Cooking Terms, Tips and Measurements

Cooking Terms

I thought that with all of these recipes, there might be some terminology that you might not know about or want to know the meaning of. So I have compiled a quick list of cooking terms for you. Some of them are totally obvious but others might help.

Al Dente: (AL-DEN-TAY) Refers to how pasta is cooked, it is slightly chewy or being tough to the bite.

Au gratin: (OH-GRAH-TAHN) Foods covered with a sauce, sprinkled with cheese or bread crumbs, or both, and baked to a golden brown

Au jus: (OH-JOO-I) Food served with its natural juice

Bake: To cook by dry heat, usually in an oven.

Baste: (BASED) To ladle drippings (the stuff that comes out of the meat when you cook it!) over a piece of meat being cooked as a roast to make it juicy and to prevent dryness

Beat: To lift a mixture with a spoon or an electric mixer to inject air and make the mixture smooth and creamy

Blanch: To scald, make white, to partially cook an item, or to dip vegetables in boiling water in preparation for freezing, canning, or drying

Braise: To cook meat by searing in fat, then simmering in a covered dish in a small amount of liquid or to brown meat or vegetables in hot fat, then to cook slowly in a small amount of liquid

Broil: To cook by exposing the food directly to the heat

Caramelise: Sugar - to heat sugar until it melts and turns a pale brown colour. Onions/garlic: to cook onions in a small amount of oil or butter until they change to a brown colour (the sugars in the onions/garlic actualy turn to caramel). Done over an easy heat and stirred occassionally.

Chop: To cut into small pieces using a knife or other sharp utensil

Cream (as in butter and sugar): a baking technique involving combining butter or margarine and sugar together together to a fluffy consistency. Done by thoroughly beating butter in a bowl, then gradually adding sugar until mixture is fluffy and creamy.

De-glaze: to pour a small amount of liquid into a hot pan in which something has been fried, to clean the pan bottom, especially as for gravy.

Egg wash: brushing the top of a baked item, such as bread, lightly with a beaten egg.

Flambe: (FLARM-BE) Served aflame

Fold: (Nothing to do with computers this time!!)To mix, using a motion beginning vertically down through the mixture, continuing across the bottom of the bowl and ending with an upward and over movement

Knead: (NEED) To place dough on a flat surface and work it, pressing down with your hands, then folding over and over again

Pinch/dash: small, inexact amounts that basically add up to "to taste."

Poach: To cook in water that bubbles only slightly

Reduce: To concentrate a liquid by simmering for a long time

Rise: in bread-making, to leave the dough in a warm place and allow to double in volume.

Rest: in bread-making, to let the dough sit a few minutes before kneading more.

Roux (Roo) - The basis of many sauces, and a good thickening agent for soup. Made but melting 1tbls of butter and adding 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of milk. For a thinner consistency, add more milk, for a thicker consistency, add more flour.

Saute: (SAW-TAY) To quickly heat meat or vegetables in fat in an open pan

Scald (as in milk): to heat milk just to the point that steam is rising from it, but not to boiling.

Sear: to quickly brown the outside of meat at a high temperature.

Simmer: To cook liquid just below the boiling point

Whip: To beat rapidly to increase volume and incorporate air

If you have any more, share the knowledge

Edit: Thanks for the suggestion mark|. The words in Italics are how you pronunciate them. I will also update this post whenever a new term comes along.

 

you might want to add after each word how they're pronounced (pro-nun-see-aye-shon). Can't think of the term i'm after though

Saute could be seen as 'sawt' or 'sss owa tee' or 'saw tee' or 'saw tay'

 

Great thread. Thanks HoldenAngel. This will save having to explain each process/term within recipes.

Another one:

Caramelise: Sugar - to heat sugar until it melts and turns a pale brown colour. Onions/garlic: to cook onions in a small amount of oil or butter until they change to a brown colour (the sugars in the onions/garlic actualy turn to caramel). Done over an easy heat and stirred occassionally.

 

yeah I got a bit of that myself...

Nice link Chris

Pax

 

Because recipes can come from just about anywhere in the world, I'd like to post a list of customary (Imperial) units of measurement and their conversions...in case you're not familiar with them.

Terms

tsp = teaspoon
tbsp = tablespoon
c = cup
oz = ounce
fl oz = fluid ounce (liquid capacity)
pt = pint
qt = quart
gal = gallon
lb = pound


Customary Meaurements

3 tsp = 1 tbsp
2 tbsp = 1 fl oz
8 fl oz = 1 c
2 c = 1 pt
2 pt = 1 qt
4 qt = 1 gal
16 oz = 1 lb


Metric Conversions

1/8 tsp = 0.5 ml
1/4 tsp = 1 ml
1/2 tsp = 2 ml
1 tsp = 5 ml
1 tbsp = 15 ml
1 fl oz = 30 ml
1/4 c = 59 ml
1/3 c = 79 ml
1/2 c = 118 ml
1 c = 225 ml
1 pt = 450 ml
1 qt = 900 ml (usually rounded up to 1 L)
1 gal = 3636.8 ml (usually rounded up to 4 L...but personally I'd err on the side of caution here)
1 oz = 28.3 g
1 lb = 453.6 g


Here is an awesome link to direct conversions online (contributed by PostModern in another thread)

 

Common Cooking Substitutions

If you're out of a particular ingredient, don't give up just yet. Check out this list of substitutions for various ingredients:

If you need (You can use)

1 c sugar (3/4 c honey)
1 c brown sugar (1 c granulated sugar + 2 tbsp molasses)
1 c powdered sugar (1 c granulated sugar + 1 tbsp cornstarch, blended)
1 c shortening (1 c butter or margarine)
1 tsp dry mustard (1 tbsp prepared mustard)
1 tbsp prepared mustard (1/2 tsp dry mustard + 2 tsp vinegar)
1 c cake flour (1 c minus 2 tbsp regular flour)
1 c buttermilk (2/3 c plain yogurt + 1/3 c milk)
1 c buttermilk (15 tbsp milk + 1 tbsp vinegar)
1 tsp baking powder (1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar)
1/2 c wine (sweet) (1/2 c fruit juice)
1/2 c wine (savory) (1/2 c chicken broth)
1 c tomato sauce ( 3/4 c tomato paste + 1 c water)
1 c sour cream (1 c plain yogurt)
1 c orange juice (3 medium oranges)
3 tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon)


If there are any you don't see here, let me know and I'll add 'em in.

 

Roux (Roo) - The basis of many sauces, and a good thicening agent for soup. Made but melting 1tbls of butter and adding 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of milk. For a thinner consistency, add more milk, for a thicker consistency, add more flour.

 

Recipe Conversions

Here's a quick-and-easy way to customize any recipe to yield a certain number of servings or feed a certain number of people:

Step One: Divide the number of servings you want to make by the number of servings the recipe claims to make. The result will be your conversion factor.

Step Two: Multiply the amount of every ingredient in that recipe by your conversion factor.


For example: to make my Extraordinary Mashed Potatoes , which makes 10 servings, you need

3 lbs (1.36 kg) potatoes
1/2 lb (226.8 g) butter
1-3/4 c (402 ml) milk

To convert the recipe to yield a smaller amount, e.g. 5 servings, divide 5 (# of servings desired) by 10 (# of servings recipe makes), giving you a conversion factor of 0.5. Thus, your new ingredient amounts are as follows:

Potatoes: 1.33 kg *0.5 = 0.665 kg (or 3 lb * 0.5 = 1.5 lb)
Butter: 226.8 g * 0.5 = 113.4 g (or 1/2 lb * 0.5 = 1/4 lb)
Milk: 402 ml * 0.5 = 201 ml (or 7/4 c * 0.5 = 14/16 or 7/8 c)

 

2 qt = 1 gal? I thought it was 4.

 

Ooops...thanks for catching that, egarrard.

Fixed it.

 

Also al dente is when there is a white circle in the middle of your spaghetti

 

Also when measuring liquids for recipes if you dont have a metric jug you can just weigh the liquid.

1 litre of water = 1 kilo
100mls = 100gms
etc

 

A better description of "aldente" is.... "not too soft, not too hard, but just right."

Also, Golden Syrup is an even better substitute for suger...because it is suger. Use it spoon for spoon.

 

or whenever it sticks to the roof of ur kitchen (this tip actually works i got in trouble for it in high school

 

Can I make a correction?

The correct ingredients of Roux is as follows :

1 part fat to 1 part flour.

The fat can be in the form of Lard, oil, margerine or butter.
Butter , however, is preferable, as it tastes a whole lot better in the Roux and therefore in the sauce/soup it would thicken.

Not trying to start something, just hope it helps someone!

 

You have down that 3tsp = 1tbls

Is that Australian or American? Because I think Australian mesurments are 4tsp = 1tbls

 

doesn't roux need to have Corn flour not just normal flour?

 

Nope, it's regular white flour -- at least traditionally.

 

There are some US measurements in Tori Lee's "Customary Measurements" and "Metric Conversions". Although they would be fine and helpful for American readers, in Australia be careful when measuring unless you are adjusting the amounts for an American recipe. Some English measurements such as the cup and the tablespoon are also different to Australia. These different Australian measurements (in particular the Australian tablespoon) are rarely mentioned in online converters.
1 fluid oz (imperial) = 28ml, standard quoted as 30ml though
1 pint (imperial) = 568ml, standard quoted as 600ml though
1 quart (imperial) = 1136ml
1 gal (imperial) = 4546ml usually quoted as 4.55litres
And yes, Australian tablespoons are different to American or English ones because they are equal to 4 teaspoons not 3.
4 tsp = 1 tbsp in Australia
1 tablespoon (Australia) = 4 teaspoons = 20ml
Also because a pint in Australia contains 20 fl oz, rather than 16 fl oz as in the US, 2 cups does not equal 1 pint. Finally, the English cup is 300ml/10fl oz, whereas the Australian cup is 250ml/8fl oz.
The following link will explain the differences and may help anyone in Australia with any recipe that may have been handed down from generation to generation, but remains in imperial units, or with a recipe sourced from a US or English cookbook.
www.ozevillage.com.au/gs/tips/gs.asp?topic=conversion

 

I've added the information in this thread to the OCAU.Wiki.

http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Cooking_Terms,_Tips_and_Measurements

Feel free to edit/update as need, that's what the Wiki is for!