thickening agent such as a sauce or an egg.
Blend - to thoroughly mix at least two ingredients together with a spoon, blender or beater.
Combine - to mix at least two ingredients together.
Dissolve - to mix liquid and a dry substance until the dry substance dissolves into the liquid.
Fold in - when a recipe calls for you to fold in something the key is to not release air bubbles while mixing. By lifting part of the liquid from the bottom of the bowl through the rest of the mixture to the top of the bowl until the mixture is blended you will not release air bubbles.
Mix - by using a stirring motion combine ingredients into a uniform mixture.
Puree - to mix food till it becomes a smooth paste.
Stir - to combine ingredients with a spoon in a circular motion.
Toss - mixing ingredients gently by lifting the ingredients with two utensils.
Whip - mixing ingredients vigorously and quickly by using a beater or whisk.

There are many cooking techniques that you can use when you are making food, the list below should help you determine exactly what a recipe wants you to do for a particular dish.

Cooking Techniques

Bake - to cook food in an oven, so the food is surrounded by dry heat.
Barbecue - to roast or broil food over an open flame or charcoal briquettes.
Braise - to cook food by searing it in butter or oil and then simmering it in a covered pot with a small amount of moisture.
Broil - to cook food in a broiler, so the food is below dry heat.
Brown - to create a brown surface on food with high heat for a short period of time.
Deep Fry - to cook food by submerging it in oil that is at an extremely high temperature.
Flambe - use a flaming alcohol to cause a caramelized effect on food.
Flamber - to cover food with a heated liquor, then set on fire and serve flaming.
Fry - to cook in butter or oil.
Grill - cook food on a grill.
Melt - to turn a solid to a liquid by heat.
Planking - the style of cooking that bakes or broils food on a piece of hard wood, known as a plank.
Roast - to cook by dry heat, usually in an oven, and generally the food is constantly rotated.
Sauté - to cook or brown food quickly in a pan over direct heat usually with a small amount of oil or butter.
Scald - to bring a liquid to just below the boiling point.
Sear - to brown the surface of food by cooking it at a very high heat in oil or butter.
Simmer - to cook a liquid just below boiling point, bring a liquid to a boil, cover it and turn the heat to low to simmer to create this effect.
Smoke - to preserve food by slowly drying it in smoke that is of a fragrant hard-wood fire.
Steam - to cook food in boiling water that covers the surface of a pot that is covered.
Stew - to simmer vegetables in their own juices and water.
Stir-Fry - to quickly cook food in oil over high heat by lightly tossing and stirring the food.

Cooking can be very fun and you can produce some really tasty creations by using different techniques.