What Are the Essential Cooking Techniques You Should Know?

Depending on who you ask, cooking is either an art, a science, or a perfect mix of both. However you look at it, cooking is really the practice of transforming something into something else.

For both beginners and experienced chefs, cooking can sometimes feel like a vast, unpredictable sea full of strange ingredients and even strange rituals. The trick is to keep jumping in until you start building confident cooking techniques in the kitchen.

Steaming Cooking Method

Steaming is a cooking method that requires moist heat. Heat is created with boiling water that turns into steam. The steam brings heat to the food and cooks it. Unlike boiling, food is separate from the water and only comes into direct contact with the steam. Steaming begins when water reaches about 37 degrees Celsius. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, so the highest temperature at which food cooks is 100 degrees Celsius.

To steam foods on the stove, you only need two simple pieces of equipment: a pot and a steam basket. The pot is filled with a small amount of liquid brought to boiling point; the product to be cooked is placed in a basket suspended above the liquid, and then the pot is covered. The hot steam circulates in the pot and cooks the food very quickly. This technique is known as "compartmentalized steaming." Bamboo steamers or banana leaves used in Asian cuisine are an example of compartmentalized steamers.

Steaming can also be done using high pressure. However, this type of cooking requires special equipment. The simple pot and basket method works fine for most recipes.

Blind Baking

Blind baking is the process of pre-baking a pie crust or tart shell before filling is added. It gives the crust an advantage over the filling and gives you more control over how the crust is baked.

This way, the dough can be fully or partially baked before anything is added.

Simmering Cooking Method

Simmering is a cooking method that brings a food's liquid to just below boiling point over low heat. This method uses moderate heat to gradually soften foods before slowly adding seasonings and other ingredients to the food. Simmering ensures that the food maintains its structure and deepens flavors for a softer final dish. This cooking method has traditionally been used for cooking soups, stews, grains like rice or barley, and slow-cooking meats. Simmering is also commonly used when cooking meat, allowing tough cuts to cook slowly while maintaining their moisture and tenderness.

The first step in creating an ideal simmer is to boil water in a pot over medium heat. Once the pot starts boiling, ingredients can be added for slow cooking. However, it is important to monitor the temperature to prevent the simmer from turning into a boil. This method is great for cooking meat to keep it moist and tender.

Benefits of Simmering

Simmering creates an ideal environment for delicate foods that would fall apart with a rapid boil and can be used for meats, vegetables, soups, and more. This cooking technique is an easy way to add flavor to a dish that cooks slowly and evenly. Simmering not only helps foods absorb the seasoned liquid but also allows the ingredients to contribute their own flavors throughout the cooking process. This method ensures the food maintains its structure without drying out or hardening. Simmering is designed to deliver a soft and flavorful final dish and is versatile enough to be used for various recipes.

Roasting Cooking Method

It is a technique of cooking proteins by contact with hot air. Oven, stone oven, a covered grill/barbecue can be used in the roasting cooking technique. The basic principle in the roasting cooking technique is cooking by circulating dry and hot air around the product.

The original name of the roasting technique is actually referred to as "Spit-Roasting." The reason for this name is that the ingredients to be cooked are placed on a rod and turned over an open fire.

Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat and hot air to surround food and cook it evenly from all sides. Foods can be roasted over an open flame, oven, or additional heat sources. Foods such as meat and vegetables will have an enhanced flavor through caramelization and browning once roasted.

Braising Cooking Method

Braising is cooking meat or vegetables by slowly heating them with oil and moisture in a tightly closed container. Braising differs from stewing, where food is submerged in liquid, and covered roasting, where no liquid is added. Braising is a combination of covered roasting and steaming.

The food to be braised is first seared in a small amount of oil in an open pan and then cooked again with the pan lid closed; meats are usually braised on a bed of vegetables. A small amount of liquid can be added after the searing is complete. The term fricasseeing can be used for making stew by braising small pieces of poultry, rabbit, or veal. The braising process of a large piece of meat is sometimes called pot roasting.

Sous Vide Cooking Method

While it was once limited to professionals, Sous Vide (pronounced sue-veed) is a cooking technique that uses precise temperature control to produce consistent, restaurant-quality results. High-end restaurants have been using the sous vide cooking method for years to cook food to exactly the desired doneness every time. With the availability of affordable and easy-to-use sous vide precision cooking equipment like Anova's Sous Vide Cooker, this technique has recently become popular with home cooks.

Sous vide, meaning "under vacuum" in French, refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a bag and then cooking it at a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces results that are impossible to achieve with any other cooking method.

Broiling Cooking Method

Broiling uses only the top heating element of your oven and applies high temperatures to the top of dishes for quick flavor. Use this method to cook and crisp delicate foods or brown the tops of pre-cooked dishes. Most broil settings use temperatures between 260 and 280°C, so closely monitor the cooking process.

If you want to add quick and easy flavor to a protein or vegetable, look no further than the brilliance and beauty of a simple glaze!

A glaze is a sauce cooked onto a protein or vegetable, so the sugars caramelize, become slightly sticky, and cling to whatever you're cooking.

When someone says they're "deglazing" a pan, it sounds like they're really accomplishing something, doesn't it? Like it's something very important. Well, we're here to tell you that while it may sound impressive, it's actually foolishly simple. You've definitely deglazed a pan before. And you don't need to go through seven years of training or have a short stint on a cooking competition show to do it.

Deglazing is simply the act of adding liquid to a hot pan, which allows all the caramelized bits stuck to the bottom to release. Here's the thing about those bits: They're treasure. (And if you want to be even fancier, call them "fond.") Whether you're sautéing onions and other aromatics for the base of a soup, sizzling tomato paste for a vodka sauce, or searing a piece of meat, the stuff that sticks to the bottom has many complex flavors you want; deglazing is how you get it off the bottom of the pan and into your mouth.

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