Cooking Terms Preparing Terms and Equipment
Watch a video teaching the terms with equipment here: Cooking Terms: Preparation Terms and Equipment
This blog will contain links to products I recommend. These are affiliate links that I will receive a small commission if you purchase them which helps out my blog.
Below I will explain hints for each term and give a link for the equipment I recommend.
Baste
Basting is not needed in many roasting applications but it can help with crisping the skin of poultry and retaining moisture in meats. A pastry brush works fine for this as well. I prefer stainless basters because they don’t stain and are dishwasher safe. Separate the bulb from the tube to clean. Baster Link
Pastry brushes also work well for basting. I prefer silicone brushes because they don’t stain or shed like traditional brushes. They also work well for butter and egg washes for baking and because they are silicone, they don’t absorb flavors from previous uses. Pastry Brush Link
Thaw
Thawing has the potential to introduce or allow the growth of a lot of bacteria. The temperature danger zone is between 41° F and 135° F. In that range, bacteria thrives and grows. Between 70°F and 120° bacteria grows very rapidly because it is most comfortable. Room temperature is bacteria’s happy place which means thawing a room temp is a very bad idea. There are 4 safe ways to thaw.
Refrigerator- one pound of meat takes 12-16 hours to thaw in the fridge. This means putting frozen meat in the fridge the night or morning before usually works.
Microwave- if you thaw in the microwave, cook the food immediately. You should not put food that has been thawed back in the fridge until it has been cooked. The reason for this is that thawing in the microwave puts at least part of the meat in the danger zone which means that bacteria can grow. It’s important to cook it immediately to kill any bacteria. Some bacteria produce toxins as they multiply so if they grow in the fridge, the toxins cannot be cooked out.
Under cool running water- Many people thaw in the sink. When thawing in the sink, use cool running water 70°F. If you use hot water, the outside can be in the danger zone for a while before the inside is thawed.
As a part of the cooking process- This works well for frozen fish and burgers. This doesn't work for large cuts though.
Dissolve
Dissolving is a solid becoming a part of liquid. This happens when you make tea when the sugar melts or when you mix honey and citrus juices for a vinaigrette and they become homogeneous.
Drain
Draining is removing solids from liquids. We all do this when we drain pasta. Colanders take up a lot of room in the cabinet, so if you are limited on space, I would get collapsible ones. Collapsible Colanders Link
You can also drain with a slotted spoon. OXO and Kitchenaid both make sets that last for years. I use mine constantly. I have sets like both of these, (though my kitchenaid set is pink.) and both have held up well.
Strain
Straining means straining solids out of liquids. It’s similar to draining. You use a strainer to strain. It catches smaller particles. This works well for things like broccoli or straining broths and coffee grounds. Strainers are excellent multitaskers in the kitchen. They can strain, sift, and help with dusting items. Strainer Set
Dust
Dusting is done a lot in desserts. Mostly with powdered sugar or cocoa powder. It’s really fun to use stencils for this because you can do fun shapes on brownies, cakes, and cookies. Dusting can easily be done with a sieve, but there are super fun things called Dusting wands that are kinda magical. Dusting wand link
This is a set of strainers and sieves in graduated sizes. Sieve and Strainer set
There are also shakers you can use for this if you do it often. I keep one with powdered sugar and one with cornstarch so that I can use them for rolling out fondant and cookies. Mesh shaker link
Flour
Flouring is done for deep frying, pan frying, and oven frying. It can also be done for roasting because it helps thicken the juices. I like to use pie pans or shallow bowls. Pasta bowls are great for meals that have sauces, but also make great breading stations. I use one for flour and breadcrumbs. I usually use a deeper bowl for putting egg wash in. Pasta Bowl Link
Grease
Greasing is extremely important for anything that is baked. I even grease the pans for mac and cheese and casseroles so that cleanup is easier. You can use cooking spray, butter, or shortening, but I also like to use olive oil. Try this mister for that. It’s aluminum so it can be cleaned easily. Anything plastic you use for oil will get gummy and sticky overtime so try to use metal or glass. Misto Sprayer Link
Tenderize
Tenderizing can be done in a few different ways. The first is to use a meat tenderizer or as we called it growing up, a meat mallet. Meat Tenderizer link This is pretty much a spiky hammer used to pound meat into a thinner and more tender piece. It breaks up the muscles so that it’s not as hard to chew.
You can also use a needler. This has a bunch of tiny blades that stab into the meat and break up the fibers. This works great for chicken fried steak. Needler Link
The third way is to use meat tenderizer powder. While this works well, if you don’t cook it soon enough, the meat can break down too much and become mushy.
Melt
Melting is a pretty self explanatory term. As Olaf says, “Some people are worth melting for” and sometimes, melting leads to some pretty cool stuff, like chocolate candy. If you are melting chocolate or cooking custard, you can use a double boiler to insulate the food from direct heat of the stovetop. You put a small amount of water in the bottom so that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the second pan and heat the water and the steam hits the bowl or 2nd pot to melt it. It is a gentler way of heating than directly on top of the stove. You don’t need a double boiler though to achieve this. Just get a set of stainless mixing bowls and set that on a pot of water. Stainless mixing bowl set link.
Season
Seasoning has a couple meanings. THe first is that you are adding flavor with spices, herbs or other ingredients. The second is to coat things like cast iron with oil and then heat to crate a carbon coat that helps it be nonstick. There are many other youtube videos and blogs that will do a much better job at teaching how to take care of cast iron. Check out this playlist: How to Use Cast Iron: Cooking, Cleaning and Seasoning
Vent
Venting when microwaving is super important, but by leaving the lid on containers, things heat more easily. By using these containers, I am able to vent the container and things like rice heat up much more easily.
Rubbermaid Easy Find Containers with Vent
Hopefully some of these products and hints will be helpful to you! Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel! Mixing with Mercs YouTube Channel
