7.7 The methods at a glance

Every cooking method applies heat in one of three ways: through moist heat, through dry heat, or by combining the two. Get to know how each one works and you will cook with more confidence.

Moist heat

Moist-heat methods cook food in hot liquid or steam. They depend on time and temperature, so learn the range for each.

• Poaching (160–180°F). The food sits fully under liquid that never goes above 180°F. Either start the food in cold liquid and bring it slowly up to about 170°F, or bring the liquid to a boil, add the food and take the pan off the heat straight away. Both protect the food's quality.
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• Simmering (180–205°F). A long, slow method for tougher cuts of meat, which also tend to cost less. At the right temperature you lose less liquid and stay in control, and a lid cuts evaporation further. Simmering draws out the most flavor and makes protein as tender as it can be.
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• Boiling (205–212°F). A true boil is 212°F. For better control, think of 205–210°F as a gentle boil and 210–212°F as a rapid boil.
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• Blanching. Food cooks briefly in boiling water at 212°F, or in hot fat. After water-blanching, food is usually "shocked": plunged into ice water to stop the cooking.
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• Steaming (212°F and above). Steam is one of the hottest cooking mediums, which is why pressure cookers cut cooking time by about two thirds. Steaming is also recommended for keeping vitamins and nutrients, because they are not washed out.
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Blanching does several jobs:

• It speeds up the final cooking.
• It makes cooking more even.
• It brightens color.
• It helps keep vitamins and nutrients.
• It helps food last longer.
• It can make vegetables easier for some people to digest.
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• It can improve flavor.

When potatoes for French fries are blanched in hot oil instead, they are not shocked. The oil draws out water, stops them darkening and makes them crisper.

Combination methods

Stewing starts by searing the food in hot fat. It then simmers fully under a flavored liquid such as stock or broth, low and slow.

Braising (oven at 275–325°F) also starts by searing and browning meat or vegetables in hot fat. Then the food cooks slowly, covered, in a pot or roasting pan with only a little liquid. It suits tougher, cheaper cuts. For a pot roast, the liquid should reach halfway up the meat, and the roast is turned over halfway through. Braising works on the stove, but the even heat of an oven is better; bring the liquid to a simmer before the pot goes in. A common setting is 300°F for three hours, though a different cut, or a bigger or smaller piece, changes this.

Dry heat

The temperatures above are the working ranges for each dry-heat method.

For indoor smoking:

• Soak the wood chips in water for thirty minutes.
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• Drain them, pat them dry and spread them over the bottom of a roasting pan.
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• Set a wire rack over the chips and the food on the rack.
• Cover tightly and seal with foil.
• Heat on the stove until the chips smoke.
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• Keep the heat steady and finish on the stove or in the oven.
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Smoking dries food out, so marinate or brine proteins first.

Grilling and barbecuing are not the same. Barbecue is slow cooking over hot coals or wood embers at low heat for a long time, so it suits fattier, cheaper cuts. Barbecued food may be finished on a grill or under a broiler, and barbecue sauce goes on near the end or comes on the side. Grilling is fast, over high heat.

Broiling needs very little fat or liquid, so it can be a low-fat way to cook. Marinated food does well under it. It also browns food, toasts breadcrumbs and melts cheese on top of a dish, called a gratinée.

Dry heat with fat

These methods differ mainly in how much fat they use.

• Sautéing (350–400°F). Sauté is French for "to jump": the food is tossed in the pan, and the pan's sloped sides help. Use very high heat and a little fat, about 1 to 1½ ounces in an 8- to 10-inch pan. Heat the pan, add the oil, then the food. Do not crowd the pan: pieces of protein should not touch. A crowded pan traps moisture, makes steam and stops browning. If you dust meat with seasoned flour, do it just before cooking, never ahead, or the flour turns wet and gummy.
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• Pan frying (325–400°F). Use a shallow pan with straight sides and a moderate amount of fat, about 360°F. The fat should come halfway up the food. Too much fat lifts the food off the pan, and it is contact with the pan that browns it. Fry one side, flip, and fry the other. Finish thick pieces, or pieces on the bone, in the oven. Fish cakes, chicken pieces and fritters suit this method.
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• Deep frying (350–375°F). The food goes completely under hot fat, best kept at 360–375°F. Keep the temperature steady, or results will vary. Never overload the basket, because that drops the oil's temperature sharply. Choose an oil with a high smoke point, such as vegetable or peanut oil. Afterwards, strain, filter and cool the oil before refrigerating it.
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• Pan searing (400–450°F). Uses the least fat: a light spray of oil on a preheated pan or on the food, or a food straight from its marinade, such as a tuna steak. Sear one side, turn, and finish the other. Move a very thick piece to a low oven to finish.
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Whole butter is a poor frying fat at high heat: the milk solids in it start to burn at about 175°C (350°F), while clarified butter, with those solids removed, handles about 230°C (450°F).

Whole butter can stand in for clarified butter if oil is added, half and half, to raise its smoke point. That advice is also called a myth: mixing oil into butter does not raise the temperature at which the butter burns, and can make it burn even faster. When a recipe calls for clarified butter at high heat, use clarified butter.

With whole butter, put the food in once the butter has melted and stopped foaming.

Microwaving

A microwave oven sends small waves of energy into food. They make the water molecules move fast, which creates friction, and the friction cooks the food. That is why dried foods with no water in them have to be rehydrated before a microwave can cook them.

The microwave is very good at thawing frozen food quickly, so the food spends less time in the "Danger Zone" of temperature before it is cooked. Cook thawed food soon after thawing it. Steamed vegetables, corn in its husk and potatoes all do well. Turn food as it cooks so it heats evenly, use several short bursts instead of one long one, and cover food you reheat to hold in steam and moisture.