Monday, January 5, 2009

Techniques Every Cook Should Know!

I love to cook! I am constantly trying to improve my cooking skills and do all I can to learn more skills so that I can dominate in the kitchen! An article entitled " 10 Techniques Every Cook Should Know" caught my eye. Do I know all the techniques? Can I master them? I had to find out!

After reading through the article, I found that there is one skill that I am an expert in! FOLDING! (Eggs...not clothes!) This skill was number 4 out of the 10 skills discussed in the article-and since Egg Whites are my life-I pretty much have to know how to work with them.



As per Amanda's article, here are the ins and outs of folding:

"Folding is used in souffles, cake batters or any recipe that calls for combining two ingredients of different densities. Usually, whipped egg whites or whipped cream is incorporated into a heavier batter or custard to lighten the batter. In the case of egg whites, the air that has been incorporated into the whipped whites acts as leavening to help cakes or souffles rise.

With the heavier batter in a bowl, gently deposit about a quarter of the egg whites or whipped cream on top of the batter. Using a rubber spatula, gently reach down through the whites and batter to the bottom of the bowl and lift the some of the batter up along the edge of the bowl and over the whites in the center. It's all about the twist of the wrist.

With each folding motion, turn the bowl slightly. Continue this motion until there are no traces of egg white left. Starting with a quarter of the whites or cream will lighten the batter enough so that when you add the remaining egg whites or cream all at once, you can easily fold using the same technique.

Be careful to combine the two ingredients quickly but gently, so as not to deflate the air bubbles."

Awesome advice! Check out her other tips as well if YOU want to become an expert in the kitchen!

1 comment:

sbfitgirl said...

these are great tips! keep them up, I am printing them and adding them to my cookbook!