Cooking Terms


Bake To cook in an oven or oven-type appliance in a covered or uncovered container.
Barbecue To roast slowly on a spit or rack, usually basting with a highly seasoned sauce. Also, foods cooked in or served with barbecue sauce.
Baste To pour melted fat, drippings, or other liquid over food to moisten it during cooking.
Boil To cook in water or other liquid at boiling temperature (212° F. at sea level). Bubbles rise continually and break on the surface.
Braise To cook meat or poultry slowly in steam from meat juices or added liquid trapped and held in a covered pan. Meat may be browned in a small amount of fat before braising.
Broil To cook uncovered on a rack placed directly under heat or over an open fire.
Pan broil.—To cook in uncovered pan over direct heat, pouring fat off as it accumulates.
Caramelize To heat sugar or food containing sugar until a brown color and characteristic flavor develop.
Fold To combine two mixtures (or two ingredients such as beaten egg white and sugar) by gently cutting down through mixture, turning over, and repeating until well mixed.
Fry To cook in fat without water, uncovered.
Pan-fry or saute.—To cook in frypan in a small amount of fat.
Deep-fry or french-fry.—To cook in a deep kettle, in enough fat to cover or float food.
Grill Same as broil.
Knead To press, stretch, and fold dough or other mixture to make it elastic or smooth. Bread dough becomes elastic; fondant becomes smooth and satiny.
Marinate To let foods stand in a liquid (usually mixture of oil with vinegar or lemon juice) to add flavor or to make more tender.
Parboil To boil until partly cooked.
Poach To simmer gently in liquid so food retains its shape.
Pot-roast To cook large cuts of meat by braising.
Reconstitute To restore concentrated food—such as frozen orange juice or dry milk—to its original state, usually by adding water.
Rehydrate To soak or cook dried foods to restore the water lost in drying.
Roast To cook in heated air—usually in an oven—without water, uncovered.
Simmer To cook in liquid just below the boiling point, at temperatures of 185° to 210° F. Bubbles form slowly and break below the surface.
Steam To cook food in steam, with or without pressure. Food is steamed in a covered container on a rack or in a perforated pan over boiling water.
Stew To cook in liquid, just below the boiling point.