How to Saute
The word "sauté" means "to jump" in French. In order to save time, chefs flip the food in the pan making it look like it's jumping. Traditionally a sauté pan is flat-bottomed and shallow. Sautéing requires high temperature, so be sure to use caution with butter or oil. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Saute pan
- Cooking tongs
- Cooking oil and/or butter
- Meat
- Seasonings such as garlic, mushrooms or shallots
Instructions
-
-
1
Prepare your food for cooking. Trim fat from the meat, and cut in it into uniformly-sized pieces. Rinse the meat, and pat it dry before dredging it in seasoning.
-
2
Choose the proper size sauté pan. Preheat the pan over medium-high to high heat. Add the cooking medium. Butter burns quickly but gives a better flavor. You can cook with a mixture of oil and butter. The butter is ready when it stops foaming and begins to a pale brown color.
-
-
3
Place the side of the meat you intend to present as the top in the sauté pan first. It benefits the most from the instant searing of the hot oil or butter.
-
4
Shake the pan slightly when all the meat is in it. That can prevent the meat from sticking to the pan.
-
5
Watch for burning or smoking butter. You want to turn the heat down at some point. Practice makes perfect at this point.
-
6
Brown the meat on one side quickly, and then flip it over. This quick cooking process sears in the meat's juices. It is important that you not pierce the meat with a fork. Let the flavor escape into the pan.
-
7
Add any seasonings or vegetables such as garlic, shallots or mushrooms. Let them sauté briefly.
-
8
Remove the meat and seasonings to a plate for serving. At this point, you can make a glaze with the pan drippings or make gravy.
-
1
More Like This
Comments
-
This is incredibly vague when it comes to timing. And it also sounds more like a sear than a sauté.
-
bblakeney
May 25, 2010
That's not what Sautéing is. What you're describing is searing. You can't simply "let something sauté," you have to actively make the food jump. Obviously, you can let it cook evenly, but you are generally actively tossing the food to avoid overcooking.
