MODERNIST

CUISINE

Techniques and Equipment

MOD ERN IST

CUIS INE
The Art and Science of Cooking

Nathan Myhrvo ld
with Chris Young
and Maxime Bilet

Photograph y by

Ryan Matthevv Smith

and Nathan Myhrvold

Copyright 2011 by The Cooking Lab, LLC

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of
this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission

of the publisher. All trademarks used are property of their respective owners.
The Cooking Lab
3150 139th Ave SE
Bellevue, WA 98005
[Link]

ISBN: 978-0-9827610-0-7
First edition, 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request
Printed in China

Modernist Cuisine
The Art and Science of Cooking

Volume 2

Techniqu es
and Equiprr1e nt

The Cooking Lab

FOREWORD BY FERRAN ADRIA

FOREWORD BY HESTON BLUMENTHAL
OUR CULINARY JOURNEYS

viii
ix

VOLUME I:
HISTORY AND FUNDAMENTALS
CHAPTER 1: HISTORY

Origins of Cooking ...................................................... 6

Evolution and Revolution ......................................... 14
The Seeds of Modernism .......................................... 33
The Modernist Revolution ....................................... 52
The Story of this Book.. ............................................ 83
About the Recipes ..................................................... 93

CHAPTER 2: MICROBIOLOGY FOR COOKS

Microbes as Germs ..................................................
Foodborne Illness ....................................................
Parasitic Worms .......................................................
Protists .....................................................................
Bacteria ....................................................................
Bacterial Growth .....................................................
Bacterial Death ........................................................
Viruses ......................................................................
Prions ......................................................................

102
106
110
120
126
130
142
148
152
156

CHAPTER 3: FOOD SAFETY

The Complex Origins of Food Safety Rules ..........
Common Misconceptions ......................................
Understanding the FDA Rule Book .......................
Simplifying Food Safety with Science ...................
Hygiene ....................................................................

162
166
174
182
190
196

CHAPTER 4: FOOD AND HEALTH

208

Dietary Systems ...................................................... 214

Medical Dietary Systems ........................................ 222
Nonmedical Dietary Systems ................................. 240
Modernist Ingredients ............................................ 250

CHAPTER 5: HEAT AND ENERGY

260

The Nature of Heat and Temperature .................... 264

Energy, Power, and Efficiency ................................ 272
Heat in Motion ........................................................ 277

CHAPTER 6: THE PHYSICS OF FOOD AND WATER

Water is Strange Stuff.. ............................................ 296
The Energy of Changing States .............................. 300
Freezing and Melting .............................................. 304
Vaporization and Condensation ............................. 314
Sublimation and Deposition ................................... 326
Water as a Solvent .................................................... 330
Water Quality and Purity ........................................ 335

Page references of the form 4381 refer to volume 4, page 381

292

VOLUME2:
TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT
CHAPTER 7: TRADITIONAL COOKING

Grilling ........................................................................ . 7
Broiling .... .......................... ........................................ 18
Roasting ..................................................................... 28
Panfrying a Ia Plancha ..... ...... .................................... 37
Sauteing .............. ....... ................................................. 44
Stir-Frying .................................................................. 48
Covered Sauteing ... ... ................................................. 58
Boiling ............................. ........................ ................... 63
Steaming ..................................................................... 70
Canning ...................................................................... 75
Pot-Roasting and Stewing ......................................... 93
Baking ............ .... ...................... .................. ............... 101
Cooking in Oil ............................................. ..... ....... 115
Smoking ................................................................... 132

CHAPTER 8: COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

150

Cooking with Moist Air ... ....................................... 154

Cooking with Microwaves ...................................... 182

CHAPTER 9: COOKING SOUS VIDE

192

Why Sous Vide? ............................ ........................... 198

Packaging Food for So us Vide ....... ........................ . 208
Sous Vide Equipment .............................................. 228
Strategies for Cooking So us Vide ........................... 242
Strategies for Chilling and Reheating .............. ...... 252
Blanching and Searing for Sous Vide ..................... 267

CHAPTER 10: THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

280

Extracting Flavors ................................................... 288

Infusing Essences .................................................... 318
Juicing ................ ...................................................... 332
Filtering ......................................................... ........... 351
Concentrate! ........ .................................................... 3 79
Cutting 'Em Down to Size .................................... .. 398
Drying ...................................................................... 428
Cryogenic Freezing and Carbonating ....... .. ........... 456

VOLUME3:
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
CHAPTER 11: MEAT AND SEAFOOD
How Muscle Works ..................................................... 6
Converting Muscle into Meat.. ................................. 32
Cutting ....................................................................... 44
Cooking Meat and Seafood ....................................... 70
Cooking Skin and Innards ...................................... 116
Salting and Drying .................................................. 152
Marinating ............................................................... 190
Smoking ................................................................... 208
Restructuring ........................................................... 220

CHAPTER 12: PLANT FOODS

258

Plants as Food .......................................................... 262

Cooking So us Vide .................................................. 286
Pressure-Cooking .................................................... 298
Microwaving ........ .................................................... 310
Frying ................... ............. ........ ............................... 314
Preserving ................................................................ 344
Modifying Textures .................. ............ ............ .. ..... 374

VOLUME4:
IN GREDIENTS AND PREPARATIONS
2

CHAPTER 13: THICKENERS

How Thickening Works ............................................
Strategies for Thickening ..........................................
Starches ............. .. ... .... ....... .. .......................................
Hydrocolloids ... .. .......................................................

12
14
20
38

CHAPTER 14: GELS

64

How Gelling Works ................................................... 70

Egg Gels ............................................... ...................... 74
Dairy and Tofu Gels ................................................ 102
Gelling with Hydrocolloids .................................... 124
Fluid Gels ................................................................. 176
Spherification ..... ... ............. ... .......... ....... .... .... .. ...... . 184

CHAPTER 15: EMULSIONS

196

How Emulsification Works ................. .................... 200

Methods of Emulsifying .... ..................................... 206
Modernist Emulsions .............................................. 214

CHAPTER 16: FOAMS

240

How Foams Work .................................................... 244

Forming Foams ....... ................................. ................ 252

CHAPTER 17: WINE

316

What Makes a Great Wine ...................................... 322

Tasting Wine .................................... .. ...................... 334

CHAPTER 18: COFFEE

354

From Cherry to Bean ................ ............................. . 358

Brewing ..... .... ... .. ... ... .. ........................................... .. . 364
Espresso ................................................................... 3 72
The Art of Milk and Coffee .................................... 391
Achieving Consistency......... ......... ........................ .. 396

VOLUME 5: PLATED-DISH RECIPES

ABOUT THE RECIPES

CHAPTER 19: TENDER CUTS

Beef Ri b Steak
Mushroo m Swiss Burger
Aut umn Harvest Pork Roast

Rack of La mb w ith Ga rl ic
Blan quette de Veau
Choucro ute Royale

viii

CHAPTER 20: TOUGH CUTS

40

Braised Short Ribs

Pot-au-Feu
Hungarian Beef Goulash

Ossa Buco Milanese

American BBQ
Cassoulet Toulousain (Autumn and Spring)
Historic Lamb Curries

Sunday Pork Belly

CHAPTER 21: POULTRY

106

Foie Gras aIa Vapeur

Crispy Hay-Smoked Chicken
Duck Apicius
Pigeon en Salmis
Guinea Hen Tajine

CHAPTER 22: FISH

140

Fish and Chips

Hamachi Maltaise
Monkfish with Mediterranean Flavors

Skate in Black Butter

Salmon Rus

Malaysian Steamed Snapper

Black Cod "Fredy Girardet"
Hawaiian Poke

CHAPTER 23: SHELLFISH

178

Shrimp Cocktail
Lobster Amfricaine

Thai Crab Miang

Pulpo a Ia Gallega
Shellfish Omakase
Oyster Stew

CHAPTER 24: EGGS

208

The Breakfast Egg

Mushroom Omelet
Oeufs en Meurette

CHAPTER 25: STARCHES

222

Cocoa Tajarin

Spaghetti aile Vongole

Russian Pelmeni
Paella Valenciana

Astronaut Ramen

Shanghai Soup Dumplings

CHAPTER 26: FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

258

Onion Tart

Lentil Salad
Sweet Pea Fricassee

Strawberry Gazpacho
Crispy Cauliflower

Watermelon Bulgogi

PHOTOGRAPHS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

GLOSSARIES OF CULINARY AND TECHNICAL TERMS
SOURCES OF EQUIPMENT AND INGREDIENTS. REFERENCE TABLES
THE MODERNIST CUISINE TEAM, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, INDEX

IV

v
XXX
XLVI

7
TRADIT IONAL COOKIN G
Cooking is as old as humanity itself-it may
even have shaped our anatomy. Our large brains,
small mouths, dull teeth, and narrow pelvises can
all be traced to Homo sapiens's taming of fire as a
tool to convert raw food to cooked. When we bake
a loaf of bread, roast a leg oflamb, or even flip a
burger on the grill, we're invoking time-honored
techniques passed down not only from generation
to generation but from the dawn of the species.
These traditional methods of cooking have become
as familiar and comfortable as our own kitchens.

What's more, many of the cooking techniques

that we think of as traditional have evolved
considerably in recent history. The braising and
pot-roasting of the 17th century are extinct today;
contemporary braising is actually stewing, but no
one recognizes the difference in taste because we
lack a point of comparison. Smoking has been
transformed from a technique for preserving food
into a technique for flavoring food . Oil is not
essential for making a transcendent confit.
All of these techniques are worth a closer look

So it may come as a surprise to learn how

traditional cooking techniques actually work-

because a deeper understanding of the scientific

principles involved in each empowers you to

and don't work. The practices are enshrined in

centuries of folk wisdom that, quite frankly, isn't

perfect them. If you know how the masters control

the heat of a saute or a wok by keeping food

always accurate. Baking, for example, wasn't

originally about getting things hot; it was about

constantly in motion, you're that much closer to

achieving their results. Knowing the science of

drying things out. Raising the height of a grill

won't significantly lower the heat that's irradiating

traditional cooking can save money and effort,

too. You' ll learn, among other things, that fancy

your food. Deep-frying is more closely related to

baking than it is to panfrying. And although it's
true that steam is hotter than boiling water,
boiling water often cooks food faster than steam.
Skeptical? Read on. We can prove it.

copper pans can't compensate for a bum burner. In

these and many other examples, we've found that
it's worth reconsidering some of our most cherished notions about the cooking traditions we
thought we knew.

Pit steaming, still used in traditional imu cooking in Hawaii (far

left), is an archaic form of cooking that combines elements of
several traditional techniques-including baking, steaming, and
roasting-to achieve a unique result (left). A peek inside a pot
roast in progress (opening photo) reveals the many ways in which
even the simplest cooking methods transfer heat to food. For more
details, see The Lost Art of Pot-Roasting, page 94.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

GRILLIN G
Older than humanity itself, grilling was the
cooking technique that set our primate ancestors

why, you need to know how a chimney works. Fire

is the engine that drives air up a chimney. The

on the evolutionary path to becoming civilized

humans. The ability to conquer and control fire

flames and hot coals heat the surrounding air,

cau$ing it to expand and become more buoyant.

distingu\shed Homo erectus from other animals

The heated air floats to the top of the chimney like

a stream ofbubbles rising through water. Stoke the

and allowed the most basic level of culinary

refinement. Little wonder, then, that our craving
for the flavor of food charred over an open flame is

fire, and the hot air flows faster; choke the fire, and
the flow of hot air slows. The flow of air is called

practically universal.

the draft, and it's directly related to the intensity

Our ancestors must have fast discovered that

cooking over towering flames is for the less
evolved and that grilling is best done over the
glowing coals of a dying fire. No doubt they also
soon discovered that building a fire and waiting
for it to burn down is time-consuming. With the
invention of charcoal some 30,000 years ago,
primitive man learned to circumvent this step.
Charcoal has many advantages: it burns cleaner
and hotter than wood, it burns more evenly and
longer than wood, and it can be made from
materials other than wood-a useful attribute
when firewood is scarce. For early humans, its
usefulness extended beyond cooking. The slow,
steady burn provided intense heat for the smelting
and working of metals, and the spent coals became

of the heat from a fire.

Just as the draft is controlled by the fire, the fire
can also be controlled by the draft. To burn, fire
needs oxygen; indeed, it consumes oxygen much
more quickly than it does coal. The draft pulls
oxygen into the fire: as hot, oxygen-poor air rushes
up and away, cooler, oxygen-rich air flows in to
replace it. Increase the draft, and you will thus
make the fire burn faster and hotter; dampening
the draft slows the fire and cools it.
Watch a master griller stoke a fire, and you'll see
him rake coals around or perhaps adjust a vent
under the grill. Rarely will you see him add more
coals. Instead, he's making the fire hotter by
increasing the amount of draft. Slowing the draft,

drawing tools for the cave art that marked the

in contrast, starves the fire of oxygen; reduce the

draft too much, and the fire will smolder.

beginnings of pictographic knowledge. Indeed,

the virtues of charcoal are so numerous that it is

If you can control the draft, you can exert

masterful control over the heat of a charcoal

no exaggeration to say that if cooking with fire was

the technology that made us human, charcoal was

grill-once you can get the hang of the lag in

response. Hot coals cool slowly, so you must adjust

the technology that gave us civilization.

Charcoal also gives the cook greater control

the draft well before you want the temperature to

drop. Experience builds an intuition for this,

over heat than open flames allow. To understand

which some have called the art of the grill.

Direct grilling can produce heat so intense that the skin of a

pepper chars before the interior is fully cooked. Only by understanding the counterintuitive ways in which radiant heat works can
you master the art of the grill.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

Charcoal vs. Gas: Lies, Damn

Lies, and BTUs

flux for a gas grill is straightforward: simply divide

Charcoal grills may be traditional, but gas grills

the maximum power rating given by the manufac-

offer such convenience that they have become

turer by the area of the grill.

But that's okay because calculating the peak heat

Charcoal grills are not so easy to analyze.

vastly more popular. Gas grill manufacturers love

To compare one grill with another,
calculate the heat flux of each one.
First, take the grill power (in BTU/ h
or watts), then divide it by the grill
area (in in 2 or cm 2 ) to obtain the
heat flux . For example:
100,000 BTU/ h
+1,000 in 2
=100 BTU/ h in'

to quote the British thermal unit (BTU) power

Coaxing maximum power from a charcoal grill

ratings for their grills. A single number reduces

takes experience and skill. Hence charcoal grill

the complexities of comparison shopping to

manufacturers don't bother to provide power

"bigger is better."
Here's the problem: the BTU is not a unit of
power. It's a unit of energy, like the calorie and the

ratings, which vary with the talent of the person

manning the fire. But even without the numbers
to quantify power precisely, experienced grill

joule. Marketers erroneously use the BTU as lazy

cooks know that gas grills simply wilt by compari-

shorthand for the unit of power that they actually

son with charcoal grills. But why?

The surprising answer is that charcoal fires

mean, the BTU/ h (or its metric counterpart, the

29,300W
+6,500cm 2
=4.5W/ cm 2

watt), which measures the amount of energy

deliver more heat to the grill because they burn

delivered over time.

cooler and dirtier than gas flames do. Confusing,

With this confusion cleared up, the question is,

Heat flux, of course, tells you
nothing about important realworld factors such as the hot and
cold spots of a grill. For more on
the evenness of grills, see The
Sweet Spot of a Grill, page 14.

perhaps, but true.

To understand how this works, think about how

do BTU ratings matter? The unequivocal answer is

no. BTU ratings do not matter. What does matter

the cooking heat arrives at the food. Yes, hot air

is the intensity of the power: how much power is

rushes past the grill-this is the chimney effect

delivered to each square inch (or square centime-

described on the previous page. But hot air

ter) of grill surface. This is the heat flux from a

convection is not what sears your steak. Most of

grill, and it is what does the searing and cooking.

the energy in that rising air is wasted as it flies by

Quoting the peak performance of a grill in

without ever making contact with the food.

BTU/ h in 2 (or W/ cm 2) allows you to compare

Rather, it is intense radiant heat that quickly

one grill with another. Manufacturers apparently

browns the meat. Charcoal grills simply radiate

see no advantage in advertising these numbers.

more heat than do gas grills of comparable size.

Beneath a very light coating of ash, this

hardwood charcoal is radiating heat with
incandescent intensity. Although the
temperature of the glowing charcoal is
significantly cooler than that of burning
gas, it radiates heat with an intensity
much greater than can be mustered by all
but a few exotic catalytic gas grills. That's
why charcoal has an unrivaled ability to
quickly sear food on a grill.

10

VO LUM E 2 TE CHN I QUES AND EQU I PM ENT

7
Once the flames and smoke of initial combus-

tance of radiant heat, and they know that clean-

tion burn off the charcoal, they leave behind

red-hot coals made from nothing more than

burning gas doesn't produce much of it. They

overcome this difficulty by converting some of the

carbon and ash. Note that the coals do not burn,

exactly: they glow. Supplied with ample oxygen,

hot gases of combustion into radiant heat by

placing lava rocks, ceramic plates, or metal bars

the carbon in charcoal chemically reacts with the

oxygen to form carbon dioxide, which reacts in

above the flames. As these surfaces heat up, they

emit radiant heat, but much less of it than glowing

turn with the charcoal to form carbon monoxide.

These chemical rearrangements release lots of
heat, which raises the temperature of the charcoal.
The higher temperature then speeds the chemical
reactions, forming yet more carbon monoxide and
releasing yet more heat. Eventually, the coals reach
temperatures near 1,100 c I 2,000 F-hot
enough that they glow with the visible orange
luminance of blackbody radiation.
Propane and natural gas burn at a much hotter
temperature, around 1,900 c I 3,500 F. The

charcoal does. Think about it: when was the last

time you saw lava rocks on a gas grill glowing with
the same brightness as charcoal embers?
As the hot gases travel from the flame to the
radiating surface, they mix with cooler surrounding air. That mixing makes it difficult to raise the
temperature of the radiant emitters in a gas grill to
much higher than about 800 c I 1,500 F-a

in effective temperature, and it has a disproportionate effect on radiant heating power.

So although a gas grill at full tilt may produce

glowing coals, however. Gas burns cleanly in

flames that visibly emit only an ethereal blue light.

5 Wl cm 2 (110 BTUi h. in 2 ) of radiant heat, a

little energy.
Gas grill manufacturers understand the impor-

Rays, page 1284.

good 300 c I 500 F below the radiant temperature of glowing charcoal. That is a large difference

main chemical reaction involved in their combustion is fundamentally different from that in

Although the temperature inside those dim blue

flames is quite high, they actually radiate very

For more on blackbody radiation, see Heat

charcoal grill can easily deliver more than twice this

heat flux, or about 11 Wl cm 2 (250 BTUi h in 2 ). The

The amount of heat rad iated by the

heating elements in a grill increases
proportional to the fourth power
of the temperature (see page
1284), so the hotter the element,
the higher the heat flux.

awesome radiance of glowing coals is what gives

charcoal grills their unrivaled ability to sear in a
flash.

Clean-burning gas produces very little

radiant heat directly. Gas grill manufacturers overcome this limitation by placing
ceramic plates, lava rocks, or metal
searing bars between the burner and the
grill. The hot gases of combustion heat
these objects until they emit a searing
radiant heat that does the grilling. These
hot surfaces also provide a place for
drippings to fall and burn, thus contributing much of the flavor unique to grilling.

TRADIT I ONAL COOKING

11

THE CHEMISTRY OF

Where There's Smoke, There's Flavor

Two distinct groups swear by charcoal grills: briquette
devotees and those who favor hardwood charcoal. Advocates of the pillow-shaped lumps of charcoal cite their ease
of use and consistent, steady heat. Grilling purists, on the
other hand, point out that honest-to-goodness blackened
chunks of hardwood burn hotter, faster, and cleaner. These
are all fair points.
Some evangelists for hardwood fuels also claim that charcoal made from hickory, mesquite, or other fragrant-burning
woods imparts flavor that is the secret to grilling nirvana. They
scoff at briquettes and claim that the only flavor they impart is
the taste of lighter fluid. But science tells us that this can be
nothing more than zealotry. Once the flames of ignition have
died and the coals are glowing hot, neither briquettes nor
hardwood charcoals have any flavor left to impart. Any aromatic compounds the fuel once harbored were vaporized and
destroyed long before the food was laid on the grill.
The composition of the charcoal does affect its ash content.
Briquettes contain more incombustible minerals and thus

leave behind a lot of ash . The blanket of ash insulates the

embers somewhat but also diffuses their heat, so they burn
cooler but also slow and steady. Hardwood charcoal leaves
less ash, so it burns hotter but usually faster and less
predictably.
Neither of these effects matters to the flavor, however.
Carbon is carbon; as it burns, it imparts no flavor of its own to
the food being grilled .
The real secret to the flavor of grilled food is not the fuel but
the drippings. Dribbles of juice laden with natural sugars,
proteins, and oils fall onto the hot coals and burst into smoke
and flame . By catalyzing myriad chemical reactions, the
intense heat forges these charred juices into molecules that
convey the aromas of grilling food. These new molecules
literally go up in smoke, coating the food with the unmistakable flavor of grilled food .
The real debate among the faithful, then, shouldn't be
about which charcoal is best. It should be about whether
charcoal is necessary at all.

A setup that can quickly raise the grill is

the best way to handle flare-ups Dodging
the flames works better than dousing
them with a spritz of water from a spray
bottle. However, raising the grill doesn't
reduce the intensity of the radiant heat. To
make an appreciable difference in the
intensity of the heat, you must raise the
grill surprisingly high above the coals. This
is explained in The Sweet Spot of a Grill,
on page 14.

12

VO LU ME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQ UI PM ENT

The Sweet Spot of a Grill

Direct grilling happens fast, and a fire that gets
ahead of you all but guarantees burnt food. The
great challenge of grilling is thus controlling the

For more on the physics of radiant heat. see

chapter 5 on Heat and Energy. page 1260.

The light-like behavior of radiant heat has

intensity of the heat experienced by each part of

surprising consequences for grilling. It means that

the food. To do this on a gas grill, you twist knobs

on the burner controls. On a charcoal grill, you

there is no truth to the common claim that you

can slow the cooking by raising the food a little

adjust the flue to enliven or suffocate the embers,

higher above the coals. It also means that black is a

and you also time the cooking so an appropriately

terrible color for a grill and that the ubiquitous

thick blanket of ash covers the coals and tempers

kettle shape is among the worst possible. Once you

the intensity of their radiant heat. On every kind

of grill, you must turn the food at appropriate
moments to even out the cooking.

have intuition for the behavior of radiant heat,

you'll want a cooker that has a large bed of coals,

Those are the basics for which most grillers have

straight sides, and a shiny interior.

To understand why, imagine replacing the bed

some intuition. But to truly master grilling

of coals in your charcoal grill (or the radiating

requires a new perspective. We mean this quite

elements in a gas grill) with a flat, fluorescent light

literally-if you want to understand why some

panel of the same size and with the light shining

grills cook faster than others, why grill size

upward. Now imagine that you are a steak (or, if

you prefer, a pepper) lying face down on the grill

matters, and how to find that sweet spot on your

grill where the food cooks best, you must look at
grilling from the food's point of view.
Remember that most of the heat produced by a
grill hits the food in radiant form as rays oflight.
The light is primarily in the infrared part of the
spectrum and thus invisible, but a hand held above

1 em I l/2 in above the lamp. Looking down, you

see light flooding up at you from every direction.
Unless the cooker is tiny, you can no more see the
edge of the lamp than a person looking down at
his feet can perceive the horizon.

the coals perceives it well enough. Like visible light

Let's say the cook raises the grill to 10 em I 4 in

above the lamp. Now what do you see below you?

rays, infrared heat rays travel outward from their

source in every direction, following straight paths

The view at this height is almost precisely the same

as before. Assuming the lamp has a modest width

until they are absorbed by a dark surface or reflected by something shiny. Unlike the hot bits of

of at least 56 em I 22 in, it occupies nearly your

entire field of vision even at this distance.

matter that transmit heat by convection or conduction, rays of heat do not flow around obstacles.

Ablack, hibachi-style grill cooks unevenly

near the side walls because the dark cast
iron absorbs the radiant heat of the coals.
Lining the sides with reflective aluminum
foil causes radiant heat from the coals to
bounce upward and heat the food near the
edges of the grill more evenly.

14

Beams of heat thus cast shadows of coolness, just

as beams of light cast ordinary shadows.

VOlUME 2 TECHNIQUES AN D EQUIPM ENT

So it is for radiant heat as well. What matters to

the food is how much of its view is filled by glowing

Getting a big sweet spot with the

ubiquitous kettle grill is hopeless. Even
lining the sides with aluminum foil won't
help because the reflecting angles are all
wrong. The only solution is to use a ring of
metal to create vertical reflecting sides.

coals or hot burner elements. That perspective

size of the grill and the height of the food above

changes slowly with distance. As a result, the

the glowing coals or burner elements-are hardly

intensity of heat that the food receives from the

surprising. Think again about looking down from

coals does not fall in any meaningful way until the

the grill at a fluorescent lamp in the bottom of the

food is at a much farther distance from the heat

cooker. The bigger the lamp and the closer you are

source than any commercial grill can attain.

to it, the farther off center you can move before the

Every grill has a critical distance from the coals;

food at that distance or closer experiences the full

light ceases to dominate your field of view.

A third, equally crucial factor is much less

intensity of the grill's heat. The critical distance is

widely appreciated: it is how well the sides of the

equal to 18.5% of the width of the grill if its sides

grill reflect the heat rays. Just as restaurant owners

do not reflect heat. For grills with reflective sides,

sometimes install a large mirror on one wall to

the critical distance is 37% of the width.

make a small dining room appear twice its actual

As the SO% line on the graph on page 16

illustrates, to knock the heat down by half on a
grill that is 1.2 m

I 4ft wide, you must raise the

size, a reflective surface on the side of a grill can

make the burner surface or bed of coals appear (to
the food) much bigger than it really is. Indeed, if

food to a height equal to more than one-half the

all sides of the grill reflect infrared heat rays, the

grill width-a whopping 66 em I 26 in above the

food is effectively in a hall of mirrors that makes

coals! For a grill this size, food at a height of23 em

the heat source appear to extend infinitely.

I 9 in experiences, for all practical purposes, heat

Reflective sides can extend the sweet spot to

just as intense as it would if the food were sitting

cover about 90% of the extent of the grill, which

right next to the coals.

makes it much easier to get even cooking across the

The inescapable conclusion is that using dis-

entire grill surface. So it is unfortunate that many

tance to slow the cooking really only works in

grills are painted black on the inside and are thus

rotisseries or when using spit-roasting techniques,

almost completely nonreflective. The good news is

such as the Argentinean asado, that keep the food

that you can easily and dramatically improve the

far from the fire.

performance of a mediocre black grill for a few

Point of view also determines how consistent

Another easy way to knock down

the heat coming off a bed of coals is
to cover the grill with aluminum
foil, then put the food on the foil.
The shiny surface will reflect the
radiant heat back down, preventing the food from scorching. It also
helps prevent drippings from
flaring up. On the other hand, it
blocks the flavor that flare-ups
provide.

dollars. Just install a simple reflector: a vertical wall

the heat is from the center of the grill to its edges.

at the edges of the grill made from shiny polished

The extent of this horizontal sweet spot and how

metal. Aluminum foil works reasonably well. Keep

rapidly the heat collapses at its edges depends on

it clean, and enjoy cooking in your newly enlarged

three major factors. The first two variables- the

sweet spot!

TRADITIONAL COOKING

15

BROILING
The original broiler was just an iron disc with a

ing and crisping food on the plate just before

long handle. Known as a salamander (a reference

serving. And flare-ups from fat- and sugar-laden

to this amphibian's mythical connection with

drippings are much less of a problem under a

flames), it was stuck into the heart of a fire until it

broiler than they are over the grill. The downside

glowed. The cook then held the red-hot iron near

is that broilers don't give food the chargrilled

the surface of the food to sear it. Today, the term

flavors that waft up from burning drippings.

salamander has become synonymous with the

Despite these advantages, broiling can be

specialized broiler that provides a way to grill

frustrating. Uneven browning is one common

upside-down. Although modern broilers are more

complaint. Another is the tendency for foods to go

complex in construction, they are no different in

from underdone to burned in the briefest moment

function from the primitive iron salamander.

Broilers, like grills, cook food with radiant heat.

of inattention. As with grilling, these problems

result because radiant heat behaves in fundamen-

But a broiler places the heat source above the

tally different ways than conductive and convec-

food-an arrangement that sometimes offers a

tive heat do. You are cooking food with invisible

great advantage. Broilers can easily brown the

(infrared) light, and it is hard to develop an

surface of foods that would be difficult, if not

intuition for a process so far removed from

impossible, to brown over a grill or on a range. The

tangible experience.

broiler offers a convenient tool for quickly brown-

18

VO LU M E 2 TEC HNI QUES AND EQUIPMEN T

Some rules of thumb can help. Every broiler,

like every grill, has a sweet spot-or perhaps we

these will bounce the heat rays back toward the

should call it a sweet zone. Place the food above or

below this zone, and it will cook unevenly. The

food, effectively making the heating element look

(to the food) much larger than it actually is. If

intensity of the heat is also at its maximum in the

sweet zone. There is no point in raising the food

reflectors are not an option, set the food in a

baking dish lined with reflective foil.

any closer to the heating elements because moving

the food higher won't make it any hotter; it will

cook that his gratin burned under the broiler the

simply make the cooking more uneven.

You can find the height of the sweet zone in

Finally, it's not the imagination of the hapless

second he looked away. Shiny or light-colored
surfaces, like fish skin or a bechamel glaze on a

your own oven with a bit of trial and error or by

applying some simple math (see Grilling from the

gratin, tend to reflect and scatter most of the

Top Down, page 22).

absorb only a small fraction of the radiant energy,

so they heat slowly. Conversely, dark surfaces heat

Another important detail to keep in mind is

that if your broiler is open on the sides, the heating

incoming infrared radiation. That means they

quickly because they scatter less radiation and

will diminish appreciably toward the edges. So

thus absorb most of the incoming energy.

don't let the food get too close to the perimeter. If

The tricky part, of course, is that many foods

change from light to dark as they cook. Think of a
marshmallow toasting over a campfire and how

you want to make a broiler cook evenly near the

edges, install shiny vertical reflectors on the sides;

For more on the phenomena that cause heat

intensity to be strongest in the sweet zone, see
Grilling, page 7.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

19

quickly it can go from white to brown to flaming.

large amount of radiant heat. This approach works,

A broiler can similarly burn food that moments

but it is very inefficient. Most of the burned gas

earlier hadn't even started to toast. Cooking goes

needlessly heats air rather than raising the temper-

slowly at first because most of the incoming

ature of the diffusing plate. These broilers thus

energy bounces off the surface, which heats

produce less radiant heat than an electric broiler

gradually. Then, as browning reactions begin, the

can with the same amount of energy.

Catalysis offers a far more efficient way to

darkening surface rapidly soaks up more and more

of the heat rays. The increase in temperature

generate radiant heat with gas. Although catalytic

accelerates dramatically. If you aren't watching,

broilers are still somewhat exotic and so more

the food will go from golden brown to charred

expensive than other broilers, they are beginning

black before you know it.

to appear in professional kitchens and some

high-end consumer ovens. Catalytic broilers don't
actually burn gas. Instead, they push gas through a

How Broilers Work

porous ceramic plate that is either impregnated

If you stay alert, though, you can avoid such

pitfalls and use broiling to great advantage,

with a metal catalyst or covered by a mesh of

particularly if you have good equipment. The

the catalyst, it oxidizes to generate heat, water

features that make for a high-quality unit depend

vapor, and carbon dioxide. This reaction happens

catalytic metal. When the gas mixes with air near

on whether the broiler generates its radiant heat

inside the pores of the ceramic plate or right on its

with electricity or with gas.

surface. The plate readily absorbs the heat, then

Nearly all gas broilers work a lot like the ances-

radiates this energy onto the food below.

tral salamander. They spread flames across a

It may seem counterintuitive, but the ceramic

diffusing plate, which is often made of steel.

plate never actually gets hot enough to ignite the

Eventually the plate becomes hot enough to emit a

gas. In other words, catalytic gas broilers are

Three Kinds of Broilers

The electric broiler (top) is ubiquitous and
reliable. Browning food evenly under one
can be tricky, however. Home ovens fitted
with electric broilers have an additional
deficiency: to avoid overheating the oven,
they cycle on and off every few minutes,
which can be annoying.

A newer design for the electric broiler has

improved the evenness of the radiant heat
by dispensing with the glowing rods
altogether. Instead the newest electric
broilers embed a large number of small
electric coils in a ceramic plate. These
coils quickly heat the plate, which in turn
emits radiant heat evenly. This approach
mimics the operation of traditional gas
broilers (middle), in which flames from a
burner heat a conductive surface that then
radiates heat fairly evenly.

A catalytic gas broiler (bottom) avoids

burning the gas at all. Instead, it forces
gas through a ceramic plate covered by a
catalytic mesh. The gas reacts but never
combusts, and it efficiently generates a
large amount of heat. which the glowing
ceramic plate then radiates evenly.

20

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

flameless. The heating element hits a maximum

through it. With reasonable energy efficiency

temperature around 540 c I 1,000 F. This might

(although nowhere near that of catalytic broilers),

not seem hot enough to broil effectively, but it still

electric broilers can heat quickly and reliably to

works well enough for browning food. Catalytic

temperatures as high as 2,200 c

broi lers are also very energy efficient-they

Maximum settings are typically restricted to

convert about 80% of the chemical energy in the

1,200 c I 2,200 p in order to extend the life of

gas to in frared light. And because the ceramic

the heating element and avoid charring food.

plates are large and heat uniformly, these broilers

I 4,000 p,

Unfortunately, the typical electric broiler

radiate heat more evenly than conventional

delivers its heat unevenly to most of the oven.

broilers do.

Food placed too close to the heating elements

Electric broilers are more affordable and more

develops hot spots directly underneath the rods

common, however. They use bars or rods made

from an alloy of nickel and chromium called

and cool spots between them. That phenomenon

nichrome, which heats when electricity passes

just over a hot grill, it feels the heat much more

A catalyst is a material that acts like

a matchmaker: it helps two
chemicals (such as methane and
oxygen) react faster than they
otherwise would, and, after the
reaction, it is freed to perform
more matches. Catalytic broilers
typically use a metal such as
platinum as the catalyst.

is intuitive enough: if you place your right hand

T RADIT I ONAL COOKING

21

intensely than your left hand hanging a few inches

and hold out your hands, the heat on your face

farther away.

and hands feels about the same-the relatively

Surprisingly, however, the opposite problem

small difference in distance doesn't matter. But

occurs when food is too far from the element:

the top of the oven reflects heat rays from the

cold spots appear directly below the rods, and the

upper half of the glowing metal. Food between

hot spots fall in between the rods! What has

the rods receives both direct and reflected radia-

changed is that the distance to the element no

tion, whereas food directly beneath the rods

longer causes heat intensity to vary much from

cannot "see" the reflections in the top of the oven

side to side, but reflections do.

If you stand across the room from a fireplace

(see illustration below) . Odd as it seems, the food

there is shadowed by the heating element itself!

To use an electric broiler effectively, you thus

must find its sweet zone. A simple approach is to
use this rule of thumb: the center of the sweet
zone, where the heat is most even, is about S mm I
0.2 in below the heating element plus just a bit less
than half (44%) of the distance between the
heating rods. If the rods are 10 em I 4 in apart, for
example, the sweet zone is centered 4.9 em I 1'l"s in
below the heating element.

If you want to make a broiler cook

more evenly, then installing some
shiny vertical reflectors near the
edges will help a lot. Another good
way to ensure that food browns
evenly under a broiler is to wrap
the dish with a reflective foil collar.

0 minutes
(raw)

50 C/ 122 F
0

ROASTI NG
Just about everyone everywhere loves a great

feast for a few-or a whole hog to feed a large

gathering of friends, there are really only two
significant decisions to make: how far from the fire

roast. The problem is that just about no one

anywhere actually roasts food. Roasting has been
nearly hyphenated out of existence, yielding to the

should the cooking be done? And how quickly

should the roast rotate?

pressures of economy and convenience to become

pan-roasted or oven-roasted. These are admittedly

Judging the right spot to roast from is tricky. A

lot depends on the fire-is it a roaring outdoor

more enticing adjectives than shallow-fried or

oven-baked-both of which are important
cooking techniques-but strictly speaking,

bonfire or just an old-fashioned steady fire in a

home hearth? If it's an indoor fire, then how well
does the fireplace reflect radiant heat? The shape,
depth, and wall material of the hearth all affect its

neither actually roasts food.

To skillfully judge the best distance

for roasti ng takes experience, but
some guidance can be found in
recipes from the 17th- and 18thcentury royal courts of Europe. Spit
jacks for large roasts were typically
set up two to three feet in front of a
great hearth. Only whe n the roast
was fully cooked was it moved to
within inches of the fi re to brown.

True roasting cooks with radiant heat at a

deliberately slow pace. When roasting, the food is

ability to reflect heat.

held farther from the embers and flames of a fire

than it is during grilling. The greater distance from
the heat lowers the intensity of the radiation and

The size of the food matters, too. Bigger roasts

should be cooked farther from the fire and smaller
ones closer, for two reasons. First, the time it takes
for heat to penetrate to the center of a piece of

thus the speed of cooking. But the extra distance

also solves the dilemma of how to evenly cook
large portions of meat and whole birds or other
animals. Often the food rotates slowly but steadily

food varies in proportion to the square of the

food 's thickness. So, all else being equal, a turkey
that is 25 em I 10 in across will take four times as
long to roast as will a hen that is half that width.

as it roasts, so the heat varies, unlike the static heat

that occurs during baking. The constant turning
helps manage the pace at which heat accumulates
in the food and assures even, consistent cooking.

As luck and physics have it, the intensity of heat

from a blazing fire varies by the inverse square of
the food's distance from the fire (with the proviso

A skilled roaster is able to balance the heat

received with the heat absorbed. The trick, in

that the food must be several feet away from the

fire for this relation to hold). That means that if the

other words, is to adjust the intensity of heat

reaching the surface of the food so it matches the

turkey is twice as far from the fire as the hen, the

fire will deposit one-fourth as much heat on the

rate at which heat diffuses into the interior. Put

surface of the larger bird as it will on the hen. If

you keep these relations in mind, you' ll find it
easier to judge that perfect distance for roasting,

the food too close to the fire or turn it too slowly,

and heat will build up on the surface. That imbalance inevitably leads to a charred exterior and a

where the speed of surface heating and the speed

raw center. Place food too far from the heat, and

of heat penetration are balanced. Unfortunately,

myriad other factors determine the ideal condi-

the opposite kind of imbalance occurs, so cooking

takes much longer than it needs to.

tions for roasting, so this is more principle than

formula. Experience helps a lot.

Whether roasting the canonical chicken-a

A lobster is an unconventional choice for the spit but in fact is

ideally suited for roasting. The dark shell efficiently absorbs the
intense radiant heat of the fire, quickly steaming the delicate flesh
beneath the exoskeleton. The conventional approach of boiling the
crustacean is easier but dilutes the natural sweetness of the flesh.

28

VO LUME 2 TE CHNI QUE S AN D EQUIP ME NT

The second reason to cook bigger roasts

farther from the fire is to ensure that the rays of
heat fall evenly on the surface of the roast. The
analogous situation in grilling is to position the

the size of the sweet spot is sufficiently large. This

approach extends the cooking time, but the roast

food so it all falls within the sweet spot-that

will cook evenly.

cooking zone where the intensity of the heat

If the food is now so far from the fire that the

surface doesn't brown, move the roast close to the

varies by less than 10% from one edge to the

other (see page 14).
The width of the sweet spot for a fire of any size

Heat varies as the inverse square of

the distance from the radiant
so urce only w hen roasting is done
relatively far from the fire. As
described in Grilling, page 7, and
Broiling, page 18, this relation does
not hold for those cooking techniques.

is shown graphically on page 16. The sweet spot is

broad when the food is very close to the fire. Then
it narrows in extent at awkward middling distanc-

fire after it has cooked. Historically, this is exactly

how the royal roast masters did things in Europe.
They began cooking enormous beast-sized roasts
far from a blazing fire, and then browned the meat

es before broadening again farther from the fire.

close to the fire just before serving. Today, such

skill is rare, but it can still be found in remote

The absolute numbers depend on the size of the

fire, of course. But where the sweet spot is narrow-

quick, convenient cooking.

corners of the world unencumbered by a need for

est, it might be large enough to fit only a single

chicken. A beef rib roast would cook unevenly at
this medium distance because too much of the
roast extends beyond the zone of even heating.

To Turn or Not To Turn?

Move the meat away from the fire just a little,

Roasting is often most effectively done on a spit.

The spit may be horizontal or vertical; it may

however, and it will then cook evenly.

pierce the food, or the food may be tied onto the

A tradeoff sometimes exists between the

evenness of roasting and the speed. Where the

spit. But in all cases the spit makes it easy to evenly

turn a roast in front of a fire. Spit-roasting, also

food will roast fastest without burning often

called rotisserie, is so closely linked to roasting

happens to be right where the sweet spot is

that it's often thought to be an essential feature,

narrowest. This coincidence is just unfortunate

dumb luck. What to do?

and sometimes it is. But other times it isn't.

One option is to build a bigger fire. A large

enough conflagration will accommodate a roast of

Lamb roasted asado-style is a favorite

traditional meal of the gauchos who herd
cattle and sheep across the Patagonian
grasslands in South America. Asado is one
of the few examples of true slow cooking
done by radiant heat.

32

any size. A more pragmatic approach is to be

patient. Move the roast away from the fire until

VOlUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Authentic Chinese Pekin duck is roasted

without turning. The duck is hung from a stationary hook inside an oven that is fired to tempera-

7
tures more akin to those in a potter's kiln than to
those in domestic or even professional ovens. At a
temperature near 450 c

I 840 p, the brick walls

and iron door of this specially-constructed oven

emit an intense radiant heat that roasts the duck
simultaneously from all sides.
The only Western ovens that work in a similar

Fixed roast

way are wood-fired pizza ovens; these roast

rather than bake pizzas (see page 26) . There are
differences, of course, in the products of these
ovens. Pizza, unlike duck, is flat and cooks
quickly from both sides. And a great Peking
Duck experience is all about the crispy lacquered
skin rather than the flesh below, which too often
is gray and overcooked.
To achieve both crispy skin and juicy flesh
when roasting a Pekin duck, you have to forego
the traditional oven and spin the food in front of a
fire instead. The rotation effectively lowers the
cooking temperature, but in a way different from
simply lowering oven temperature or pulling the
duck farther from the fire. Those actions lower
both the peak and the average intensities. Turning a roast lowers the average intensity, but the

Spit roast
(rotisserie)
2rpm

peak heat remains high.

Alternating between heating and cooling is the
secret to cooking a sublime roast. During each
rotation, a given portion of the roast spends only a
fraction of the time basking in a fire's glow; the
remaining time is spent resting in the shadows,
where it cools slowly. Some of the heat it absorbs
while facing the fire convects and radiates away,
and some of the heat slowly diffuses into the meat.
These two competing processes balance out
such that the average heat flowing just below the
surface of the roast is only a fraction of the peak

Oven-baked

heat at the surface. If everything is judged just

right, the interior of a roast ends up, over a dizzying number of rotations, gently cooked to a
shallow gradient of doneness from just below the
surface all the way to the center, while the surface
itself gets cooked to a crisp, deep-brown finish.

Cooler

We used a computer model to simulate how heat flows within an idealized roast as it cooks
when fixed facing a fire (top), on a rotating spit (center), or baked in an oven (bottom). The
differences are startling. Radiant heat shines on only the fireward face of the fixed roast;
the rest is shadowed from the heat.

Hotter

Turning the rotisserie spit gives equal cooking time-and cooling time-to all sides of the
food. Oscillating between cooking and cooling moderates the flow of heat through the
interior of the roast. cooking it very evenly while still searing the surface for a flavorful
crust. In contrast. baking cooks all sides simultaneously (by convection rather than
radiation), overcooking more of the meat than spit-roasting does.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

33

7
PANFRYING A LA PLANCHA
The daily existence of a short-order cook revolves

The intense heat of the plancha will quickly

around a never-ending battle for speed, very often

waged in front of a griddle. Waves of orders come

polymerize oils and juices into a sticky film, which

makes a mess and all but guarantees the food will

rolling in: eggs sunny side up, with bacon and a

stick. So it is important to regularly scrape away

any grease or charred bits left behind on a hot
griddle. Indeed, this need for constant scraping is
the reason that nonstick coatings aren't applied to

side of hash browns; cheeseburgers and grilled

cheese sandwiches; pancakes and patty melts. The
list is as long as the menu, and everything competes for space on the griddle. Speed is everything.
A moment of hesitation or carelessness, and the

commercial griddles. The coatings wouldn't

survive the abuse.
Foods that are a bit too large to be cooked

cook will quickly be " in the shit."

But in the hands of a seasoned pro, a griddlealso known as a plancha-is unmatched for speed

quickly by the conductive heat of a griddle can be

tamed with a simple trick: squirt a bit of water

and versatility. If a food can be panfried, then

usually it can be cooked on a griddle, too-and
with fewer dirty pans to boot. You cannot change

around the food on the griddle, then promptly

cover it with a lid. The puddle of boiling water
under the lid surrounds the food with steam,

the temperature of a griddle on a whim, however,

the way you can with a pan. So griddle cooking is

accelerating cooking.

more or less limited to one speed: fast!

The plancha pro starts with food that is flat and

steak, need to be moved to an oven to finish

cooking slowly. Alternatively, we can precook
them and then finish them off with a quick sear on

thin enough to cook quickly. For even cooking

and no sticking, spread a thin layer of oil across
the griddle to fill in the gaps between the food and
the hot metal. Some fatty foods, like bacon, will
render this oily coating on their own. Fluid foods
such as pancake batter or raw egg flow across a
griddle so smoothly that no oil is necessary.

Foods too large or thick for this trick, such as

the plancha. Both of these approaches slow things

down a bit and increase the complexity of finishing a dish. Consequently, short order-style restaurants usually avoid putting these kinds of dishes
on their menus in the first place. In a battle, you do
what you can to win.

A panfried egg on its way to perfection.

Does it matter what kind of pan it's in? No!
(See page 41.)

TRADITIONAL COOKING

37

Day-to-day changes in the humidity

of the kitchen are bigger than most
people think-and they can wreak
havoc on tried-and-true frying
times. On a relatively dry day,
resting food will cool more than
you might expect because evaporation accelerates. The core temperature thus doesn't increase as much.
Conversely, on a very humid day,
evaporation slows and sucks less
heat out of the resting food, and the
final interior temperature ends up
hotter than you might expect.
The solution is to tightly cover
resting food with foi l so that the
humidity is consistently high-and
predictable. For more detai ls on
how humidity affects cooking, see
It's Not the Heat, It's the Humidity,
page102.

Flip Food Frequently

experienced cooks know to pull food from the

Whether cooking a Ia plancha or in a frying pan,

griddle just before it's perfectly done. They then

people usually cook food on one side and then,

allow time for the residual heat to sink in, a

about halfway through, flip it over to finish

process called resting. But how do you know

cooking it from the other side. The assumption is

exactly when to remove the food? Predicting how

that this will cook the food more evenly from edge

much the core temperature will rise during resting

to edge. But is it the best approach?

is difficult. Usually, cooks build up an intuition for

No! A single flip cooks the food neither fastest

the timing during years of trial and error.

nor most evenly. It just takes less thought. Food

Fortunately, there is an alternative approach

flipped twice will cook with greater uniformity;

that, although more laborious, is more likely to

flip it four times for more even cooking still; and

succeed for most cooks: frequent flipping. The

so on. Surprisingly, the more you flip, the faster

more often you flip the food, the less time it

the food cooks, too. Food science writer Harold

spends against the griddle, and the less time the

McGee discovered these flipping effects, and we

heat has to build up below the surface of the food.

have verified them (see next page).

The result is that the overcooked layer is mini-

Uneven cooking happens whenever there is a

mized, and more of the center is done just right.

gradient between the surface temperature of the

In essence, constant flipping reduces the size of

food and the temperature at its core. The bigger

the swings that the surface temperature takes as

the difference between these temperatures, the

the food surface alternates between cooking and

more uneven the cooking is. When food is cooked

cooling. It also lowers the average temperature of

in a pan or on a griddle at 300 c / 572 p, the

the surface, which means that, edge to edge, the

layers just below the surface of the food quickly

food ends up more evenly cooked.

reach the boiling point of water, even as the core

This effect shouldn't be too surprising. Most of

remains much cooler. The temperature of the food

us intuitively understand that rotating a roast on a

surface rises the boiling point and stays there until

spit helps cook the roast more evenly. Flipping

the food dehydrates and browns. If you cook it for

food back and forth creates pulses of heat that

too long, the dry crust eventually burns.

produce very much the same result-both a

golden crust and an evenly cooked interior.

Typically, the cook flips the food over before

that can happen. Unfortunately, by that time,
much of the food beneath the surface has been

A pan loses heat constantly through

radiation. This effect can be large

for pans with dark surfaces, such as
black cast iron, and is much smaller
for shiny pans.

Repeated flipping also speeds the cooking a bit

because, in much the same way that it minimizes

overcooked. Yet the core of the food is still under-

how much excessive heat builds up on the cooking

cooked. That's why you have to continue cooking

side, it also reduces the amount of cooling that

the other side for nearly as long again.

While the flipped food cooks on its back side,

occurs on the resting side. Flip too frequently,

however, and you'll get diminishing returns.

the just-cooked surface temperature starts to cool

How often, then, should you flip? There is no

down. Three mechanisms are at work simultane-

single optimum, but somewhere in the range of

ously. First, some of the built-up heat at and near

once every 15-30 seconds seems reasonable.

the surface diffuses through conduction toward

the center of the food. Second, the hot water at the

Give it a try, and you'll discover the advantage

of this unorthodox approach. Because the surface

surface evaporates as steam. Finally, some of the

and core temperatures of the food never get very

built-up surface heat slowly convects away into the

far apart, the interior temperature rises just a few

relatively cooler air of the kitchen. The total effect

degrees during resting. It thus becomes easier to

is to cool the cooked surface and heat the core.

estimate when to stop cooking, and timing things

Because the heat doesn't brake to an immediate

just right becomes less critical.

stop but keeps on rolling toward the center,

38

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUES AND EQ UI PM ENT

7
Flipping for Speed and Evenness
When a steak 2.5 em I 1 in thick is flipped over halfway through
cooking (top graph below), the temperature just beneath the surface
of the food (red) rises rapidly and plateaus at the boiling point of
water. As cooking progresses, the temperature a few millimeters
further below the surface (orange) rises to about 80 c I 175 F, and a
significant fraction of the steak overcooks. As the core temperature
(yellow) nears 40 c I 104 F, the steak is re moved from the heat and
rested until the core temperature climbs to 50 c I 122 F.

100

By comparison, a steak flipped back and forth every 15 seconds (bottom graph) cooks faster and more evenly. The temperature a few
millimeters beneath the surface peaks nearly 10 c I 18 F lower than
that in a steak flipped only once, and less of the steak overcooks
(bottom photo). The temperature at the core doesn 't waver at all,
and it rises faster than it does in the steak flipped once. You can thus
stop cooking sooner- when the core temperature reaches 32 c I
90 F-and resting is complete minutes sooner, too.

212

Temperature just

below the surface

90

194

Temperature
2.5mm /~ in

below the surface

80

176

70

158

E
60
!:

140

OJ

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50

122

Target temperature

!:
2
~

OJ

a.
E
OJ

OJ

f-

40

104

30

86

20

68

f-

Flipped once

Steak is flipp ed over

10

~==~~~::~====~~==~o:n:ce~a:ft:er~5~m=i~nL-____-l____
Steak is flipped every 15 s

_ J_ _ _ _ _ _

Jj50

_ _ _ _ _ L_ _ _ _

A steak flipped

100

212

frequently during
cooking ca n be
removed from

194

the heat about

4 min ea rli er...

90

80

... than a steak

flipped just o nce.
It cooks more
evenly{see

70

... and its ce nte r

176

will be do ne
abo ut 3 min

158

picture at right), ...

E 60

140

!:
~

122

OJ
a. 50
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~

OJ

a.

E
OJ

OJ

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40

104

30

86

20

68

10

50

f-

Flipped every 15 seconds

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

Cooking time (s)

TRADITIONAL COOKING

39

What's in a Griddle?

annoying hot and cold spots quickly appear,

A griddle might seem to be nothing more than a

making the griddle unpredictable and prone to

flat, heated plate of metal. That it is, of course. But

burn food. To address this problem, larger grid-

look beneath the surface. How a griddle is heated

dles offer separate zones that are heated somewhat

has an enormous impact on how it performs.

independently. These griddles are usually also

Electric griddles tend to run a little hotter than

those powered by gas, and it's easier to design
them to heat evenly. Gas burners offer more raw

made of thicker metal that stores enough heat to

hold temperatures more constant.
But one company has developed a different and

power and so tend to be better at maintaining

particularly interesting solution to this problem: it

their temperature during heavy use. Both electric

heats its griddle with water. AccuTemp builds a

and gas griddles, however, have trouble handling

sealed, stainless-steel box that contains water and

large amounts of cold food placed on the griddle at

regularly spaced electric rods similar to those in

once. The griddle responds by firing up the heat

an electric broiler. The rods heat the water to a

beneath the entire surface, not just warming the

temperature of roughly 200 c I 400 f-well

cooler spots below the food . As a consequence,

above the usual boiling point. Because the water is

7
sealed inside a strong pressure chamber, however,
it never boils. Instead, as pressure builds, high-

Skimp on the Pan, but Choose

Your Burner Wisely

temperature steam fills the space above the

superheated water.
It's the steam-not a gas flame or an electric
element-that directly heats the surface of the

Expensive, gleaming copper pans are coveted by

many people, even those who never cook. Hanging in a kitchen like trophies, they are gorgeous to

griddle. Because the steam remains at a consistent

temperature, the surface of the griddle does, too.

look at. But do they really perform better than

much cheaper aluminum or steel pans? Well, that

Even better, when cold food hits the griddle, the

depends on what you mean by "better."

Will a copper frying pan heat fast? Yes.

steam responds by condensing against only the

cooled parts of the metal plate. The condensation
releases a tremendous amount oflatent heat (see

burner? Yes.
Will it diffuse heat evenly across its surface?

page 1-314) just at that particular spot, rapidly

restoring the griddle to an even temperature. It's a
clever approach.

Will it respond quickly when you adjust the

Maybe; maybe not.

There is a lot oflore and pseudoscience surrounding what makes one piece of cookware

better than another, but a rigorous analysis of the

mathematics of heat transfer and material proper-

conduction and convection ultimately limits how

hot a pan can get, as well as how even that heat is.

ties leads to some simple rules of thumb-and a

few surprising conclusions.

It's easy to understand why most people believe

that pans made from copper and other metals that

Let's start with the basics. All of the heat

flowing upward from beneath a pan must go

are good heat conductors will be highly responsive

somewhere. At first, most of it goes to raising the

temperature of the pan. As that occurs, conduc-

evenly. We're not saying high thermal conductivity doesn't matter at all. But it guarantees neither

tion spreads the heat throughout the pan, from hot

evenness nor thermal responsiveness. The thick-

spots to cool spots.

ness of the metal matters as much as or even more

than the metal itself. Indeed, just how much it

You might think that eventually the temperature across the bottom of the pan would even out,
but it doesn't. No pan can ever be heated to perfect

to burner temperature changes and will cook

matters might surprise you.

evenness. That's because, while conduction is

The thicker a pan is, the bigger the conduit it

offers for conduction to quickly move heat from one

distributing heat throughout the pan, convection

is carrying heat into the air above the pan.

spot to another before convection at the surface can

carry it away. Think of it as a freeway congested

As temperatures rise, conduction slows, where-

with traffic. If you want to get more cars (or heat)

as convection accelerates. Eventually the pan loses

from A to B, raising the speed limit (or conductivi-

heat through convection faster than heat can

ty) a little will help. But adding a couple more lanes

spread across the pan. This competition between

(a thicker base) will make a much bigger difference.

Thick aluminium pan

over a small burner
Pan center

Thick aluminium pan

\:"'a Ia <go b"'""

6 em I 2'/sin burner

14 em I S'h in burner

Thin copper pan

over a small burner

:hin copper pan

~~overa

. lar
. ge burner........................... ........................... ................. . ..,

When it comes to even heating, the thickness of a pan matters more than the material from
which a pan is made, and the size of the burner matters most of all. On a small burner, an

both outperform stainless steel-even if the steel pan is 70 mm I 2'!. in thick (right). A large
burner produces even heat in all three kinds of pans, whether thick or thin, although the heat

aluminum pan (top) performs just as well as a thin copper one (second from bottom), and

is not quite as even in a steel pan as in one made from copper or aluminum.

42

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

7
So as a pan gets thicker, it also distributes heat

'II in plate of inexpensive aluminum to the bottom

more efficiently, which results in a more uniform

of the thinnest, cheapest stainless steel pan pro-

temperature across the surface. This isn't surpris-

duces a pan with nearly the same performance as

ing. Most of us have noticed that thick, sturdy

that of the copper pan (see illustrations below).

pans have fewer hot and cold spots. But this

Now imagine that these same pans were heated

evenness comes at a price: the extra mass of metal

instead by a small domestic gas burner only 6 em I

makes a thicker pan less agile. It is slower to react

2V2 in. in diameter. Even copper isn't conductive

than a thinner pan when the burner is turned up

enough,to spread the heat evenly to the far edges

of the pan. Any pan made from any material of any

high or down low.

How thick is thick enough, then? The answer
does depend on the conductivity of the metal. Take
a typical copper pan, 25 em I lOin wide and

thickness will cook unevenly if the burner underneath it is too small.

What's the take-home message here? Whether

2.5 mm I /s in thick, heated by a gas burner 14 em

the heat comes from the flames of a gas burner, the

I 5V2 in. in diameter. The temperature across the

radiant glow of an electric coil or halogen element,

bottom will vary by no more than 22 c I 40 f. But

or the oscillating magnetic field of an induction

if the pan were made of stainless steel, then it

heater, the most important factor for ensuring that

would need to be more than 70 mm I 23,4 in thick

a pan heats evenly is burner size. With a properly

to perform similarly-and never mind that the

sized burner-ideally about as wide as the pan

weight of such a pan would make it impossible to

itself-any pan, even a cheap and thin one, can be

lift! Fortunately, bonding a lightweight, 7 mm I

heated evenly.

Very thick steel pan

over a small burner

70 mm/ 2'!. in

Very thick steel pan

over a large burner

TRADITIONA L COOKING

43

SAUTEING
To an experienced cook, nothing seems simpler
than a quick saute. Yet it is surprisingly difficult to
do it well, especially amid the rush and impatience
that too often prevail in professional kitchens. In
such circumstance, a return to fundamentals can
be helpful.
The overriding goal is to cook the food quickly.
Cooking speed depends mainly on how fast you
deliver heat to the surface of the food and how
long it then takes the heat to flow all the way to the
center of the pieces. Because heat almost always
moves more slowly inside the food than at its
surface, one rule of thumb is that smaller pieces
are better. If you skip the small amount of extra
effort needed to cut food into small pieces of
uniform size, you are all but guaranteed a raw
center, a charred surface, or both.
Oil is the second key to a great saute. Use too
little fat or oil, and you're risking undercooked
food with burned bits. The reason is evident if you
look closely at how food pieces rest in a pan. Even
with relatively flat ingredients such as sliced
mushrooms, only selected points on the edges and
sides of the mushrooms touch the pan directly. Air
gaps insulate most of the food from the hot
surface. A generous layer of oil fills these gaps and
conducts heat far more quickly from the pan to the
food than air does.
Most cooks jerk the pan while sauteing to
expose every face of the food pieces to the hot film
of oil (see Flipping Good Flavor, page 46). Adding
enough oil to match the amount and absorbency
of the food you're sauteing is crucial. Otherwise,
thin spots will develop in the film midway through
the saute, the food will start cooking unevenly,
and some pieces may even stick to the pan. To
avoid this problem, especially with meats, seafood, and other ingredients that tend to stick, mix
oil with the cut-up pieces before beginning the
saute.

44

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQU I PMENT

Not long into the cooking process, the food

starts to release juices-mostly water. Water is the
enemy of the perfect saute. If the pan is overcrowded or the burner is too weak, the watery
juices will accumulate and quickly depress the
temperature to at most 100 c I 212 F. Food will
not brown at such a low temperature, and the
mouth-watering aromas from the Maillard
reaction will not develop. Sauteing under such wet
conditions really devolves into boiling or, worse
yet, into stewing!
Allow plenty of free space in the pan, and use a
burner with plenty of power. Most of the water
released by the food will then evaporate in a flash
as steam. Some of the water vapor will even
condense back onto the surface of the food,
releasing latent heat and improving heat transfer.
As the surface of the food dehydrates, its temperature increases, browning begins, and enticing
aromas rise from the pan.
If you listen carefully, the sounds coming from
the pan tell you a lot about whether you're doing
a good job. The saute should start with a loud
sizzle. That hiss is the sound of water rapidly
boiling and escaping as steam. The sizzle also
signals that you have good heat conduction
between the pan and the food. If you don't hear
anything, you have a problem: it means you're
not cooking quickly enough. Perhaps the pan was
too cold when you added the food, the pool of oil
is too thin, the burner is too weak, or the pan is
too crowded with food.
If all is going well, the sizzle is loud at first and
gradually quiets as the surface of the food dries
out. When that happens, pay attention to the
aromas coming from the pan; they should be
enticing. When the saute starts to smell great,
keep a close eye on it: the food will go from
pleasantly brown to burned black with a mere
moment's inattention.

STIR-FRYING

For more on of the physics of boiling, steam,

and condensation, see chapter 6 on The Physics
of Food and Water, page 1292.

For nearly 2,000 years, the wok has been the

principal instrument of cooking in China. Originally cast as a thin, round shell of iron, the Cantonese-style wok is today more commonly forged
from carbon steel, which is less brittle. Whether
stamped into shape from the single blow of a
machine or painstakingly hammered into shape
by hand, a good wok is judged mainly by the
quality of its patina. On both cast iron and forged
carbon steel, the patina provides a protective
barrier that inhibits rust from forming and food
from sticking.
Traditionally, a wok is set over a very hot woodor coal-fired stove, a practice still common in rural
China. In the commercial kitchens of Beijing,
Shanghai, and Hong Kong-or, for that matter,
New York, London, Sydney, and everywhere else
in the world that Chinese and Chinese-influenced
cooking has taken hold-powerful gas-fired wok
burners heat woks to temperatures more familiar
to blacksmiths than to cooks.
Why such extreme cooking temperatures? It's
all about achieving wok hei (pronounced "hay"),
the almost indescribable flavor that is the defining
quality of great wok cooking. Intense Maillard
reactions on food surfaces combine with the
partial breakdown of cooking oil at extremely high
temperatures to produce this potent melange of
flavor compounds. The chemistry only works,
however, if the burner has enough power to bring
the surface of the wok to peak temperatures well
above the boiling point of water.
Driving off the water (as steam) takes a tremendous amount of energy. Most of the foods we
stir-fry release prodigious amounts of water as
they begin to cook. The water quenches the heat of
the wok, lowering the temperature to the boiling
point until it has evaporated away. An underpowered burner will allow the juices to build up in the
pan, and the food will stew rather than stir-fry.

The resulting collection of aromas and tastes

bears little resemblance to wok hei. This is the
reason that domestic burners-or even Westernstyle professional burners-cannot reproduce the
flavor of a true wok stir-fry. It's not the wok: it's
the heat source.
Wok cooking involves intensely hot metal,
searing oil, piping-hot steam, and shimmering
waves of hot, dry air. Needless to say, this is a
complex cooking environment. For simplicity's
sake, let's divide it into three distinct cooking
zones, which we'll call conduction, condensation,
and convection (see Taming the Breath of a Wok,
page SO).
In the conduction zone, on the surface of the
wok, food cooks by direct contact with the
oil-coated metal. This zone is by far the hottest of
the three. Just above the surface of the wok lies
the condensation zone, where the constant
tossing action of the stir-fry keeps food cooking
in a layer of steam. You can see wisps of fog in this
zone as the steam condenses both in the air and
also on the relatively cooler food, depositing
significant amounts of energy as it changes back
from vapor to liquid.
Well above the pan is the convection zone, a
region of hot but dry air. Because air conducts
heat poorly when it is devoid of water vapor, food
cooks more slowly in this region. By lifting the
food up off the wok and into the air, you can
regulate the amount of time the food spends in
each of the three heating zones. The true skill of
the wok cook is thus a balancing act that manages
the intense heat and speed of stir-fry cooking by
keeping all of the ingredients in constant motion.
The results can be delicious, but also a little
dangerous: at these temperatures, most of the
ingredients can become flammable, and a moment's hesitation could end in disaster and very
possibly bodily harm!

Wok cooking is a balancing act in more ways than one. To achieve

the authentic flavor of stir-fried dishes such as Pad Thai, one must
master the intimidating heat of the wok with dexterity and
unwavering focus.

48

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

THE TECHNOLOGY OF

Power to Burn
Running at full tilt, a wok burner can deliver up to 59,000 W
(200,000 BTU/ h) ofthermal power. A burner oft his capacity roars with a sound more akin to that of a jet engine than a
stove top. By comparison, Western-style professional gas
burners deliver 4,400-8,800 W (15,000- 30,000 BTU/ h),
and domestic gas burners burn with a comparatively anemic 1,750-4,100 W (6,000-14,000 BTU/ h). High-powered

wok burners are capable of raising the temperature of

a wok to almost 1,200 oc I 2,200 F, a temperature well
beyond that encountered in Western-style cooking. Heat
this high softens steel rapidly and causes the wok to warp
with use. In a busy professional kitchen, a wok may need to
be reforged into shape every few days and replaced every
few weeks!

The awesome power of wok burners can quickly get out of hand.

52

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

The Basic Techniques:

Bao and Chao

Meat and seafood cooked in a wok

is often coated with a cornstarch
ge l before cooking, a process
known as "velveting" that is
discussed in chapter14 on Gels,
page464.

In China, wok cooking involves two fundamental

techniques, known as bao and chao. The bao
technique is the true stir-fry. The wok must be hot
enough that it glows a dull red color. Only then
does the cook add oil (usually a generous amount),
seasonings, and meats, in very rapid succession.
There is no room for hesitation; oil combusts, and
food burns, almost instantly at temperatures this
high. Water in the food evaporates in a flash into
steam, so juices do not leach out, accumulate in the
bottom of the wok, and "stew" the food, as can
happen in sauteing. Food browns very rapidly in
wok cooking, and the rapid browning generates
more of the flavorful compounds that result from
Maillard reactions, more of the partially combusted cooking oil, and thus more of the characteristic
wok hei flavors.
An expert at bao cooking keeps control by
continually tossing the food in a circular motion,
stopping for at most a few seconds to add vegetables or broth. With each rhythmic beat, the cook
gathers the food together and flings it into the
steam-filled air above the wok, which is cool in
comparison with the metal glowing incandescently below.
Using food cut to the right size is crucial to
success with the bao technique because the

The patina of a wok-as well as the

generous use of cooking oil-provide the
nonstick qualities that make the bao
technique possible.

54

VO LUME 2 TEC HNIQUES AND EQUIPMEN T

temperature gradients are so steep. Pieces must be

small enough to cook all the way through before
the outside of the food burns. Small pieces are also
easier to gather and flip. Wok cooks using the bao
technique exploit the curved shape of the wok by
tilting it on the burner so that less of the wok is
heated. The food comes into direct contact only
with the cooler metal on the far side of the wok.
The chao technique is more akin to the Western
technique of the covered saute, which is described
on page 58 . To cook using the chao approach, heat
the wok to a moderate temperature (not as hot as
in the bao technique), then add cooking oil. Dry
ingredients, typically garlic and ginger, come
next. Meats, if called for, are then added and
quickly seared. Vegetables and any liquids go into
the wok last.
Usually you cover the wok to let the liquids
finish cooking the other ingredients by a combination of boiling and steaming. Because the chao
technique does not require the staggeringly
intense heat used in bao cooking, it is a good
approach when using a burner of modest power. It
is also an easier technique to master, whereas bao
cooking demands the speed and agility that come
only with years of practice and a healthy fear of
the fire's bite.

COVERED SAUTEING
In the previous section on Stir-frying, we discussed the Eastern chao technique for cooking
large or very wet foods. The counterpart to this
technique in Western cooking is often called a
covered saute. The technique works well for
ingredients so big that the intense heat of an
uncovered saute pan would scorch their surface
before the interior cooks through.
There is more to a covered saute than simply
putting a lid on the pan. Often you first sear the
food in a generous amount of hot oil. This approach works best for meats and seafood whose
surface can be quickly seared before a torrent of
juices floods the pan. Wait for the food to finish
searing and for juices to begin accumulating
before covering the pan with a tight-fitting lid.
The simple addition of a lid changes the cooking process in surprisingly complex ways. Highheat sauteing is transformed into a gentler, lowertemperature combination of boiling and steaming.
The boiling juices lower the temperature at the
surface of the pan to 100 C / 212 F, thus preventing the food from scorching (but also preventing it from browning). Nevertheless, it is still
important to give the covered pan periodic jerks
that move the food around and keep it cooking
evenly. When cooking very dry food s, add water
or some other flavorful liquid to moderate the
heat and finish the cooking.
Many varieties of vegetables are nearly impossible to sear because their juices leak out so fast. In
such cases, there's much less benefit from quickly
searing the surface anyway. Unlike protein-rich

foods like meat and seafood, vegetables tend to

lack the chemical components that make the
Maillard reaction work. Vegetables do contain
plenty of natural sugars that will caramelize, but it
doesn't matter whether this process happens at the
beginning or the end of cooking.
We thus often apply a variation to the covered
saute, called glazing, to many plant foods. As far as
we know, glazing is a uniquely Western cooking
technique. You usually begin by adding the food
to a cold, rather deep pan along with some butter
or other fat. You then cover the pan tightly and put
it over moderate heat. The butter soon melts and
covers the bottom of the pan, aiding efficient
conduction of heat from the pan to the food.
Unless the ingredients are very dry, add no
water (beyond the trivial amount in the butter)
because that would dilute the juices sweating out
of the warming vegetables. As the juices begin to
boil and steam, the vegetables cook in their own
essence. Again, be sure to jerk the pan every so
often to mix the food and even out the cooking.
Traditionally, the fin al step is to make a sauce
from the drippings. Once the vegetables have
cooked nearly through, remove the lid, strain out
the vegetables, and allow the juices to boil down
and concentrate the natural sugars they contain.
The turbulence of the boil emulsifies juices with
the butterfat or oil to form a rich, sweet glaze that
can be used to coat the vegetables. Although
glazed vegetables, being more caloric, are more
fattening to eat than are steamed or boiled
veggies, the glazed variety are certainly tastier.

Fernand Point. the father of modern French cuisine, famously said

"Beurre, beurre, donnez-moi du beurre, toujours de beurre!"
For glazing vegetables, we can only agree: butter, give us butter,
always butter!

58

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

7
BOILING
Although somewhat ill-defined as a culinary
term, a I'Anglaise translates loosely as "cooked in
the English manner." Francophiles tend to fling
the term as a barb to suggest the manner in which
they believe the English would cook something:
boiled to death, insipid, and with no sauce.
Ridiculed though it may be, boiling is a classic
method for cooking food quickly.
The very simplicity of boiling a pot of water
makes it a useful cooking strategy for many foods,
especially vegetables. Take the classic French dish
haricot vert aI'Anglaise, a.k.a. boiled green beans.
The instant the beans plunge into boiling, salted
water, their color changes from dark green to a
bright, intense, and quite appetizing spring green.
Cooks typically describe this effect as "fixing" the
color, but fixing the color doesn't make vegetables
any less raw (see page 66). Delicate vegetables such
as green beans may be pleasantly crunchy and still
raw after a quick blanching, whereas larger vegetables need to boil a bit longer in order to soften their
tissue while still leaving just enough firmness for a
toothsome bite.
Cookbooks often insist that when boiling food
you should never let the pot of water come off the
boil. To the scientifically minded, that advice
might seem dubious at first glance. How could
blanching in water a degree or two cooler than the
boiling point possibly make a difference? After all,
heat transfer is proportional to the difference in
temperature between the food and the heat
source, so a couple of degrees shouldn't make
much of a difference-yet experience shows that it
clearly does.
Boiling water may be only slight hotter than
near-boiling water, but it is far more turbulent.

Because boiling water moves chaotically, it

conducts heat into the surface of the food two to
three times as fast as stagnant water a few degrees
cooler does. If that seems counterintuitive, think
about what you do when you get into a really hot
bath. You try to stay as still as possible because
stirring the water makes it unbearably hot. The
overall temperature of the water is nearly the same
in either case, but flowing water feels much hotter
because it hasn't had time to cool off against your
skin. The greater rate at which boiling water
transfers heat makes it worth the extra effort in
many cases to blanch food in small batches and in
a big pot so that the water maintains its roiling
boil. The food will cook faster and will retain more
of its flavor, color, and nutrients.
Boiling cushions food in water and maintains a
constant, relatively low temperature, so it may
seem to be a gentler way to cook food than roasting, frying, or baking. The boiling point of water is
actually far hotter than necessary or ideal for
meats, seafood, or even eggs, however. Moreover,
water transmits heat so much more efficiently than
air that it raises the food temperature extremely
rapidly, which makes it tricky to time the cooking
perfectly. Boil a chicken breast or fish fillet for a
few dozen seconds too long, and it overcooks. A
perfect boiled egg is hard to achieve even with a
stopwatch.
The proteins in eggs, meats, and seafood are
much more delicate than tough plant tissue. They
are at their most succulent and tender when
poached at temperatures far below the boiling
point, at which heat transfer is slower, the temperature gradient within the food shallower, and the
margin of error for perfect doneness wider.

A high-tech approach to cooking

meats, seafood, and even the
proverbial "boiled" egg at low
temperatures is to use a digitally
controlled water bath, which can
achieve unrivalled accuracy and
precision, as is described in
chapter 9 on Cooking Sous Vide,
chapter 11 on Meats and Seafood,
and chapter 14 on Gels.

The boiled egg: simple to boil,

diffi cult to perfect.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

63

BOILING A L'ANGLAIS
A classic method for cooking food quickly, boiling owes its speed to the
outstanding ability of water in motion to conduct heat. The "in motion"
part is crucial, at least for small pieces of food. Simmering water cooks
relatively slowly, but a rolling boil cooks fast because the turbulence lifts
the hottest water up to the surface, drags colder water down toward the
bottom of the pot, and accelerates the transfer of heat. The large breaking bubbles of a rapid boil also conveniently signal that the water is hot
enough for cooking.

Heat is lost as water on the

surface evaporates into vapor.
Bubbles are filled with steam,
which is hotter tha n the
boiling point of water.

Evaporation cools the water slightly.

Covering the pot slows evaporation,
reduces heat loss, and brings the
water to a boil faster.

Hot water seeping into the vegetable

dissolves the molecular glues (hemicellulose
and pectin) that hold plant tissue together,
and weakens the cell walls that give it rigidity.
The carrots then change from raw and
crunchy to cooked and tender. Slightly salty
or alkaline water cooks the carrots faster than
hard or slightly acidic water does . Because of
that effect, you can speed up the cooking by
adding a few spoonfuls of salt to the pot. Slow
the cooking by adding a slug of vinegar.

Water also dissolves the sugars that

make vegetables naturally sweet. This
result accounts for why boiling makes
a carrot bland: much of the sugar
content of the carrot ends up in the
water. Steaming or sauteing carrots
with butter in a covered pan spares
their natural sweetness.

64

7
The Birth of a Bubble
Even the largest of bubbles in a roiling pot of water has humble origins .
It starts small, in a fissure or at some other especially rough point.

Steam inflates the bubble like a balloon until its buoyancy overcomes
the resistance of the surrounding fluid, and at last it achieves lift-off.

Bubble swel ls
with steam as
cooler water
moves down

Water

Cracks

Boiling begins in microscopic

cracks that cover the bottom,
even in brand new pots. Liquid
water has such high surface
tension that it is unable to fill
these grooves and pits.

Cold water fills the

void left by a bubble
(
breaking free

Air pocket serves as

a nucleation site

As the water heats up, steam

collects in the crevasses, inflating
bubbles. If the water above the
bubbles is too cold, the steam
condenses, and the bubbles pop.

Eventually, the water reaches its

boiling temperature, and the
expanding bubbles break free,
drawing cooler water into the
spots left behind and allowing the
cycle to repeat.

A rolling boil cooks sma ll pieces

offood faster than a simmer
because the churning water
creates turbulent convectio n,
w hich doubles or triples the
speed of heat transfer. In a
simmeri ng pot, coo ler stag nant
water covers the carrots and
slows the ir cooking. This characteristic is less important for larger
pieces of food, for which the
limiting facto r is how fast heat
ca n move within the food via
conduction.

Convective currents mix hot and

cold spots quickly and leave the
bulk of t he water exact ly at its
boiling point.
A crowded pot traps water into
stagnant pockets and creates
cool spots.

Water superheats along the bottom

to 102-108 c I 216-226 F when the
pot is at a fu ll boil.

65

7
THE PHYSICS OF

Why We Stir the Pot Before Poaching an Egg

To make a decent poached egg it is important to stir the
boiling water in the pot so that it is swirling rapidly, then
crack the egg and drop it in. The white and yolk will nicely
collect themselves into a single mass at the center of the
pot. If you don't stir, the egg white will tend to spread out all
over the place.
Many cooks know this trick, but not many of them understand why it works. The phenomenon at play here, called
Ekman pumping, also accounts for why, in the days before tea
bags, the bits of tea leaves that sank to the bottom of the cup
would collect at the center when you stirred.
When you stir the pot, centrifugal force flings the water
molecules outward, as if they were kids on a schoolyard
merry-go-round . Water thus piles up around the outside and
gives the surface a convex shape.
As any diver knows, the deeper you are underwater, the
higher the pressure. That's true even ifthe difference in depth

Drop an egg into a pot of hot, still water, and you're likely to end up with something closer
to egg-drop soup than a poached egg.

is small, as it is in the pot, where the convex surface makes the

spinning water slightly deeper toward the outside. So at any
given height above the bottom, the water pressure is lowest in
the center and increases slightly toward the sides ofthe pot.
That difference in pressure creates a force directed toward
the center. The inward force counteracts the centrifugal force
and keeps the water from sloshing out of the pot. At the very
bottom, however, friction between the liquid and the solid
pot causes the deepest water to rotate slightly slowerthan the
water above it. Because the bottom water spins more slowly,
it doesn't experience quite as much centrifugal force . But the
inward pressure force is just as strong at the bottom as it is
higher in the pot. So here the inward force wins out.
The net result is that the water near the bottom is pumped
toward the center, pulling the egg along with it. So the egg sits
nicely in the middle, spinning gently as it gets poached to
perfection.

Stir the pot vigorously before the egg goes in, however, and a phenomenon known as
Ekman pumping will gather the egg for you into a nice, compact mass at the center.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

67

. ...

The annoying belches of a boiling

thick sa uce that leave the stove
covered in splatter are a sure sign
that things are starting to scorch
at the bottom of the pot.

.. . .

Burning a Thick Sauce

For more on the several stages of boiling and

how sugars and other dissolved solids affect
the boiling point of water, see page 1-316.

68

Water is such a convenient lubricant and solvent in

cooking in large part because it doesn't burn. But
many of the liquids that we boil and simmer, from
a bechamel to a marinara, can and will burn,
despite the fact that they contain lots of water.
Two principal factors determine whether or not a
sauce or puree will burn: the thickness of the
liquid and the temperature of the pot.
Thick liquids do not distribute heat as quickly
as thin liquids do. In a pot of thin liquid, hotter
fluid at the bottom of the pan can rise rapidly
toward the surface, which pushes cooler parts of
the food down in turbulent cycles of convection.
A thin liquid, in other words, largely stirs itself.
The temperature never gets any hotter than the
boiling point of water, and as the pot heats further,
the turbulence and rate of evaporation simply
speed up. The technical term for this behavior is
nucleated boiling.
A thick liquid, such as a tomato ragit, behaves
differently, for two reasons. First, concentrated
sugars and other solids in the sauce increase the
boiling point of the liquid. The ragu thus approach-

es the temperature at which it starts to burn.

Second, natural convection within the viscous
sauce is so slow that hot spots begin to form on the
bottom. Small bubbles of steam still form at the
bottom, but they aren't buoyant enough to rise to
the surface of the thickening liquid. The part of
the sauce near the pan bottom grows increasingly
superheated until the small bubbles become so
numerous that they form into solid columns of
steam that feed into big, sluggish bubbles. Occasionally one will break free and belch sauce all
over the kitchen and the chef! This is a stage of
boiling known as slug-and-column boiling.
The big bubbles are telltale signs that the water
remaining in the sauce is superheating at the
bottom of the pot to ll0-130 c I 230-266 p or
higher-temperatures high enough to cause the
sugars and solids in that region to scorch. To boil a
thick liquid without scorching, you have two
options: increase convection by constantly
stirring and scraping the pot, or lower the burner
power, so the pan bottom doesn't get hot enough
to burn the sauce.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

'

TRADITIONAL COOKING

Slug-and-column boiling kicks in when a thick, slow-flowing liquid

becomes superheated at the bottom of the pot. Small bubbles of steam,
lacking the buoyancy to lift off, eventually aggregate into columns that
break up into oversized bubbles. Left uncontrolled, the superheating
ultimately will burn the natural sugars in the sauce .

69

STEAMING

For more on the use of steam in home canning,

see Canning, page 75. For the role of steam in
water-vapor ovens and combi ovens, see chapter
8 on Cooking in Modern Ovens, page 150.

For large or thick pieces of food, the

insulating effect of the air and water
layers created by steaming doesn't
matter much. That's because the
major limiting factor in cooking big
ingredients is how fast heat moves
through the food itself, not how fast
heat can penetrate the food
surface. Boiling and steaming are
thus about equally rapid met hods
of cooking hefty chunks offood .

Both Western and Asian cooking traditions have

settled on steaming as the preferred method for
cooking certain kinds of foods. In the Western
kitchen, cooks commonly steam small pieces of
vegetables or thin slices of fish and other seafood.
In Asian cooking, vegetables are usually stir-fried,
and meats, seafood, and dumplings are typically
steamed. Both traditions limit steaming primarily
to small pieces of food that fit easily into a steaming basket set into a pot or a wok. A notable
exception is the practice of steaming whole fish,
which avoids disturbing delicate flesh that might
otherwise fall apart.
The intuition of most chefs-and the conventional wisdom expressed in most cookbooks-is
that steaming cooks food much more quickly than
boiling does. A cursory review of the physics of
heat and steam would seem to support this view.
Liquid water molecules absorb a tremendous
amount of energy as they boil off into the invisible
gaseous state known as steam. That energy is
called the latent heat of vaporization. You can
think of it as energy stored in the water vapor.
When water vapor condenses on the cool surface
of a piece of food, it releases its stored energy and
heats the food . Condensation is the key to the
cooking power of steam.
Because the transition from liquid to vapor
requires so much energy, steam contains far more
energy, gram for gram, than boiling water does.
Amazingly, converting a kilogram of boiling water

into steam requires fiv e times as much heat as you

need to bring a kilogram of freezing cold water to
a boil. It stands to reason, then, that steaming
would cook food faster than boiling does.
Yet our experiments have shown that, in most
situations in which steaming is used in the kitchen, boiling would be faster (see Steaming? Allow
Extra Time, page 73). The reason is that condensation actually slows down the cooking process
rather than hastening it.
On surfaces that have any degree of roughness
(i.e., nearly all foods), tiny droplets of condensation quickly combine to form a thin but uniform
layer of water known as a film condensate. The
film acts like a heat shield: it quickly cools to the
temperature of the food it envelops, then dramatically reduces the ability of heat to flow from the
steam into the food.
A second phenomenon slows the steaming of
fruits and vegetables. In most produce, the tissue
just beneath the surface is laced with pockets of
moist air. Heat makes the air in these pockets
expand and escape as the tissue collapses. Some
of the expelled air gets trapped beneath the film
condensate, creating a blanket of air between the
food and the steam. The insulating properties of
air surpass even those of water: air blocks the
transfer of heat better than wood, cork, cotton
wool, and foam insulation do. The result is that,
for most produce, boiling is substantially faster
than steaming.

THE CHEMISTRY OF

Steaming for Sweetness

Speed isn't everything. The advantages of boiling vegetables
need to be weighed against one big disadvantage: boiling
dilutes many of the natural sugars, salts, vitamins, and color
pigments that we prize in vegetables.
So, although steaming may be slightly slower, steam
blanching often yields a vegetable that looks or tastes
better.
Consider carrots, which contain large amounts of the
natural sugars sucrose, glucose, and fructose . All of those

70

sugars dissolve readily in water and thus leach into the pot
when carrots are boiled. But human taste buds are wired for
sweetness. Lose the sugars, and the carrots seem bland. Far
better to steam the carrots so that the sugars mostly remain in
the food, where they belong.
Glazing is another good alternative to boiling. Add a knob
of butter to a pot of carrots, cover, and let the vegetables cook
in a combination offat and their own sweet juices (see Covered Sauteing, page 58).

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

WHY STEAMING IS OFTEN SLOWER THAN BOILING

Most cookbooks describe steaming as a much faster cooking method than boiling. Because steam can be hotter than the boiling point of water and can carry
large amounts of latent heat energy, this makes intuitive sense even to those unfamiliar with the underlying physics. But in this case, intuition misleads. In many
cases, steaming takes longer than boiling to cook food to a target temperature.
There are good reasons besides speed to steam foods, of course. Compared
with boiled vegetables, steamed vegetables retain much more of the natural
sugars and salts that give them their distinctive flavors, more of the pigments
that provide their attractive colors, and more of the vitamins that make them
so healthful to eat. Steam blanching is also far easier than boiling to perform on
large quantities offood.

A tight-fitting lid is essential for

steaming. A leaky cover allows
cool air and fog to fill the pot
while the invisible steam escapes.
The lid also col lects condensation, which drips back to the
bottom and prevents the steamer
from boiling dry.

Beads of water that form on the surface of

the food are known as dropwise condensation . The droplets grow and merge to form
film condensate, a thin layer of water that
coats the surface, effect ively insulating it
from the hot steam . The watery film also
traps a ir beneath it; together, these effects
slow the cook ing substantially.

Small pieces of food steam more quickly

than large pieces do because they
expose proportionally more surface
area on which condensation can form.

72

Core temperature:

Film condensate:

82 c / 1BO F

9J c / 196 F

7
Steaming? Allow Extra Time
Most cooks are surprised to learn that boiling
actually cooks vegetables and fish faster than
steaming does. We were, too-so we took out
lab equipment to put it to the test. To control
for variations in shape, size, and material
composition, we machined several identical
cylinders from solid aluminum, drilled holes
through their exact centers, and inserted
thermocouples. Then we capped the assemblies and used a data logger to record how the
temperature of the cylinders rose as they were
"cooked " in a pot of boiling water and in steam
(not fog) in a pot with a tight-fitting lid. As the
chart at right shows, the boiled probes
consistently hit the target temperature well
ahead of those in the steamer.

100

212

80

176

60

140

40

104

20

68

1!:
~

"'Q:;

Q:;

~
~

1!:

.a

Q.

1.7

3.3

6.7

8.3

10

11.7

13.3

Cooking time (minutes)

Droplets of co ndensation form

on the thin walls near the top of
the pot because the metal is
cooled by the outside air to less
than the boiling point of water.

Pack ingredients loosely into

a steaming basket so steam
can flow easi ly aro und them,
distributing energy to all
parts of the food.

Almost no condensation is visib le on

the wal l midway up the pot. Here the
sid es are hotter than the boiling point
of water. Condensation does form in
this region on the coo ler surfaces of
the brocco li florets, however.

Bubbles splatter the bottom

wa ll s of the pot with water as
they erupt, releasing steam
that is slightly hotter than the
boiling point of water.

73

7
CANNING
Napoleon Bonaparte once famously said that an
army marches on its stomach-and he meant it!
The logistic challenges of feeding his soldiers as
they advanced across Europe spurred him to offer
a 12,000-franc prize (a sizeable sum more than
two centuries ago) for a new way to preserve fresh,
ready-to-eat food. Enticing though this prize must
have been, it must also have seemed well out of
reach. After all, no new methods of preserving
food had been devised in millennia.
At least one inventor wasn't dissuaded, however. Nicholas Appert had been a farmer and a cook,
a pickier and a preserver, a wine maker and a
brewer, and at the turn of the 19th century he was
a confectioner in Paris. His successful solution to
preserving food came from his observation that "if
it works for wine, why not for food? "
What Appert meant by this was that wine keeps
for decades in a bottle, as long as a cork keeps the
air out. Appert figured that the same approach
ought to work for food. His technique was simple:
he filled a glass bottle with food, firmly stoppered
it with a cork, then boiled it for as long as he
deemed necessary to preserve the contents.
Appert quickly learned, however, that boiling is
not always sufficient and that his method has
dangerous limitations. Nevertheless, his invention
was good enough to pass the French navy's tests in
1806 and for Napoleon himself to award Appert
the prize money in 1809 (or perhaps 1810-the
exact date seems to be controversial).
Napoleon was at war with England at the time,
so the English government had no compunction
about awarding a patent in 1810 to the Englishman
Peter Durand for his "invention" of canning, really
a stolen or leaked French military secret. The
biggest difference between French appertisation
and English canning was that Durand used sturdy,

tin-plated cans rather than fragile glass bottles.

Amazingly, even as canning was being developed, no one understood why it worked. Nor did
anyone know why boiling and sealing preserved
only certain foods and not others. Keep in mind
that microbes had yet to be discovered, and it would
be another half century before Louis Pasteur
identified them as the main cause offood spoilage.
And it wasn't untill915 that USDA scientists
identified the culprit that makes pressure canning
the only safe way to can meats, seafood, and other
low-acid foods: Clostridium botulinum, a hardy
bacterium that survives normal boiling. Even
absent a scientific explanation for botulism, however, pressure canners came into use as early as 1851.
Indeed, it was Appert's enterprising nephew,
Raymond Chevalier-Appert, who first showed that
all foods could be safely preserved this way.
Napoleon was right that canning would be an
important military technology. Canned foods were
used during the Crimean War, the American Civil
War, and the Franco-Prussian War. During World
War I, the U.S. government urged citizens to grow
and can their own food so the output of commercial canneries could be sent to troops overseas.
Sloganeers beseeched citizens to "back up the
cannon with the canner."
Ironically, however, the technology for mass
canning didn't come soon enough to save
Napoleon's own army. The emperor proved the
validity of his own maxim during his disastrous
invasion of Russia in 1812, when nearly threequarters of the 690,000 troops he sent into Russia
perished, the vast majority of them from starvation and disease. The retreating Russians had left
no food behind for the invading soldiers, whose
meager provisions spoiled even before reaching
the front line.

Peter Durand's tin cans of food are

reported to have read "cut round
the top, near the edge with a knife,
a chisel and hammer, or even a
rock." It would be another 48 years
before Ezra Warner invented the
can opener in 1858!

The invention of canned food was a major milestone in food

science and in the diet of millions of people. More recently,
refrigerated and frozen food has provided alternatives, but
canning still has its place as a food preservation technique.
Although the result isn't quite the same as fresh food, it has its
own virtues.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

75

Boiling-Water Canning

Pressure-cooking was old techno logy, even in the 19th century. The
French physicist and mathematician Den is Papin invented the
pressurized boi ler in 1679 and
promoted his "digester" for cooking
and other uses.

For more on the difference between

sterilization and pasteurization, see Pasteurizing for Storage, page 249.

76

The most important part of canning is sterilization, which destroys the microorganisms that
would otherwise quickly render most unrefrigerated foods unsafe to eat. This step also inactivates
the natural enzymes within food that tend to ruin
its color, flavor, and texture during storage.
To preserve food this way, you can use either
boiling-water canning or pressure-canning. The
deciding factor is the acidity of the food. Because
of the lower temperature of boiling-water canning,
the food must have a pH below 4.6; in all other
cases, pressure-canning is the only safe choice.
The pH of most fruits lies below this threshold,
although that of some, like tomatoes and figs, may
not and should therefore be tested.
The best way to test the acidity of a fruit is to
check a pureed sample with a pH meter or litmus

paper. If the pH is at 4.6 or just a little over, you can

add vinegar, lemon juice, or even vitamin C
(ascorbic acid) to bring the pH down to a safe level.
It's important, however, that the food be
uniformly acidic. It isn't safe to use boiling water
to can pasta in a tart tomato ragu; the pH of the
pasta is too high. Cucumbers similarly aren't
acidic enough to can whole without pressure. But
if they're sliced and cooked in a pickling solution,
they absorb enough of the acidic (and usually
salty) brine to become uniformly sour. Sterilization with nothing more than ordinary boiling
water is then safe.
Although there are dangers, there is no fundamental reason that you can't do your own canning
safely at home. You just need to use the appropriate technique and to monitor times and temperatures carefully.

VO LUME 2 TE CHNIQUES AND EQUI PM ENT

7
Package with Care
Before being sterilized, food should be packaged
with an airtight, durable seal. Whether you put the
food in traditional glass jars or in modern plastic
retort bags, make every effort to get a clean seal.
Take care not to fill jars so full that their contents
might boil over, leaving food on the lip and
preventing the lid from seating properly. (Sweet
jams and jellies are less likely to boil over because
their high sugar content raises the boiling point of
the water in the jar.)
On the other hand, if the jar isn't sufficiently
full, a tight seal may never form. The two-piece lid,
common to most canning jars, is designed to allow
expanding water vapor from the food to force out
all of the air in the headspace above. When the jar
cools, the water vapor condenses back into liquid
water, leaving the heads pace devoid of air. That
vacuum holds the lid on snugly. If the jar isn't
sufficiently full, air-rather than water vaporcould remain in the headspace and prevent the lid
from sealing tightly. A change in food color during
storage is a telltale sign that air remains in the jar.
A heating cycle isn't the only way to seal the lid
of a canning jar. You can also use a vacuum chamber. Simply place the jar in the chamber and rest
the lid on the jar. When the chamber is evacuated,
air leaves the headspace. Once you restore pressure
to the chamber, the weight of the atmosphere will
seal the lid firmly against the glass.
There are two general approaches to filling jars
for boiling-water canning: raw packing or hotpacking. If you pack food raw, it is crucial to also
add enough liquid to ensure even heat transfer
during sterilization. It's best to add liquid that is as
hot as possible because its heat will raise the
temperature of the food quickly.
Hot-packing is almost always the better tactic,
however. Raw food takes a long time to warm up
once it is inside the jar, and during that warming
time natural enzymes can discolor many foods. If
instead you blanch, steam, or parcook the food
while stirring it in a pot, you can quickly destroy
those enzymes and preserve an appetizing color.

The traditional glass canning jar is inexpensive, widely available in

assorted sizes, and reusable. It does have some drawbacks,
however: glass is breakable and slow to transfer heat when used
for cold-packed food. The sealed jar also offers no easy way to
monitor the core temperature of the food inside.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

77

7
How Hot and How Long?
Whether the food is packed raw or hot, once it is
properly sealed in its packaging, it must be kept
hot enough long enough to destroy all pathogens.
But just how hot is that? And how long do you
have to cook things? Unfortunately, the answers to
both of these questions depend on many factors.
For raw-packed jars and retort bags, the heating
requirements hinge on how long it takes for all
parts of the food to reach the minimum sterilization temperature. The geometry of the food, the
size of a package, the number of packages being
heated at once, even the nature of the added liquid
all influence the rate of heating. With glass jars, it
is so difficult to answer these questions that the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has
produced only a handful of recipes for jars of
specific sizes and shapes. These instructions work
provided that you follow them to the letter.
The alternative is to sacrifice a jar of the food
you are canning in the name of science. Leave the
lid off and mount a thermometer probe so that
the tip stays in the dead center of the jar. If the
food in the jar is chunky, stick the tip ofthe
thermometer into the core of a chunk at the
center of the jar; don't leave it in the surrounding
liquid, which heats faster. Wait until the probe
shows that the food at the center of the test jar
has reached the sterilization temperature, and
then begin counting down the heating time
needed to destroy any microbes.
Temperature monitoring is more straightforward when hot-packing, which is why we prefer

that strategy. By bringing the food to a simmer in

advance, adding it to hot jars, then quickly sealing
the jars and submerging them in boiling water,
you can be sure that all of the contents of the jars
are at sterilization temperature from the get-go.
Consequently, the filled jars only need to be
heated long enough to destroy all of the pathogenic bacteria.
Guidelines published by the USDA say that
foods suitable for boiling-water canning (those
with a pH less than 4.6) must be sterilized at
100 c I 212 p for anywhere from five minutes to
more than 90 minutes. So why does the USDA
provide a seemingly random assortment of
different canning times? We don't know for
certain, but we have some hunches.
For starters, very little new research on canning
acidic foods has been published since the 1950s,
and what does appear in the literature from long
ago is so confused and unclear that experts today
are unable to identify the specific pathogen that
was monitored in the original studies. The USDA
seems to have collected an assortment of traditional recipes that work safely and to have disseminated these instructions without attempting to
provide a scientific rationale for them.
Another possible reason for the scattershot
nature of the official advice is a perfectly reasonable concern that, when confronted with an
abundance of fruits and vegetables to be preserved,
a person canning at home might be tempted to cut
corners. A home cook might improperly pack the
jars and overcrowd them into the cooking pot,

It is imperative to be certain that there are no cold spots in the jar during the sterilization
step. For raw-packed food, heating time must be added to the sterilization time to ensure
this. How much extra time is required? It depends on a number of factors, but to be certain,
sacrifice a jar of food so that a temperature probe can monitor the rising core temperature.

It is easier and less wasteful to

check the temperature of food
while cannmg 1fyou package it in a
flexible retort bag rather than a jar.
You can remove the bag periodically from the boiling water,
massage its contents to even out
hot and cold spots, and then fold it
over the tip of a thermometer to
check the temperature.

When pickling low-acidity vegetables such as cauliflower, allow extra time during the
canning step for the pickling solution to diffuse all the way to the center of the food. Until
diffusion is complete, sterilization cannot begin. If there is any uncertainty about how
evenly vegetables have been pickled, pressure canning is the safer approach to use.

TRADI TIONAL COOKING

79

which would slow heating and lead to inadequate

sterilization. To guard against mishap, the USDA
built large margins of safety into its officially
approved recipes-or so we surmise.
To determine safe heating procedures for
boiling-water canning from first principles, you
would need to identify the most difficult pathogen to destroy. Unfortunately, no one seems to
have a clue what that is. So the only sensible
procedure is to choose the USDA's minimum
recommended boiling time, which happens to be
five minutes, and to ensure that all of the food
reaches 100 oc I 212 op before counting down.
People canning foods at altitudes significantly
above sea level, where the boiling temperature of
water is diminished, need to use commensurately

If you open a jar of canned food and see

mold on the surface, the food is bad; toss
it out. This is particularly true for jams and
jellies. Had sterilization occurred, the mold
would not be there. The claim that you can
scrape the mold off and the food will be
safe is a myth. Molds often produce
microscopic, root-like filaments that
penetrate into the food below the surface.
These filaments can produce metabolites
known as mycotoxins that may cause
genetic mutations and cancer.

80

longer sterilization times: lO minutes at altitudes

between 300-1,830 m I 1,000-6,000 ft, and 15
minutes at altitudes higher than this. Alternatively, pressure canning can be used to shorten
the sterilization time by raising the boiling point
of the water.
The minimum sterilization time is just that, a
minimum. Be sure to allow additional time for
food at the center of the jars to heat up. For
raw-packed foods, this step can add an hour or
more to the cooking time. If you are pickling and
canning in the same step, that requires extra time
as well: an additional 5-10 minutes for porous
foods such as cucumbers and sweet peppers but
much more for dense vegetables such as beans,
peas, and root vegetables.

Frigi-canning

For more on suitable time and temperature

combinations for pasteurization of food, see
page 1-182.

Fresh vegetables in a juice are a good

candidate for frigi-canning.

84

The quality of most canned vegetables was the

inspiration for a refinement of the canning process
made by E . F. Kohman in 1960. Known as frigicanning, Kohman's idea was to go halfway to
canning. Freshly picked vegetables were packed
into glass jars. Rather than sterilizing the vegetables by cooking them at high temperatures for
long times, however, Kohman instead cooked the
jars in water baths just hot enough to destroy most
vegetative forms of bacteria and to halt the slow
damage that enzymes cause to the food.
Because the food isn't sterilized by this process,
the jars must be refrigerated to avoid the growth
of toxic anaerobic bacteria-hence the name
frigi-canning. Refrigeration serves a second
important purpose as well: it slows chemical
reactions that generate off-flavors. When frigicanning is properly done, vegetables will keep in
the refrigerator for weeks to a few months while

retaining most of their freshly cooked quality.

These days, flexible sous vide packaging has
replaced the need for fragile glass jars, and frigicanning is now known as cook-chill sous vide.
We have Kohman and frigi-canning to thank in
part for the ubiquity of fresh milk. Today we take
this staple for granted, but before the 1960s, the
distribution of fresh milk to an increasingly urban
population was a serious technical challenge. At
one point, milk was even adulterated with formaldehyde to extend its shelflife during its trip
through the distribution chain! Kohman developed frigi-canning in part to solve this problemand it has.
Pasteurized products are so ubiquitous today
that it's hard to imagine a time without such
technology. But pasteurization didn't exist until the
French chemist Louis Pasteur first developed the
process-at the command of Emperor Napoleon
III-to keep wine from spoiling.
Pasteur began his chemistry career by studying
organic crystals. In 1854, he became dean of
chemistry at the University ofLille, a town that
was home to several distilleries and factories. The
university-encouraged its professors to research
problems faced by these local industries. In 1856,
Pasteur began working to help a nearby distiller
address his difficulties in making alcohol from
beets.
As Pasteur investigated the fermentation
process, he made the groundbreaking discovery
that it is yeasts-living organisms-that turn
sugar into alcohol, whereas other microorganisms
spoil food by producing undesirable flavors.
Before Pasteur's insight, most scientists believed
that yeasts were merely by-products or catalysts of
fermentation.
Some 50 years after Nicholas Appert developed
the canning process for Napoleon Bonaparte (the
uncle ofNapolean III), Pasteur's discovery finally
provided a scientific rationale for how canning
preserves food: it destroys the microorganisms
that spoil food and cause illness.
In 1863, an aide to Napoleon III sent Pasteur a
letter commissioning him to study both the
diseases affecting wine and issues in wine preservation. Such matters were of substantial economic
importance to France, particularly during the
grape harvest.
A year later, building on his earlier discoveries,
Pasteur developed the process that would immortalize his name: the application of heat to achieve a
specific temperature for a specified time to greatly
reduce the number of spoilage microbes in the

VO LU ME 2 TE CHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

wine. Unlike the temperatures used for canning,

the temperatures used by Pasteur were far below
the boiling point and therefore far less detrimental
to the quality of the wine.
During the 20th century, reliable refrigeration
became ubiquitous and made it possible to apply
the principle of pasteurization to greatly extend
the refrigerated shelflife of dairy products, fruit
juices, and many other fresh foods . Indeed,
without pasteurization, much of the modern food
industry would not be possible.
Pasteur is also known to medical science as
one of the inventors (along with Edward Jenner)
of vaccination. Between pasteurization and
vaccination, Pasteur's discoveries have saved
millions oflives.

Pressure-canning
A third method of canning is pressure-canning,
which is required for low-acidity (high-pH) foods.
This category includes almost all vegetables, meats
and seafood, soups and sauces, and most other

prepared foods that haven't been dried, pickled, or

preserved with high levels of salt, sugar, or alcohol.
Pressure canning is used for commercial
sterilization, which is typically designed to disable
all actively reproducing microbes as well as
99.9999999999% of any C. botulinum spores in
the food. (Spores are ultrahardy, seedlike bodies
that the bacteria make when stressed.) Put another way, a spore has only a one-in-a-trillion chance
of surviving in the canned food.
Yeasts, molds, and most bacteria die at temperatures well below 100 c I 212 p, the boiling point
of water at sea level, but to eliminate C. botulinum
spores you must hold them at temperatures of
115 c I 240 p or hotter. The exact temperature
depends on heating time and other factors, such as
the pH of the food. The only way to heat food to
these temperatures without drying it out is to use
a pressure canner or an autoclave. The mantra of
low-acid, high-pH canning is "to increase the
temperature, increase the pressure."
Not all pressure cookers should be used for
pressure canning, however. An ordinary pressure

TRADITIONAL COOKING

A water bath is not suitable for conventional canning but is ideal for frigicanning, which is essentially just cook-chill
sous vide done in jars.

The reduction in pathogens that

results during canning is called a
120 reduction-see page 1148.

85

cooker lacks a pressure gauge. Nor does it include

a calibrated weight to seal the canner. These
features are absolute requirements for safe pressure canning. Proper pressure canners include
both accessories-but it is crucial to understand
just when you should place the weight on the
canner as well as the several ways in which the
pressure shown on the gauge can fool you.

The Lies a Gauge Will Tell

A pressure gauge is the only reliable way

to know the temperature inside a pressure
canner, but it can mislead the naive.

Spring-loaded valves are common on

pressure cookers and generally unsuitable
for canning because they can prevent
proper venting and become inaccurate
over time as the spring fatigues.

86

Perhaps surprisingly, a canner's pressure gauge

doesn't measure absolute pressure. Rather, it
measures how much the pressure inside exceeds
the surrounding atmospheric pressure. This fact
means that it will read zero when a cold canner is
first sealed, even though the pressure inside the
pot is obviously well above zero. At sea level, it's
about 1 bar I 14.7 psi. At higher altitudes, atmospheric pressure is less, but the pressure gauge on
a freshly sealed cold canner will always read zero.
The needle on the gauge will begin moving only
once you apply some heat. As the water inside gets
hotter, water vapor rises to mix in the headspace
with the air that was sealed inside initially. With
continued heating, the hot air and water vapor
eventually will push outward with enough force to
bring the reading to 1 bar I 14.5 psi of gauge
pressure (sometimes abbreviated psig).
Be careful here: this reading indicates the
amount of pressure above the surrounding
atmospheric value. The absolute pressure inside
the cooker-which is what determines the
temperature at which the water inside will
boil-is the gauge pressure plus the surrounding
atmospheric pressure. At sea level, this means
that the total pressure pushing down on the water
inside the pressure cooker is about 2 bar I 29 psi.
The boiling point of water under 2 bar I 29 psi
of pressure is very close to 120 oc I 248 oF and, if
the pressure gauge has a temperature scale, it
will show that temperature. But what if you're at
some elevation higher than sea level? Then the
absolute pressure inside the canner will be less
than 2 bar I 29 psi (because atmospheric pressure drops at higher elevations), and the water

inside will be boiling at some temperature lower

than 120 oc I 248 F.
In mile-high Denver, for example, water boils
in the open at about 6 oc I 11 OF less than it does
in coastal Miami, so a cook in Denver should
expect the water in her pressure canner showing
1 bar I 14.5 psi of gauge pressure to be boiling at
114 oc I 237 oF-regardless of what the temperature scale on the gauge suggests.
The gauge on a pressure canner can trick you in
other ways, too. Some pressure canners and most
pressure cookers have a spring-loaded valve that
is normally open and allows air to escape from the
headspace. As heating begins, expanding vapor
pushes this valve up, closing off the vent. (At very
high pressures, it rises farther and opens the vent
back up again.) Unfortunately, the valve always
closes too soon and leaves some air trapped in
the headspace.
Having a mixture of air, water, and steam all
interacting under pressure is a bad thing because
it makes it impossible to know the actual temperature of the water with any degree of confidence
(see How Air Confounds Pressure Canning, next
page). The solution is to always vent the air from
the headspace in the pressure canner as it heats
up, so only steam is left to fill the headspace.
Some manufacturers of spring-loaded canners
say that venting is not necessary. The USDA,
however, says that all pressure canners must be
vented for the very reason that we have just
explained-you can't sterilize food properly if
you don't know the temperature of your water
bath and the steam above it. Pressure cookers are
difficult to vent manually, and that is the main
reason that we don't recommend using them
for canning.
Proper pressure canners are easy to vent
because they use a calibrated weight rather than a
spring-loaded stopcock. When using one, you
bring the water inside to a simmer, then add the
packaged food and replace the lid. With the
calibrated weight removed, you boil the water for
10 min to create enough steam to force all of the
air out the vent hole, leaving only pure steam in
the heads pace. You then place the calibrated

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

7
weight on the vent, allowing pressure to build
rapidly inside the canner.
If you follow these steps, the space inside will
contain pure steam, and the measured pressure
will accurately reflect the temperature. You'll be
canning safely in another way as well because the
weight is not heavy enough to allow you to
pressurize the canner to dangerous levels.
Pressure cookers with spring-loaded valves are
often a better choice for stock- and sauce-making
precisely because the valve seals the cooker before

it is vented. This action traps most aromatic

volatiles before they can be ventilated away. It
might not seem as if this would make a substantial
difference, but, in several controlled experiments
by Dave Arnold and Nils Noren at The French
Culinary Institute, pressure-cooked stock
prepared in unvented cookers was always
preferred by the tasting panel of professional
chefs. For more on pressure-cooked stocks, see
page 293.

THE PHYSICS OF

How Air Confounds Pressure Canning

It's important for safe canning to get the air out of the
pressure vessel as it heats up. Remember, the only information you have for determining whether the temperature is
sufficient for sterilization is the reading on the pressure
gauge. From this number, you can estimate the boiling point
of the water inside the canner. But is the water in fact hot
enough to boil?
If the pressure is constant, and steam isn't billowing from
the canner, you can be sure that the water is not boiling. But
you will not know whether the temperature of the water is just
a little or a lot below its boiling point for that pressure.
To avoid this uncertainty, vent the air above the water
before sealing the pressure canner. The pressure will then
increase from pure steam alone. This simple maneuver solves
the problem because water of a given temperature has a
well -determined vapor pressure. This is the pressure at which
there will be as many water molecules evaporating from the
water's surface to become steam as there are molecules in the
overlying steam returning to the water.
lfthe pressure in your canner is constant, the water and
steam inside will be in such an equilibrium. And the vapor
pressure of the water, by definition, will equal the pressure of
the steam. So if you know this pressure, you easily can look up
the temperature of the water. If it were any hotter than this
value, more water would evaporate, increasing the pressure.
lfthe temperature were any lower, some ofthe steam would
condense, lowering the pressure.

But how do you find the pressure of the steam? If it is the

only gas in the canner, the answer is easy: it's the gauge
pressure plus the surrounding atmospheric pressure. If,
however, the canner contains a combination of steam and air,
the total pressure inside is a combination of the partial pressure of the various gases.
Dalton's law of partial pressures states that the total pressure of a gas mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of its constituents. For example, if a pressure canner at
sea level contains a mixture of 50% air and 50% steam at a
gauge pressure of1 bar (hence an absolute pressure of 2 bar),
the vapor pressure of water inside will be just 1.5 bar of gauge
pressure. So the water and steam will be at just over 111 oc I
232 F, which is not hot enough to sterilize the food safelyeven though the gauge suggests the temperature is a safe
120 C I 248 F.
Without venting the canner at the start, you will have no
way of knowing what the proportions of air and steam are.
Thus you would not know the partial pressure of the steamand hence the temperature ofthe water and the steam. All
you would know is that the partial pressure of the steam is
something less than the pressure you determined from the
gauge, meaning that the temperature ofthe water and steam
must be something less than it would be had the heads pace
been filled only with steam.
The bottom line is simple: always vent the air from your
pressure canner.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

87

What Pressure and How Long?

Once you vent the canner and bring it to the
desired pressure-and thus the desired temperature-all you need to do is hold it there long
enough to ensure a trillion-fold reduction of C.
botulinum spores. So how long does that take? As
with boiling-water canning, it depends.
Even if you preheated the food to 100 oc I
212 op before you packed it, it needs time to heat
up to its final sterilization temperature. How much
time depends on many variables: the starting
temperature of the food; the thermal conductivity
of the bags or jars that contain it; the size and
number of the containers; the size of the pressure
canner itself; and the speed at which your burner
can bring the pot to full pressure.
Nevertheless, we can offer some general
guidelines. Let's divide canned foods into three

categories: fully convecting, semiconvecting, and

conducting. Convecting foods are basically
liquids: juices, stocks, or thin sauces in which any
hot or cold spots that develop during canning
quickly even out through natural convection.
The semiconvecting category includes solid
chunks of food packed in a thin liquid, such as
beans in water. Although the liquid will heat
quickly, the temperature of the solids will rise
more slowly, confounding our ability to estimate
proper heating times. The conducting category
includes everything else, from thick sauces like
spaghetti sauce to potted meats. Foods in this
category also heat slowly. In the following table,
we offer some guidance on the typical times
needed for packaged food to heat up in a canner as
well as minimum temperature-and-time combinations needed to can food safely.

THE TECHNOLOGY OF

Fine Tuning the Process of Pressure Canning

Canning recipes typically build large
margins of error into the recommended
sterilization times because there is no easy,
reliable way to predict how long a given
pressure canner will take to raise the core
food temperature inside a jar to the
required level.
If you want to maintain the highest food
quality by using the shortest canning time
that is still safe, there is an alternative. You
can install a thermometer in your canner so
that you can directly sense when the jars
reach the sterilization temperature. This is
exactly what canning companies do when
they develop a commercial canning process.

We built a pressure canner with multiple thermocouple probes

to test temperatures in all phases of the canning process.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

And it is also what we did to gather experimental data for the table on the next page.
In our tests, we varied the food in the jars,
the size of the jars, and the number and
arrangement of jars in the canner. We also
heated the canner slowly in some tests and
quickly in others, and we vented the canner
properly in some tests and skipped this step
in others. Each ofthese factors affected the
time needed to reach sterilization temperature. So the large safety margi ns are required
for a canning recipe unless you do the experiments yourself, then keep everything about
your process unchanged.

7
POT-ROASTING AND STEWING
The most complex of the traditional cooking
methods is arguably braising, that combination
technique that involves both dry and moist heat
and in which heat conduction, convection, and
radiation can all play critical roles. Even the
terminology here is complicated: "pot-roasting"
and "stewing" are sometimes used interchangeablywith "braising" but sometimes connote
differences in what kind of liquid-or how much
of it-is added to the food.
A bit of history can help clarify the muddle.
The noun "braise" comes from the French word
for the dying embers of the day's fire. The related
French verb braiser implies cooking slowly in a
tightly sealed vessel that is heated from all sides.
The closest counterpart in the Anglo-Saxon
tradition to this traditional French technique is
pot-roasting-that is, roasting an entire joint of
meat in a covered pot over a fire.
Over time, the replacement of wood and coal
fires in the kitchen with gas and electric burners
led to a shift in the use of the terms braising and
pot-roasting. Today, most cooks understand these
to mean simply cooking food in added liquid,
usually after an initial quick sear in a pan. Braising
and pot-roasting have thus become synonymous
with stewing.
That is unfortunate because meats braised or
pot-roasted in the authentic way are subjected to a
cooking environment that is qualitatively different
from that experienced by meats that are simply
stewed. The differences in flavor, although hard to
describe, are real. In the hope of spurring cooks to
recapture the lost art of pot-roasting, we present
the details of the old method here before we turn
to contemporary braising, which for the sake of
clarity we'll refer to as stewing.

Pot Roast: The Authentic Braise

Once upon a time, cooks would fill a large castiron pot with assorted vegetables and meat, add
just enough liquid to cover the bottom, place a

cast-iron lid on top, then place the sealed pot on

the embers of a fire. Typically, hot coals were piled
on top of the lid. If large chunks oftougher meat
were used in the recipe, this process was called
braising; if instead a whole roasting joint was used,
they called it pot-roasting.
Liquid was added to the pot for two reasons.
First, many cooks believed it would keep the meat
succulent and juicy. A probably more important
reason, however, was that the fluid quenched hot
spots that inevitably formed in the iron pot as it
absorbed heat from the glowing coals below. First
and foremost, the liquid was there to prevent the
food from scorching.
It doesn't take much liquid to accomplish that
goal. And, traditionally, it would have been
unusual to add more than a shallow layer of water
or other fluids. Drown the meat, after all, and the
result will be closer to boiled beef than to potroasted sirloin!
The arrangement of an old-style pot roast may
sound simple-just a bit ofliquid in the pot and
heat on both top and bottom-but it sets up a
fascinating environment that cooks food in
multiple ways at once (see The Lost Art of
Pot-Roasting, next page). Heat radiating from
the lid and sides of the pot, humid hot air swirling around the food in the middle, and simmering liquid on the bottom all contribute to the
cooking and the distinct flavors of an authentic
pot roast.
Sealing the pot with a lid is crucial for several
reasons. First, radiant energy from the lid browns
the top and sides of the meat. This process gives
the meat an appealing color and creates Maillard
flavor compounds that dissolve in the juices below.
Without a lid, those aromatic chemicals escape in
the air. Although their loss makes your kitchen
smell wonderful, it deprives the sauce of some of
its best aromas and flavors!
Second, the lid keeps the air in the pot humid.
As a result, the food heats faster and dries out less.
Third, high humidity helps to dissolve chewy

Modern cooking techniques allow cooks to nearly replicate the

flavors and textures of authentic pot roast with far greater control
than an open fire allows. Believe it or not. everything in this photo
is edible: what look like ashes are three different kinds of garnish.
For a plated dish that includes edible "ashes," see the recipe for
Autumn Harvest Pork Roast. page 517.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

93

collagen and to convert it to succulent gelatin. The

gelatinizing process is critical for tenderizing
tough, collagen-rich cuts of meat-the so-called
"braising cuts."
It is worth emphasizing that these various
effects occur only if the pot is covered. Regardless of
whether cooks are using an oven or a stove top,
they too often omit the lid during modern braising. That omission can make a dish that could
have turned out juicy and tender instead emerge
from the pot as dry and tough as boots. Simply
adding more liquid to cover the food is no substitute for covering the pot. Although the extra
liquid prevents the meat from drying out, it
fundamentally changes pot-roasting into a
process more akin to stewing.
Water-vapor ovens and combi ovens make it
easy to achieve traditional results because they

Residue of liquid lost revea ls just how much

of a toll evaporation takes on an uncovered
pot. The departing steam also carries away
volatile aroma compounds and a great deal of
heat energy, which makes it hard to know the
actual cooking temperature.
Presearing the food is necessary in contemporary braising to
create flavorful Maill a rd compounds, but these molecules
readily dissolve when the food is covered by water. Rather
than intensifying through secondary reactions, as happens in
a traditional pot roast, they diffuse into a dilute broth. Even
when boiled down, this liquor will taste quite different from
the sauce produced by an authentic braise.
Collagen in the meat must dissolve to form gelatin before this
beef check can reach optimum tenderness and succulence.
That process works best when the meat is in very moist air or
is submerged in liquid . After removing the cooked meat,
puree the broth with the vegetables, or boil the broth down
to give it greater body and a more intense flavor.

96

control both the temperature and the humidity.

Programmed correctly, these tools can mimic the
conditions inside the sealed braising pots used by
our culinary ancestors. See chapter 8 on Cooking
in Modern Ovens, page 150, for details.

Stewing: Contemporary Braising

The introduction of the oven and the range to the
domestic kitchen fundamentally changed the
nature of braising and pot-roasting. This technological revolution began in Western Europe and
America in the first few years after the First World
War. Today, it's easy to forget what a phenomenal
transformation this equipment wrought in the way
we cook.
For the most part, the changes were for the
better. But the adaptations that cooks made to

7
braise and pot-roast in modern ovens or on the
stove top were not necessarily improvements.
Cooks preparing a braise now typically cover the
pot loosely with foil (if at all) before placing it in
the oven. The problem with this approach is that
ovens are ventilated, so the moisture quickly
evaporates from the pot, taking with it many of the
volatile molecules that give traditional pot roast its
distinctive, enticing aromas and flavors .
If the pot lacks a tight seal, the air inside will
never become saturated with moisture. Any
portion of the food not submerged in liquid will
thus be cooled by evaporation to the wet-bulb
temperature, which is significantly cooler than
the dry-bulb temperature of the air in the oven.
Consistent cooking is nearly impossible in such a
situation.
Evaporation through leaky lids is just one of

several phenomena that interact to make modern

braising so complex and confusing to cooks. Many
other factors come into play as well. For example,
what color is the pan? Black pans are generally a
bit hotter than shiny metal pans because they
absorb more radiative heat. What is the balance
between the heat lost through evaporation and the
heat entering the pot from the oven or burner?
That balance depends on the size and the shape of
the pot, as well as on how full it is (which changes
as the liquid level drops with cooking).
More important still is the humidity of the air
in the kitchen. The temperature actually experienced by food braising at a given oven setting can
easily vary by 10 c I 18 p from one day to the
next as the relative humidity changes and accelerates or slows evaporation. If your braising recipe
doesn't turn out well, the fault may lie neither with

For more on the crucial role of wet-bulb

temperature in cooking, see The Real Baking
Temperature. page 103.

The pot itselt makes it hard to achieve consistent results. The

metal used, its co lor and shape, the fullness of the pot, and
the tightness of the lid all influ ence the rate at which heat is
absorbed or lost. Change any of these, and the actua l braising
temperature cou ld shift as much as 20 c I 36 r without any
change to the underlying burner setting or oven temperature.

The nichrome heating element emits invisible infrared rays

like the embers of a fire, but it does not cook the food with
radiant heat. Instead, radiant energy from the burner flows
into the iron pot and quickly moves to the liquid through
conduction and convection .

97

the cookbook nor the cook: variations in these

factors may simply have conspired to produce the
unfortunate result.
One of the more common forms offailure in
braising is meat that turns out less tender and
succulent than hoped. Evaporation is again
usually the culprit here. Most meats contain more
than enough water to dissolve the tough collagen
inside them into tender, succulent gelatin. If too
much of that natural liquid wicks to the surface
and vaporizes, however, the meat dries out, and
less of the collagen dissolves.
To avoid such disappointing results, cooks tend
to overcompensate by adding so much liquid to
the braising pot that the meat is all but submerged. Drowning the meat certainly solves the
collagen problem, but it also transforms braising
into stewing.
To be clear: stews can be delicious. But stewed
foods taste nothing like braised foods. The reason
the two techniques produce such a large difference
in flavors is that the pool ofliquid surrounding a
stew shunts the flavor-generating reactions in a
different direction than the bit ofliquid used for
braising does. A different set of aromas prevails
as a result.
Then there is the sauce. Overhydrating the food
dilutes the cooking liquor so much that it becomes
insipid in comparison with the rich concentrate

that accompanied traditionally braised or potroasted food. A common workaround is to remove

the food from the pot and boil the sauce down.
Although this approach does concentrate the
liquid, consider the price: many of the most
aromatic and flavorful elements of the sauce
vaporize from the dish and into the kitchen.
Browning poses another challenge for modern
methods of braising. To reproduce the effects of
the gentle glow of infrared radiation from the
coal-covered lid of a traditional pot roast, cooks
today brown the meat and some of the vegetables
in a hot pan before they add any liquid. Although
this approach is eminently reasonable, it also
generates a subtly different flavor profile than a
traditional braise does. Quick browning generates
plenty of Maillard reaction products, but if these
molecules then dissolve in a large volume ofliquid,
they are not as likely to react with one another to
produce second-generation flavor compounds as
they would be if they were more concentrated. A
traditional braise, in contrast, concentrates
Maillard compounds in a much smaller volume of
liquid at the bottom of the pot, encouraging the
creation of more complex and nuanced flavors.
Cooks are increasingly turning to sous vide
cooking as a modern alternative to braising
because sous vide offers far greater control of
the braise.

THE CHEMISTRY OF

Aging Braises and Pot Roasts

As many epicureans have observed, braised and potroasted meats often develop a richer, more complex flavor
if they have been cooled and aged after cooking, then
later reheated for service. Surprisingly, the oxidation
reactions that cause this flavor-enhancing phenomenon
are similar to those that cause meats and fats to go rancid.
Although too much oxidation in meat is repulsive, a hint of
slowly oxidized aromatic compounds can be quite pleasant. Indeed, these flavors are partly what give aged meats
and cheeses their particular flavor profile.
Interestingly, some of the herbs traditionally added to
braises and pot roasts, such as thyme and rosemary, contain
powerful antioxidants that moderate the rate of oxidation.
Used well, these herbs thus not only provide their own pleas-

98

ant aromatic qualities but also help to achieve the right

amou nt of aged flavor. Vitamin C, added either as purified
ascorbic acid or as an extract of rose hips, can play a similar
role. The vitamin is a powerful antioxidant that adds a pleasantly tart taste.
Cooks who use so us vide techniques-which are designed
specifically to keep oxygen away from the food-face an
obvious challenge when trying to achieve results similar to
those of aged braising. The simplest workaround is to open
the so us vide bag after cooking to allow the food to age for a
while. The bag can then be resealed to prevent rancidity and
to simplify later reheating. Use caution with this workaround, however, becau se pathogens can enter the bag
while it is open.

VOlUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

7
BAKING
A loaf of bread baking .. . a leg oflamb roasting ...
the words are so enticing, you can almost smell

thousands of years to bhog, a word in the truly

ancient tongue from which, linguists believe, most

roast have similar, yet not exactly synonymous,

European and Indian languages evolved. Bhog

evolved into the Germanic word baka, which

meaning. We unthinkingly choose one over the

other to connote subtle distinctions: a baker

became bacan in Saxon, then finally bake in

English. Bhog, baka, bacan all meant the same

them. In kitchen parlance, the verbs to bake and to

bakes, for example, whereas a cook roasts. We'd

thing: drying something out by warming it inside

never switch the verbs to describe bread roasting

or lamb baking-but why not? Both happen in an

of an oven.

oven, after all.

But what our Neolithic ancestors were bhogging

in their ovens wasn't bread. lt was bricks! Ovens

oven-cooked food as baked or roasted comes

were invented more than 5,000 years ago for

drying mud bricks-and baking them in an oven

down to little more than advertising, it was not

always this way. The origins of the two words

proved to be a much faster and more reliable

method than laying them out in the sun. Baking

Although today the choice of whether to label

reveal how the cooking methods used to differ.

allowed construction to keep pace with popula-

The word roast was born around the same

time as the English language itself, when the

tion growth, and oven-dried bricks literally

became cornerstones of burgeoning towns and

French-speaking Normans defeated the Old

cities-indeed, of civilization itself.

English-speaking Saxons at the Battle of Hast-

Inevitably, some clever people had the idea to

put food rather than bricks into their ovens. But

ings in 1066. Conquest combined the Saxon

word rostian, meaning grate or gridiron, with the
Old French word rostir, meaning to cook before

given that ovens were seen as drying machines,

they probably didn't bake the food to cook it. In

a fire. Roast thus originally meant to cook food

(held to some form of scaffolding) by the radiant

early agrarian societies, after all, most food wasn't

eaten fresh-like bricks, it was sun-dried to keep it

heat of a fire (see Roasting, page 28). Most cooks

today find ovens more convenient than fires . So

from rotting. Most likely, early bakers used their

most foods we casually refer to as roasted-roast

beef, for example, or roast turkey-are actually
baked.
Bake, interestingly, means something quite

different from what most people think. The

heritage of the word has been traced back

ovens to dry their food faster.

And that is still mostly what oven baking does
to food : it dries it. So any cook who wants to
understand baking-how it really works, why it's
harder than it looks, and how to achieve consistent
results-needs to comes to grips with the single
most important factor in baking: humidity.

Invariably, we describe oven-cooked meat as roasted when, in

reality, it is baked. The traditional baked ham is the linguistic
exception that proves the rule.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

101

It's Not the Heat;

It's the Humidity

almost invariably change, perhaps dramatically,

Anyone who has ever overcooked (or undercooked) anything in an oven knows that baking is

occur during baking.

thermometer) will end up. Worse still, it will

during the three distinct stages of drying that

capricious. Through experience we learn the

You can stick your arm in a hot
oven without being burned only
because air transfers heat only
weakly. Touch the fast-conducting
metal walls of a hot oven, and
you're sure to get a burn.

idiosyncrasies and quirks of our oven, and soon we

Why Preheat?

come to loathe baking in unfamiliar ovens. We

can blame the oven-and to be sure it is a deeply

The only time during baking that cooks actually

flawed technology-but more often than not, our

have full control over the temperature inside their

own assumptions are at fault.

oven is when the oven has finished preheating,

Most of us think that baking is just a way to heat

before the food goes in. Preheating is important

something. But that's only half the story. As the

because it gives the oven a large and reasonably

oven transfers heat to the food, moisture from the

well-controlled reservoir of heat energy to draw on

food evaporates into the air as water vapor.

as it reacts to the influx of cold that occurs when

Eventually the water vapor disappears out the

food is inserted. Preheating is one simple way to

vent, but before it does it wreaks havoc on the

stack the odds in favor of consistent baking.

effective temperature of the oven. It is the primary

Although heating elements and

burners are extremely hot, they're
relatively small. They are no match
for the rush of cold air that occurs
whenyouopenyourovendoo~

The walls of an oven provide a

much bigger surface area from
which to supply heat. That's why
preheating is so important: hot
oven walls help maintain a steady
baking temperature. This is
especially true of wood-fired
ovens, which usually have thick
masonry walls to hold the heat.

Preheating always seems to take an unreason-

cause of erratic results. Compared with this, the

ably long time. Why? The short answer is that

other concerns about baking are such small details

that in most cases they are simply irrelevant.

required to reach the baking temperature is quite

most of the hot air is wasted. The actual energy

small; just 42 kJ will heat 0.14 m 3 I S ft 3 of air

Water vapor is so important because it, much

to 250 c

more than the thermostat setting you dial in,

I 480 F. The heating element in a

determines the actual cooking temperature. In

typical oven supplies this much energy in a mere

other words, it's not the heat; it's the humidity.

21 seconds.

Humidity inside a conventional oven, unfortu-

It is the oven walls you want to preheat, however, not the air. Unfortunately, the heat must pass

nately, is largely under the control of the food, not

the cook. That's why turning the control knob on

through the air to get to the walls, and air is a truly

your oven is a bit like spinning a roulette wheel-

awful conductor of heat, only slightly better than

Styrofoam insulation (see How Heat Conducts

you never know exactly where the cooking temperature (which, as we'll explain, is very different

Itself, page 1277). Even worse, air is a wasteful

from the temperature measured by your oven

medium because, being a gas, air expands when

heated (see When Hot Particles Move, page
1279). The hotter the air, the more it expands, and
much of it simply spills out the vent to heat the
kitchen rather than the oven. Closing the vent is
not an option because without an avenue for
escape the expanding air could cause the oven to
pressurize and eventually explode.
Skipping the preheating step is not a good
option either. If you put food into the oven as soon
as the air inside is hot but before the walls are at
the target temperature, the cold food will warm
only a little before the air loses most of its excess
heat. Exacerbating the situation, the warming
food will emit water vapor, a cool, dense gas. The
water vapor will sink to the bottom of the oven,
forcing hotter, less dense, dry air up and out the
oven's vent.
Now the oven has to heat this mixture of cooler
air and water vapor. And of course they too

102

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

expand when heated, needlessly throwing away

still more heat. All of this puts a strain on an oven's
heating element or burner, and baking slows.
As soon as you open the oven door to adjust or

are in competition. Which one will win?

The surprising answer is that, for most of the
baking time, evaporation wins in nearly all foods.
Until the surface of the food is almost completely

check on the food, all of the hot air and vapor

dried, evaporation holds the exterior temperature

spills out. The puny electric element or gas burner

of the food to below the boiling point of water. The

in most ovens is sized for the steady state situation,

oven may be set to 250 c

so it is no match for such large surges of cool air.

food is concerned, the cooking temperature is at

The temperature in the oven plummets and

least 150 c

recovers only slowly.

Preheating the massive walls of the oven helps

I 480 p, but as far as the

I 270 p cooler than that.

For more on the surprising amount of heat

energy consumed by evaporation, see The
Energy of Changing States. page 1-300.

What's happening is that all of the additional

heat energy arriving at the surface of the food is

prevent such excursions in temperature. The hot

being used to vaporize water rather than to

walls can store large quantities of heat energy and

increase the temperature of the food. Simply put,

can release it quickly when needed to rapidly

none of the heat sinks in. During this phase of

restore the temperature inside.

baking, the effective baking temperature becomes

stuck at something less than 100 c I 212 p_

The Real BakingTemperature

which is defined as the temperature of evaporating

When you preheat your oven, you dial in a desired

water. Because the wet-bulb temperature is

baking temperature. This is called the dry-bulb

defined by the temperature of evaporating water, it

temperature. It sets the stage for the first phase of

cannot ever be above 100 c I 212 F.

usually a lot less-at the wet-bulb temperature,

baking. There's more going on in this phase than

most people realize.
As hot, dry air flows over cool, wet food, the

You can't really master baking until you understand that the wet-bulb temperature is the real
baking temperature, the one that determines how

temperature at the surface of the food begins to

fast the turkey, leg oflamb, or loaf of bread will

rise steadily. Moisture is always evaporating from

take to bake. Even though the wet-bulb tempera-

the surface of food, of course, but the evaporation

ture is more important than the dry-bulb tempera-

accelerates as the dry-bulb temperature rises.

ture, it is less familiar to cooks.

Because it takes energy to change water from

The two temperatures differ in several critical

liquid to vapor form, the evaporation cools the

ways. The wet-bulb temperature can never be

food as it dries it. That cooling effect slows the

hotter than the dry-bulb temperature. It can also

rise in the surface temperature of the food.

So at the same time that hot air in the oven is

never be hotter than the boiling point of water.

The dry-bulb temperature is independent of

adding heat to the food, evaporative cooling is

humidity, but the wet-bulb temperature rises

sucking heat out of the food. The two processes

dramatically as the relative humidity of the

TRADITIONA L COOK I NG

10 3

surrounding air increases. Wet-bulb temperature

Re lative hum idity measures the
capacity of air to accept water
vapo r. When it is at 100%, the air
cannot accept more water vapor,
and co ndensation occurs. The
abso lute amo unt of water that air
ca n ho ld changes strongly with the
dry-bu lb tempe rature. Re lative
humidity read ings are always
specific to a given temperature. For
more detai ls, see page 1-314.

Unknown and uncontrolled, the wet-bulb

is the dry-bulb temperature minus any cooling by

temperature is the biggest source of inconsistency

evaporation. The lower the relative humidity, the

when baking. This fact is why water-vapor ovens,

more evaporative cooling, so the bigger the

combi ovens, and sous vide water baths produce

difference between the two temperatures.

much more consistent results than traditional

In the extreme case-100% relative humidity,

ovens do. Each of these modern technologies

when the hot oven air cannot hold another drop of

provides some measure of direct control of the

water vapor-the wet-bulb temperature will equal

elusive wet-bulb temperature. If you're baking

the dry-bulb temperature. Because the wet-bulb

with a traditional oven, you will need to focus

temperature can never exceed the boiling point,

instead on managing the three stages of drying.

such high humidity can occur only at dry-bulb

temperatures below the boiling point of water.
Unfortunately, the wet-bulb temperature is

The Stages of Drying

difficult if not impossible to control in a traditional

When the dry-b ulb tem perature
exceeds the bo iling po int of wate r,
relative humidity becomes
undefined beca use the air can then
accept an unlim ited amo unt of
water vapor.

Baking, we've now established, is all about drying.

oven. You can adjust the dry-bulb temperature just

It's helpful to think of drying as occurring in three

by twisting a knob, but there is no comparable

distinct stages. In the first, called the settling

control for the wet-bulb temperature, except in

period, the temperature at the surface of the food

expensive combi ovens and water-vapor ovens (see

quickly rises from its starting point up to the

Cooking with Moist Air, page 154).

wet-bulb temperature but then stalls and remains

You can measure the wet-bulb temperature

Food baking in an oven dries out in three
distinct stages (shown from left to right):
the settling period, the constant-rate
period, and the falling-rate period. For
many foods, like tomatoes drying in a
warm oven, the last stage can take a long
time because, once the exterior of the
food has dried completely, moisture can
escape only slowly.

After the initial settling period, the wet-bulb

mometer in a wet cloth (but be sure to allow it

temperature increases again but more slowly than

time to warm up and settle, and keep the cloth

before. When enough water evaporates from the

damp). Or you can try to predict it by looking up

food, the humidity in the oven increases apprecia-

the dry-bulb temperature, the humidity in the

bly. The jump in humidity retards further evapora-

oven, and the current air pressure on a psychro-

tion and frees the wet-bulb temperature to inch

metric chart (see How to Measure Relative

upward.

Humidity, page 1322). But neither of these

methods is particularly easy.

Dry-bulb temperature: 60 ( I 140 oF

Surface temperature of tomatoes: 40 ocI 104 F

Wet-bulb temperature: 40 ( I 104 oF

Relative humidity of the oven: 30%

In the settling period, the fruit quickly heats and soon settles at the wet-bulb temperature.

106

at a plateau until the surface dries substantially.

directly by wrapping the bulb of an oven ther-

Next comes the constant-rate period, when

evaporation flings water from the food into the air,

Dry-bulb temperature: 60 ( 1140 F

Surface temperature of tomatoes: 50 ( I 122 oF

Wet-bulb temperature: 50 ( 1122 F

Relative humidity of the oven: 58%

Both the wet-bulb temperature and the relative humidity in the oven rise during the
constant-rate period as water evaporates from the food. The surface of the food looks
and feels wet during this stage.

VO LUME 2 TEC HNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

7
but water is just as quickly replenished by capillary

there. What happens next depends on whether

action and diffusion, which drive juices to the

the dry-bulb temperature is above or below the

surface from deeper within the moist interior.

boiling point of water.

During the constant-rate period, the core gradual-

At dry-bulb temperatures below 100 c

ly begins to dry, and its temperature rises to equal

212 p, the real baking temperature of the dry

the wet-bulb temperature in the oven.

crust, as well as that of a narrow layer of still-moist

There is a yin and a yang to this effect. Often,

food just beneath it, shoots up quickly to nearly

when we bake something, we want it cooked and

match the oven temperature. The sudden rise

juicy, so we want the constant-rate period to be as

occurs because evaporation slows. The dry crust

brief as possible. Cooking with a high dry-bulb

thickens and traps water below it. Much of that

temperature, with high humidity-or, even better,

confined water is tightly bound to the molecules of

with both-helps curtail this stage.

the food, so it cannot evaporate readily. As evapo-

Other kinds of foods, however, are baked

primarily to dry them out. In such cases we want

ration dwindles, so does its cooling effect.

Things work a little differently when the dry-

to extend the constant-rate period to allow enough

bulb temperature in the oven is above 100 c I

time for the slow processes of capillary action and

212 p, as is typical for baking. Once a dry crust

diffusion to remove water from deep within the

appears on the food, a boiling zone forms beneath

food . Baking with dry air and a low dry-bulb

that crust. The food in that region cannot get any

temperature (below the boiling point of water)

hotter than the boiling point of water until nearly

aids dehydration while preventing the outside

all the water there evaporates.

Boiling does accelerate cooking because it

from burning.
The third and final stage of drying, called the

conducts heat into the core as fast as possible. But

falling-rate period, begins once the surface of the

for delicate meats and seafood this comes at a

food becomes desiccated. Evaporation has raced

steep price: overcooking of a large proportion of

ahead of capillary action and diffusion, so juices

the interior. At this stage of baking, if you're not

from the center no longer reach the surface to

careful, you can easily boil the food to death.

keep it wet. Now a delicious crust forms in the

On the other hand, the same hot oven does

desiccation zone. Beneath the crust, however, the

wonders for the crust. As the crust heats up to the

food is still moist, and evaporation continues

dry-bulb temperature of the oven air, it undergoes

Dry-bulb temperature: 60 c1140 r

Surface temperature of tomatoes: 54 c I 129 r

VVhetheryousetyourovento
212 For hotter, the rea l
baking temperature will quickly
rise higher than the wet-bulb
temperature at some point in the
falling-rate period. If you are
directly measuring the wet-bulb
temperature in your oven, take
care not to inadvertently overcook
the food during this phase.

100 T

Wet-bulb temperature: 50 c 1122 r

Relative humidity of the oven: 58%

In the falling-rate period, evaporation slows. and the tomatoes become tacky and
eventually dry to the touch. With less evaporation to cool the food. the surface temperature rises above the wet-bulb temperature.

Dry-bulb temperature: 60 cI 140 r

Surface temperature of tomatoes: 59 cI 138 r

Wet-bulb temperature: 40 cI 104 r

Relative humidity of the oven: 30%

Once drying is complete, both the humidity and the wet-bulb temperature fall inside the
oven. It can take a long time for moist foods to reach this point. Resist the temptation to
accelerate the process by turning up the temperature; that can harden the surface and trap
water inside. thereby causing uneven drying.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

107

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE BAKING CRUST

Athin boundary layer of stagnant air

surrounds parts of the exterior
surface of this baking beef rib roast
and slows both its absorption of heat
and its evaporation of water.

The crust that forms in the

desiccation zone allows heat to move
into the food both by convection of
water vapor and by direct conduction
where the meat contacts the
"roasting" pan.

In the boiling zone beneath the crust

and dried-out meat, the temperature
is exactly at the boiling point of
water. This temperature is the real
baking temperature of the meat.

Most of the meat is in the conduction

zone, where temperatures are below
boiling and heat conducts slowly
toward the core.

As food dries during baking,

its true baking temperature changes
depending on how qu ickly water
is eva porating from beneath the
surface. Thus, the best way to
measure the real baking
temperature is by sticking the tip
of your thermometer into the zo ne
slightly beneath the dry surface
of the food.

a cascade of complex chemical reactions that

Convection Baking

usually include the Maillard reaction. The result-

So far we have focused on how heat moves from

ing pigments paint a golden hue across the crust of

the surface crust (the desiccation zone) through

everything from baking bread to "roasting" meat.

the boiling zone (where evaporation dominates)

These chemical changes happen quickly at

and into the conduction zone as it makes its way

temperatures above 130 oc

I 265 F. So a typical
baking temperature of205 oc I 400 op would

toward the center of the food. But we haven't yet

burn the crust were it not for wafts of steam and a

invisible zone between the air and baking food.

trickle of juices continually percolating up from

This region, called the boundary layer, is

the boiling zone. Together, they provide just

important in baking because it controls how fast

discussed where the heat comes from: a fourth,

enough moisture to cool the browning surface

convection can heat the surface. If you want to

long enough for baking to finish. They also

understand where a convection oven excels and

provide a steady supply of chemical ingredients-

where it doesn't, you need to know what happens

dissolved sugars, proteins, oils, and other reactive

in the boundary layer.

molecules-for the flavorful reactions occurring

at the crust that make baking, well, baking.

1 08

Drag is one important thing that happens there.

Any time a fluid (such as air) passes over a surface,

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

drag slows it down. The deceleration can be so

pronounced that small, thin puddles of stagnant

convection oven "cooks 25% faster" or "10 degrees

hotter" than a conventional oven is thus so over-

air constantly pool over parts of the food surface.

simplified as to be a fallacy. The actual difference

The dead air in these puddles acts like a wet

in cooking time depends on what part of the

blanket: it makes it hard for heat to get into the

cooking process is the limiting factor that deter-

food and harder for water vapor to get out.

mines the baking time. In large foods, the time it

takes to conduct heat into the core controls

The boundary layer is thicker in a still oven than

it is in a convection oven with the fan going, and it
is thicker around rough foods than it is around

cooking speed; a convection oven doesn't appreciably accelerate that. In thinner foods, conduction is a smaller part of the overall process, and the

slippery surfaces. In general, the faster and more

easily the air slides over the food, the thinner the

convection oven can make a bigger difference.

boundary layer and the faster that heat transfer

There is no simple rule that applies in all cases.

and evaporation can occur.

So it stands to reason that baking should

Scorched by Heat Rays

happen faster in a convection oven, where a

powerful fan continuously stirs the air around

Forced convection cannot completely solve the

the food. Convection baking is faster, but often

problem of uneven baking because the air is not

only slightly. The dramatic reductions in cooking

the only source of scorched spots-radiant heat is.

time frequently touted for convection ovens are

The hot walls of an oven are always radiating

the exception rather than the rule. What's more,

infrared energy. The hotter the oven temperature,

forced convection does not actually make baking

the more intense the infrared radiation bouncing

more even, as many people seem to think.

When the fan in the oven blows, it strips away

around inside it. You can't see this, but you can
certainly feel it. Stick an arm into an oven set to

it with drier surrounding air. The boundary layer

120 oc I 250 op, and it will feel warm. But try this
in an oven set to 290 oc I 550 op, and it will feel

thins, and the exterior dries faster than it other-

intensely hot right away. The fact that you can feel

water vapor near the surface of the food and mixes

Baking bacon finishes faster in a forced

convection oven. as do other thin foods
that need to be dried as much as they
need to be heated. For thicker foods.
convection baking saves much less
cooking time. Unfortunately, there are
no hard and fast rules about how much
quicker the cooking goes.

wise would. So forcing convection does not

the difference immediately is a clue that it's not

directly speed cooking; it's more accurate to say it

the air providing the heat you feel.

speeds drying.

Unfortunately, oven walls always radiate heat

unevenly. The walls are thicker in some spots than

Exposed to a steady supply of dry air, the

evaporation zone recedes into the food where, if

in others, and some parts of the wall are closer to

the oven is hot enough, it becomes a boiling zone

that drives heat conduction toward the core. A hot

the burners or heating elements than others. So

the temperature can fluctuate by tens of degrees

oven and a powerful fan can force the boiling zone

from one spot to another. Many oven doors

deeper into the food than natural convection

would. It is an indirect process, but the end result

contain a window, which radiates a lot less heat

than the walls do.

is that baking finishes faster.

At low oven temperatures, these fluctuations

How much faster varies greatly from one kind

of food to the next, however. Thin food (such as
bacon) benefits the most. Baking times shrink far

but, at high baking temperatures, they matter a lot.

less for thick foods (such as a ham) because the

faster drying caused by forced convection makes

oven wall at 270 oc I 520 op is 16% more intense

the exterior crust thicker-an effect that is

slightly cooler at 250 oc I 480 F.

sometimes but not always desirable. Once that

crust thickens, which happens more readily on dry

Exacerbating this problem, the food itself also

absorbs radiant heat unevenly. Some parts of the

foods, it behaves like a heat shield. The boiling

surface naturally dry faster and brown earlier.

zone recedes deep inside the food, and faster

Because dark surfaces absorb more radiant heat

than light surfaces do, these small variations are

convection at the surface has little further effect

on heating or evaporation.
The conventional wisdom that a forced-

110

don't matter much because radiant heat is weak;

The power of radiant heat emitted from part of an
than the power coming from part of a wall that is

quickly magnified by radiant heat. If the oven is

hot enough, or if a darkening part of the food is

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

7
particularly close to an intense spot of radiant
heat, those parts of the food are likely to scorch
and burn. Far from solving these problems, forced
convection ovens can actually make things worse
because they accelerate the uneven drying that
contributes to uneven browning.
Ultimately, there is little to be done about this
aspect ofbaking. Beyond using a shiny oven or
baking at low temperatures, a baker can only keep
his oven clean (see note at right) and pay attention
to how the food is browning. Rotate the food as
needed, and consider shielding problematic spots
on the food with aluminum foil to reflect incoming radiant heat.

Why Consistency Is So Elusive

Your single most powerful tool for achieving
consistent results-not only when baking but
when using all of the cooking techniques in this
chapter-is accurate temperature control. At the
most fundamental level, temperature is what
determines whether food is underdone, overdone,
or done just right.
The challenge is that baking involves two
temperatures, dry-bulb and wet-bulb, and we can
control only the dry-bulb temperature. As for the
wet-bulb temperature, we can only strive to be

more physical distance between the sensor and the

aware of it, to measure and monitor it, and to

food, the bigger the error. You can and should

develop some intuition about the factors that

calibrate the dry-bulb thermostat of your oven for

affect it (see The Real Baking Temperature,

more consistent baking.

page 103).
Controlling temperature would be easier were

The second frustrating fact about ovens is that

bigger batches bake faster. You already know that a

it not for two more frustrating facts about ovens

lightly loaded oven will heat differently than an

that conspire against consistency. First, the

oven that has food on every rack. But you might

thermostat in nearly all traditional ovens is just

subscribe to the conventional wisdom that a fully

plain wrong. As technologies go, it is under-

loaded oven will take longer to bake. In actuality,

whelming: it is nothing more than a switch that

however, as long as an oven is properly preheated,

opens and closes in response to the temperature it

a full oven will usually bake food faster than one

senses. In the worst case, the sensing probe is

that is largely empty.

located behind the oven walls. In the best case, it

The reason is that humidity increases the real

protrudes into the oven cavity. (It's a metal tube

baking temperature, and most of the humidity in

with a crimped end.) Inside, it is filled with an

an oven comes from the food itself. A single sheet

incompressible fluid that responds to changes in

of cookies will not increase the humidity in the

temperature just like an alcohol-filled glass

oven to saturation, but a full load of cookies will,

thermometer.

and it will do it fast.

This type of temperature sensor mismeasures

the real dry-bulb temperature by as much as

The interior walls of a typical oven have

hot spots (red) and cold spots (blue) that
make it difficult to bake food evenly. Any
grease stains on the walls will burn to a
dark black and become hot spots because
darker surfaces are more efficient emitters
of radiant heat. So keep your oven clean.
Some modern ovens have mirror-like
interiors that emit very little radiant heat.
In principle, this should reduce fluctuations in temperature between one part of
the oven and another.

This situation means that proper cooking times

can vary for different batch sizes. Keep that in

14 c I 25 p at high baking temperatures, and

mind when you are developing a recipe for a small

often by even more at very low temperatures. The

volume and scaling it up.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

111

7
Further Reading
TEXTBOOKS ON TRADITIONAL COOKING

Campbell,]., Foskett, D. Advanced Practical

Cookery: A Textbook for Education & Industry.
Edward Arnold, 2006.
Cook's Illustrated Magazine. The New Best Recipe.
America's Test Kitchen, 2004.
Culinary Institute of America. The Professional
Chef Wiley, 2001.
Ducasse, A. Grand Livre De Cuisine: Alain Ducasse's
Culinary Encyclopedia. Ducasse Books, 2009.
Gisslen, W. Professional Cooking. Wiley, 2010.

Tsuji, S., Tsuji, Y. Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art.

Kodansha International, 2007.
Walsh, R. Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook:
Recipes and Recollections from the Pit Bosses.
Chronicle Books, 2002.
Willingham,]. John Willingham's World Champion
Bar-B-Q Over 150 Recipes and Tall Tales For
Authentic, Braggin' Rights, Real Southern Bar-B-Q
and All the Fixin's. William Morrow Cookbooks,
1996.
Young, G., Richardson, A. The Breath of a Wok:
Unlocking the Spirit of Chinese Wok Cooking Through
Recipes. Simon & Schuster, 2004.

Labensky, S. R., eta!. On Cooking: A Textbook of

Culinary Fundamentals. Prentice Hall, 2010.
Lienhard IV,]. H., Lienhard V,]. H . A Heat
Transfer Textbook. Prentice Hall, 1987.
Montagne, P., editor. Larousse Gastronomique.
Clarkson Potter, 2001.

THE SCIENCE OF COOKING

Adria, F. Modern Gastronomy: A to Z. CRC Press,

2009.
Barham, P. The Science of Cooking. Springer, 2001.

Pepin,]., Perer, L. Jacques Pepin's Complete

Techniques. Black Dog & Leventhal, 2001.

Corriher, S. 0. CookWise: The Secrets of Cooking

Revealed. William Morrow Cookbooks, 1997.

Peterson,]. Cooking. Ten Speed Press, 2007.

Ruhlman, M. The Elements of Cooking: Translating
the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen. Scribner, 2010.

Joachim, D., et al. The Science of Good Food: The

Ultimate Reference on How Cooking Works. Robert
Rose, 2008.

COOKBOOKS FOR SPECIFIC

McGee, H . On Food and Cooking: The Science and

Lore of the Kitchen. Scribner, 2004.

CUISINES OR TECHNIQUES

Cottenceau, M. The Professional Charcuterie Series.

Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1991.
Davis, A. A., Kirk, P. The Kansas City Barbeque
Society Cookbook. Andrews McMeel, 2010.
Girardet, F. Girardet: Recipes from a Master of
French Cuisine. Ten Speed Press, 2004.
Kutas, R. Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing.
Stackpole Books, 2007.

This, H. Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of

Cooking. Columbia University Press, 2007.
This, H. The Science of the Oven. Columbia
University Press, 2009.
Wolke, R. L. What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen
Science Explained. W. W. Norton, 2008.
Wolke, R. L., Parrish, M. What Einstein Told His
Cook 2: The Sequel: Further Adventures in Kitchen
Science. W. W. Norton, 2005.

Mallmann, F., Kaminsky, P. Seven Fires: Grilling

the Argentine Way. Artisan, 2009.

REFERENCE AND TECHNICAL BOOKS

Peterson,]. Sauces: Classical and Contemporary

Sauce Making. Wiley, 2008.

Davidson, A., Jaine, T. The Oxford Companion to

Food. Oxford University Press, 2006.

Ruhlman, M., Polcyn, B. Charcuterie: The Craft of

Salting, Smoking, and Curing. W. W. Norton, 2005.

Fellows, P.J. Food Processing Technology: Principles

and Practice. CRC Press, 2009.

Sokolov, R. The Saucier's Apprentice: A Modern

Guide to Classic French Sauces for the Home.
AlfredA. Knopf, 1976.

Incropera, F., et al. Introduction to Heat Transfer.

Wiley, 2006.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

113

7
COOKING IN OIL
The technique of cooking in oil is cloaked in

these of techniques, the oil affects only the surface

kitchen myth and culinary lore. Many people

of the food. Below the surface, heat is just heat; the

believe that deep-fried food is inherently greasy

food responds no differently than it would if it

and unhealthful, for example. But it doesn't have

were baked in air or boiled in water.

to be: the simple act of blotting French fries

But saying that cooking in oil is superficial

straight from the fryer can drastically reduce the

is not at all the same as saying that oil is

amount of fat they contain.

unimportant. Quite the opposite-whereas air

At the opposite extreme are those who have

unwavering faith in the seemingly magical ability

and water are simply fluids that we cook in, oil is

much more: not only a cooking medium, but

of molten animal fat to transform a boring cut of

also an ingredient. Heat cooks oil just as it does

meat into a superbly rich confit. In fact the making

most other ingredients, and the way that oil

of a confit is far from mystical, and other cooking

changes during heating has a profound impact

methods can honorably substitute for the ritual

on whether the food cooked in it will be

cauldron offat.

appealing or appalling.

To dispel some of the mystery surrounding

Will the oil impart a pleasant flavor and give the

these subjects, we will examine the forces at work

food a warm and slippery mouthfeel? Or will the

when food encounters hot oil. The physical

oil leave the food rancid-tasting, scorched, and

mechanisms of deep-frying, shallow frying, and

unpleasantly greasy? The answer depends on the

con fit cooking actually require only a superficial

kind of oil used and how skillfully it is handled,

explanation. We mean this literally: in each of

alone or with the other ingredients in the fryer.

Amazingly, the bubbles erupting from frying potatoes (left and above) are filled with
nothing but water-in the form of steam. They signal the profound importance of water
vapor in deep-frying. Even submerged in hot oil, food encounters a humid environment as

water vaporizes from the food surface. The bubbles stir cooler oil near the food into the
hotter surrounding oil. much as forced convection stirs the air in an oven.

TRAD I TIONA L COOKING

11 5

Just Like Baking, Only Faster

closer together in deep-frying than they typically

Deep-frying works a lot like baking. In both

are in baking.

techniques, a convecting fluid transfers heat to

food: the oil in a deep fryer churns in response to

Preheating an oven is crucial to baking, and you

want to preheat your frying oil for the same

differences in buoyancy between hot and cold

reason: to absorb the cold shock that occurs when

food is added, so that each batch of food cooks
consistently. Typical preheating temperatures,

layers, just as the air in an oven does. The same

distinct cooking zones form while baking and
frying food, and humidity plays a major role in the
cooking temperature during deep-frying as well.
Humidity? Yes, indeed. It may seem that food
For a comparison of the heat-transfer rates of
various methods of cooking, see It Matters How
You Heat. page 1283.

For more on the importance of wet-bulb

temperature in cooking, see It's Not the Heat;
It's the Humidity, page 102.

submerged in hot oil should not be subject to the

effects of humid air, but it is. The moisture comes

lower than those used for high-temperature

baking because the oil will erupt into flames if it
gets too near its smoke point. You wouldn't want
to cook in oil hotter than 200 oc I 390 op anyway

from water in the food that is driven to evaporate

because the high rate of heat transfer during

by the heat applied to the food surface. This effect

is invisible in baking, but in deep-frying the water

frying would probably cause the outside of the

food to burn before the inside cooks.

vapor gives rise to countless steam bubbles that

form in the oil around the food (see illustration

A last crucial connection of deep-frying to

baking is the division of the cooking process into

on page 124).

three distinct stages: the settling period, the

Steam does emerge from the food less readily in

constant-rate period, and the falling-rate period.

oil than it does in air. Oil puts a lid on evaporation:

The duration of each stage is much shorter when

it contains the water vapor coming from the food

at least momentarily. The pockets of steam that

frying than when baking, however, so the process

envelop the food raise the humidity and therefore

Once food enters the hot oil, things happen fast.

Swirling currents of oil heat the surface of the food

the wet-bulb temperature, which remains the

effective cooking temperature as long as the
surface of the food is wet.

demands greater vigilance.

to the wet-bulb temperature in only a few sec-

bulb temperature, like the temperature of the oven

onds-a rushed version of the settling period that

occurs during baking (see photos on page 106). As
long as bubbles are streaming from the food, you

thermostat during baking. (Although oil doesn't

seem all that dry, the point is that oil doesn't have

hotter than boiling water. The cooking tempera-

The temperature of the oil serves as the dry-

any water in it.) The moisture-trapping ability of

oil brings wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures

Potato chips and fried chicken are both deep-fried, but they have different textures
because of their different sizes. Thin foods cook through evenly, so chips can be crispy

116

which range from 150-200 oc I 300-390 op, are

can be sure that the surface is wet and thus no

ture at the food surface will remain a constant
100 oc I 212 op as long as juices percolate from the

on the inside as well as the surface. large, thick foods cook more quickly at the surface
than at the center, so you can get a moist, tender interior and a crispy or crunchy crust.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

7
moist interior to the surface of the food at least as

between a fast-cooking surface and a slow-cooking

fast as water evaporates from the food surface.

interior means that food needs to be sized just

The settling period may be over in an instant, or

it may last a few minutes. It will take longer for
larger or thicker pieces of food, for food coated in

right for deep-frying.

Intuitively, cooks know that small or thin pieces
of food are better suited for deep-frying than large,

wet batter, and for foods in which the juices don't

thick pieces are. It's possible to make a more exact

flow readily to the surface.

statement mathematically by calculating a quanti-

During this phase of cooking, the jets of steam

ty called the Biot number. It is the ratio of how

bubbles stir and thus shrink the stagnant bound-

readily heat moves from the oil into the surface of

ary layer that insulates the food from the oil. The

the food to the rate of conduction of heat into the

Jacuzzi-like action thus moves heat from the oil to

center of the food.

the food faster-often two or three times faster

than occurs once the bubbles have stopped

If this ratio is a very small number-because

the food conducts heat very rapidly, is very small

emerging. But as with forced convection in an

or thin, or both-then the center heats nearly as

oven, faster heat transfer during deep-frying

fast as the surface. When you deep-fry food with a

simply accelerates drying.

low Biot number, you find that it maintains an

Pay close attention when the streams of bubbles

even temperature from edge to center throughout

start to slow: a mere trickle indicates that the

the cooking process. This is the case with thin

surface is drying and that a crust is forming. The

fried chips, for example.

food is nearly through the constant-rate period

If the Biot number is large, on the other hand,

now and is approaching the final stage of deep-

the surface becomes a bottleneck through which

frying, when it could easily burn. On irregularly

the heat can pass only slowly. The edges of the

shaped food, some parts could burn even while

food then heat much faster than the center.

other parts are still bubbling.

At the end of deep-frying, during the fallingrate period, the temperature of the crust rises
quickly, and the boiling zone moves deeper into

In technical terms, the Biot

number Bi = (hxV)+(Axk), where h
is the heat transfer coefficient of
the oil, Vis the volume of the food,
A is the surface area of the food,
and k is the therma l conductivity
of the food. Thus, reducing the
volume offood wh ile increasing
the surface area produces a
smaller Biot number and more
evenly cooked food.

Unfortunately, this latter situation is the more

common experience of cooks who deep-fry.
Food is such a poor heat conductor that anything except paper-thin slices of food heat faster at

the food, just as they do in the final stage of

the surface than at the center. This effect can be

baking. This is the point at which the golden color

something to celebrate. In French fries, for

and crispy or crunchy crust develop, the raisons

example, it accounts for the exquisite contrast

d' etre of deep-frying.

between a crispy crust and a light, fluffy interior.

This last stage also presents the principle

But there's a reason you won't find French fries

challenge of deep-frying, which is to cook the

much larger than your fingers. When foods are too

food to the center before the crust burns. Al-

large, uneven heat transfer from the surface to the

though the same challenge must be faced during

center becomes a problem. It takes so long to raise

baking, deep-frying is much less forgiving of

the temperature at the center of the food that the

imperfect timing because oil moves heat much

intense heat of deep-frying overcooks the outside

faster than air does.

or, worse, burns it.

Jean-Baptiste Biot was a French

physicist who made sign ificant
contributions to the fields of optics,
magnetism, and astronomy in the
early 19th century. He was also the
first scientist to supply convincing
evidence that meteorites came
from outer space.

When in doubt, cut food into smaller pieces.

Small objects have a lower Biot number than large

Sized just Right

ones; they heat more evenly from surface to

Circulating hot oil transfers heat extremely

center, and they also heat through faster. If you

rapidly, so deep-frying is one of the fastest ways to

can cut the volume of food in half, you will

cook the surface of food. Beneath the surface,

decrease the cooking time by as much as a factor

however, heat propagates in frying food in the

of four. What's more, you'll avoid the unhappy

same way it does in any other cooking technique:

experience of eating deep-fried food that is burned

slowly, through conduction. The mismatch

on the outside and raw in the center.

T RA DI T I ONAL COOK IN G

For more on conduction. see Heat in Motion,

page 1277.

11 7

In Pursuit of the Golden Crust

For an example of multistage frying, see the
recipe for triple-cooked chips, page B22.

The downside of cooler frying is that the texture

In addition to sizing, you can exploit several other

of the crust can sometimes suffer. The archetypal

strategies to achieve a perfectly textured, golden

thin, pleasantly crispy or crunchy crust is a direct

crust. Which approach you choose depends in

result of the quick drying that happens at high

part on the kind of food you're frying.

temperatures. Turn down the heat, and the surface

of some foods dries more slowly, yielding a thick,

One simple approach to avoid burning is to turn

If you use any of these precoo king
techniques, be su re, fo r safety's
sake, to blot the mo isture off the
surface of the food before droppi ng
it into hot oil.

down the temperature on your fryer. At tempera-

hard crust that very often becomes tough and

tures from 160-165 ' C I 320-330 ' F, the Maillard

chewy as the food cools.

Lower temperatures aren't always an option. If

reaction and other chemical reactions that brown a

dry crust still occur-albeit a bit more slowly than

puffing the food is important, for example, then

at higher temperatures-but the food won't burn.

very hot oil is a must.

A second strategy, which works well for delicate foods that aren't too large, is to coat the food
in a wet batter. The coating fries into a superb
crust even as it protects the food from overcooking. In the oil, the water in the batter boils steadily, but a pocket of cooler, humid air develops
between the batter and the food . The food essentially bakes in this cool zone of moist air rather
than frying in the oil.
The thickness of the batter determines just how
cool this blanket of air will be. Thin, tempura-like
batters have a slight cooling effect, whereas thick,
wet batters cool food substantially. Of course,
batters have the added virtue of producing the
kinds of irresistible crusts that are a hallmark of
great deep-frying.
A third strategy that works well with many
kinds of food is multistep deep-frying-that is,

The batter on a piece of halibut (above) and the shell on a prawn (below) serve the same function in deep-frying:
to trap water vapor and protect delicate food from the scorching heat of frying oil. Because of these barriers, the
food stays moist and cooks at temperatures cooler than that of the oil.

cooking the food before frying it. For vegetables

and other foods that aren't easily overcooked at
near-boiling temperatures, you can do both
steps in the deep fryer. First, cook the food all
the way through at a relatively low temperature,
typically 120-140 ' C I 250-285 ' F. Then
remove the food while you raise the temperature of the oil to 180-200 ' C I 355-390 ' F.
When the oil reaches the target temperature,
plunge the food back in until a golden-brown
crust appears.
A two-stage cooking process can also work well
for tender meats and delicate seafood, but only at
much lower temperatures. You want to avoid
raising the surface of the meat to the boiling
point; otherwise, it will overcook long before it
browns. Although you could parcook meat or
seafood in oil, that seems like a lot of fuss when
other gentle, low-temperature cooking techniques
will suffice. Low-temperature baking or poaching

1 22

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

is a simpler way to parcook before you fry.

The very best strategy for deep-frying tender or
delicate foods, however, is to precook the food
sous vide. Sous vide cooking affords tight control
over cooking temperature, time, and humidity, so

nize that old, heavily used frying oil will make the
food cooked in it taste rancid. Not as many know
that fresh oil has limitations, too.
Straight from the can or bottle, most frying oil
is practically odorless and tasteless because the

it almost always yields superior results with foods

chemical reactions that produce flavorful com-

that demand accurate cooking. And you can use

pounds haven't been completed yet. Food cooked

sous vide to avoid chopping because you can

in fresh oil also browns less quickly and evenly.

ensure that large pieces of food have cooked

But why should that be, given that fresh oil gets

through before you dunk them in the deep fryer to

just as hot as oil that has been broken in?

develop a delicious crust.

The answer comes down to the simple fact that

oil and water don't mix-at least not at first. Steam
bubbles streaming from deep-frying food push

Oil Changes

away the surrounding oil, so the food actually isn't

Oil is the most important ingredient in deep-

in constant contact with it (see Bubble, Bubble,

frying. It affects the flavor of the food, how well it

Oil, and ... Steam?, page 118). In fact, food frying

browns, how quickly it cooks, how greasy it

in fresh oil spends as little as one-tenth of the

becomes, and how healthful it is to eat. Yet cooks

cooking time in contact with the hot oil. Little

rarely give much thought to oil once it's poured

wonder that it takes longer to cook. The meager

into the vat of a deep fryer. They neglect to

browning you see when frying with fresh oil is a

consider that food isn't the only thing cooking in

dead giveaway that caramelization and Maillard

there: the oil is too!

Heating oil to high temperatures initiates a
cascade of chemical reactions that have a profound

reactions haven't occurred, so the food is bound to

After repeated use, frying oil goes through
another set of chemical reactions, called hydroly-

next page). First the fat molecules oxidize, forming

sis, that split and rearrange some of the fat mole-

highly reactive peroxide molecules. Then these

cules. Among the new reaction products are

unstable peroxides interact with other molecules

surfactants-also known as emulsifiers-that

in the oil to produce a menagerie of compounds

allow oil and water to mix. (Dish washing deter-

with varying flavors. Many are wonderfully

gent is one familiar example of a surfactant.)

deep-frying to the oil and, hence, to the deep-fried

Food cooked in oil that's been "broken in" this

time in contact with the oil. With heat being

as well as unappetizing.

delivered more rapidly, the food cooks faster to

compounds in oil depends in large part on how

much frying the oil has done. Most cooks recog-

American food chemist Michael

Blumenthal described the role of
emulsifiers in deep-frying in the
late 1980s. Before then, the
chemistry of"breaking in" frying oil
was utterly mysterious, even to the
most experienced cooks.

way will spend upwards of half of the total frying

food. Others smell awful and can be unhealthful

The proportion of pleasant to unpleasant

The best way to break in new oil

quickly is to add just a few teaspoons of old oil. The old oil
contains highly reactive compounds that will promote desirable
chemical cascades in the fresh
batch. Don't overdo it; a little of
these unstable compounds goes a
long way.

lack flavor, too.

effect on flavor (see The Secret Life of Frying Oil,

aromatic; they impart the characteristic aroma of

The color of potato chips results directly

from the temperature at which they are
deep-fried. Browning reactions occur
relatively slowly at temperatures below
155 cI 310 F. Above 170 cI 340 F, food
will burn if left too long in the oil. Between
those extremes, the chips will never get
darker than the golden colors shown no
matter how long they're cooked.

higher temperatures, an even golden-brown color,

and a more robust flavor.
Unfortunately, oil cannot be kept in its peak

TRADITIONAL COOKING

1 23

The Secret Life of Frying Oil

The intense heat of deep-frying actually cooks oil, causing a series
of complex chemical changes that create the characteristic flavors

of certain compounds build to levels that ruin the flavor of the food
and can leave the crust scorched and greasy. Some of the chemicals

and textures we associate with deep-fried food . At first, these

changes improve the quality of the oil, so it cooks and browns food
faster and more evenly. But with repeated use the concentrations

can eve n endanger your health. So change your frying oil regularly,
and, if you're using a pot of oil or a noncirculating heating bath for
deep-frying, strain the oil often to remove food particles.

The blue smoke sometimes seen above a deep fryer is a te lltale sign of oil
that is too hot, too old, or both. Microscopic soot particles and oi l
drop lets create an aeroso l that scatters light-the same phenomenon,
known as Tyndall scattering, that makes blue eyes blue. Both haze and
oi l contain acro lein, a toxic by-product (used in tear gas) that appears
when oil breaks down from excessive heat or repeated use.

ill Th e bubbling o il
entraps air ...

Acool zone beneath the heating element collects

food particles and prevents them from burning.

124

VOL UM E 2 TE CHNI QUES AND EQU I PM ENT

7
condition forever. The reactions that improve it

Taming Grease

ultimately ruin it. Emulsifiers accumulate each

If bubbling steam prevents oil from infusing into

time the oil is heated, so eventually the oil and

deep-frying food while it's cooking, how is it that

water mix too well, and the oil spends too much

poorly fried food is so often greasy? The answer

time in contact with the food, causing scorching.

lies in what happens to the food after the fry cook

Fragments of fat molecules also polymerize as

removes it from the oil and it begins to cool.

the oil is used, creating sticky gums that thicken

Those same volcano-like fissures and holes in

the oil, so it clings to food as it is pulled from the

the food through which steam escaped now

deep fryer.

become caves of condensation (see diagram

You know your frying oil is shot when the oil

below). As vapor condenses back to water in the

starts to foam as steam bubbles get stuck in this

crust, it creates a slight vacuum that sucks in oil

goo. Another sure sign of old oil is a rancid,

from the surface. Capillary action then does most

fishy aroma-the result of oxidation reactions

of the work of making food greasy by piping the

gone too far.

oil deep into the dried crust.

Old frying oil isn't just sticky and smelly: it's

Simply blotting deep-fried food as soon as it

downright dangerous. The chemical degradation

emerges from the fryer will make it a lot less

of the oil lowers the smoking and flash points,

greasy. But take care that you don't remove all

increasing the risk of a dangerous grease fire.

of the oily coating. Oil is, after all, the source of

Old oil also accumulates high levels of acro-

much of the flavor, texture, and mouthfeel of

lein, acrylamide, and other toxic compounds,

The "water fryer" is a japanese

invention that has the ultimate
strategy for dealing with crumbs at
the bottom-it has a layer of water
several centimeters (a few inches)
deep at the bottom of the fryer.
Since oil floats on water, it stays at
the bottom. The water is far below
the heating element, so it doesn't
get hot enough to boil. Any crumbs
fall into the water and thus do not
burn.

deep-fried food.

many of which are created in charred bits of food

These sensual effects are confined to the food

that build up in frying oil over time. Bits of food

surface, but that's right where they need to be.

are precisely why deep fryers are designed to

When we take a bite of fried food, our tongue,

have their heating element raised above the

cheeks, and palate sense the surface first; subse-

bottom of the fryer: it creates a cool zone under-

quent chewing mixes the warm, aromatic oils

neath that accumulates those stray bits and

together with the rest of the food.

keeps them from burning-but only for a while.

Rather than stripping off all of the oil, the goal

This is why it's a good idea to strain out food

of deep-frying should be to leave food coated

particles that break off during deep-frying. If

with just the right amount: neither too little to

they start to burn, they' ll ruin the oil.

impart the desirable deep-fried characteristics,

Steam "volcanoes" form when hot oil boils water in the

food, which migrates to the surface from the interior.

Blanch food before deep-frying

to form a kind of skin that resists
the absorption of oil. To enhance
this effect, add salt to the blanching
water-0.5% calcium chloride
works especially well.

The steam. erupting through surface pores and fissures,

prevents oil from penetrating the food during cooking.

TRADITIONA L COOK I NG

Overloading a deep fryer is a sure

route to greasy food. Crowding
food into the fryer lowers the oil
temperature, which in turn yields
a crust that is thick, leathery, and a
sop for excess oil.

After cooking. condensation creates a vacuum that draws

oil in; capillary action then wicks the oil still deeper.

12 5

THE C HEl'vliSTRY OF

Choosing an Oil
Cooks increasingly use neutral-flavored, unsaturated oils for

body temperature. Otherwise, the chip will be unpleasantly

d eep-frying; many believe that foods fried in such oils are more

tacky and greasy.

hea lthful th an those cooked in traditional frying oils. Many

oth er factors are worth taking into account when choosing a

Most saturated oils-and even some partially unsaturated

oils- melt well above body temperature, so they are not suitable

deep-frying oil, however. Although "sa turated " has become a

for frying foods served co ld . Glazed donuts are a notable excep-

dirty word in certa in circl es, the fact remains that saturated oils

tion to thi s rul e. If you don't want the glaze to crack, you' ll need

are often the right choice for deep-frying.

an oi l that leaves a coati ng of solid fat at room temperature.

Flavor is an important factor that just about everybody cares

A final important consideration is the stabi lit y of the oil.

about. But some neutral-flavored , unsaturated oils can present

Saturated oi ls are genera ll y more stable th an unsaturated oils,

problems. When McDonald 's traded th e beef tallow in its d eep

so th ey stay in peak frying condition longer. The saturated

fryers for unsaturated oils in 1990, for exa mple, the chai n found

vari ety are also much less prone to ran c idity both in the deep

that it needed to add tallow flavoring to augment the vegetab le

fryer and on stored fried food.

oils in which it cooks its French fries . Otherwise, the fries just
didn 't taste right.

In unsaturated fats, the polyun saturated molecules cause th e

fat to d egrade much more quickly as rancid aromas and toxic

Mouthfeel, another crucia l compo nent of taste, can come

into pl ay as well if the food will b e served co ld . Potato chips, for

compounds form. The short batch life of unsaturated oils can

m ake them more costly than saturated oi ls.

examp le, should be made by using a fat that melts in your

mouth, which means the m elting point of the oil must be below

The table below li sts important characteristics for some of

th e more commo n refined frying oi ls.

Common Frying Oils

Melting point

Smoke point

Flash point

Fat

Stability

( ' C)

( ' F)

( ' C)

(' F)

( ' C)

(' F)

beef tallow

ve ry high

54

129

205

400

260 - 290

500-554 distinct aroma

duck fat

high

54

129

190

375

varies

chicken fat (schmaltz) high

54

129

190

375

va ri es

300

palm oil

high

37

99

215-23 0

420 - 445

pork lard

high

33

91

185-205

365-400 200- 280 390 -535

cottonseed oil

moderat e to high

-1

30

215

420

570

230

445

Notes

minimizes off-flavors very wel l

peanut oil

mod erate to high

-2

28

225- 230

435 - 445

280

535

high-quality oil; allergenic

coconut

mod erate

25

77

175

345

215

420

ca n smoke excessively if unrefined

olive oil, extra virgin

moderate

-6

21

210

410

232

445

distin ct flavor; ca n turn acrid

hydrogenated soy oil

moderate

45

113

230

445

325

615

characteristi cs vary with amount of

hydrogenation

sesame oil

moderate

-5

23

210-215

410-42 0

255

490

high-quality oil; available toasted and

untoasted; high in antioxidants

palm olein oil

mod era te to low

10

so

215

420

varies

soybea n oil

mod era te to low

- 16

230-255

445 - 490 280

may discolor before oil is degrad ed

535

pron e to off-flavors

corn oil

mod erate to low

- 11 to - 8 12- 18

230

445

275

525

drains well

sunflower oil

low

- 17

225 - 245

435-475

275

525

poor-qu ality oil; tends to foam

safflower oil

low

- 17

230-2 65

445-510

260

500

canola (rapeseed) oil

low

10

so

205-240

400 - 465 250

480

pron e to off-flavors without treatm ent;

readi ly absorbed by food

grapesee d oil

low

10

so

200

390

480

ri ch in fatty acids; oxid izes easily

126

250

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

7
nor so much that the flavor and texture of the
food itself are obscured.
To control the oil coating, you need to know
what factors affect it. One is the age of the oil;
older frying oil becomes more viscous, so it clings
more stubbornly to the food than fresher oil does.
Frying temperature matters, too. Oil thickens
as the temperature drops, so less of it will drain
from the surface if you cook at lower temperatures. Exacerbating that effect, lower frying
temperatures also tend to produce a thick,
leathery crust that absorbs more oil after cooking.
Cooking French fries in oil just 10 c I 18 p
below the recommended temperature of 180185 c I 355-365 p can increase the oil absorption by 40%. To minimize grease and get a thin,
delicate crust, it's always best to deep-fry at the
highest temperature practical-but not so high
that your crust burns or scorches.

A schnitzel is the canonical example of a shallow-fried food. The breaded cutlet is too broad and flexible to hold a
good shape in the deep-fryer, but only a good drenching in very hot oil puffs and crisps its batter properly.

A third variable is the thickness of the food.

Thin foods have proportionally more crust than
interior volume, and the crust is where oil is

Shallow Frying

absorbed. So it stands to reason that, weight for

Shallow frying takes place in a pan rather than a

fryer, but don't be fooled: it's more akin to deep-

weight, potato chips can absorb two to three times

more oil than the same amount of French fries,

frying than to panfrying. If you think of the

technique as deep-frying in the shallow end, you'll

simply because the chips are all crust.

be less likely to skimp on the oil-and a surfeit of

Then there's surface roughness to consider.

oil is the key to a good shallow fry.

dramatically reduce the amount of oil that gets

Many home cooks wonder why their panfried

chicken breasts or fish fillets fail to turn out as well

trapped on the surface. That's not just because the

proportion of crust to interior is smaller, but also

as the ones they enjoy at finer restaurants. The

reason is that professional cooks load up their

because thick chips crack and blister less when

frying pans with oil-far more than they' d use for

a textbook panfry and far more than most home

Make your chip just a bit thicker and you will

they cook, and oil easily drains off a smoother

crust. There's a trade-off in texture, of course; a
thin chip will shatter crisply in your mouth,
whereas the thicker chip will be hard and crunchy.

cooks use. The pros are actually shallow frying,

whether they call it that or not.
Shallow frying is probably a more common

Batter-coated foods present the greatest

challenge to fending off grease. Coatings become

technique than deep-frying because it requires no

special equipment. The cooking process can be

thick, dry, and rough crusts-precisely the kind

that absorb the most oil. There are, however, some

uneven; any hot or cold spots on the bottom of the

tricks to making batters that yield a less oily crust.

pan will create hot and cold spots in the oil. The
deeper the oil in the pan, the more time heat has to

Add egg white and a small amount of calcium

chloride to a batter to make it crisper while also

spread sideways-parallel to the pan surface-before it comes into contact with the food .

forming an invisible, protective film that reduces

oil absorption. Most hydrocolloid and starch

A generous amount of oil avoids unevenness in

manufacturers produce specialty blends of gums,

still another way. Jets of steam issue from the

bottom of the cooking food. If there's too little oil in

gels, and salts for the same purpose; these can give
better results, but they are more difficult to

off the pan and out of the oil. If some parts of your

procure.

food are scorched, while others are undercooked,

the pan, those eruptions can actually push the food

TRADIT I ONAL COOKING

1 27

soggy, or greasy, this is probably the cause. Add a

the meat or seafood partially with salt and saltpe-

deeper layer of oil, and the steam jets will then mix

ter (nitrates and nitrites), then simmer it in oil. In

the hot and cold layers rather than segregate them.

ages long past, the curing step served a critical

The food will heat faster and more evenly.

function: it destroyed the lethal anaerobic bacteria

that would otherwise flourish once the meat was

So be generous with oil, and don't worry that

sealed, unrefrigerated, inside its protective barrier

you'll get a greasier result. In shallow frying,

counterintuitively, more oil yields less grease. A

of solidified fat. Likewise, during the simmering

too-thin layer of oil causes the cooking tempera-

step, the partly cured meat had to be completely

ture to plummet, leading to a thick, chewy sop of a

enveloped in oil to prevent contamination. Thus

crust. Deep oil will keep the temperature high and

cured, cooked, and sealed, the food was botulism-

the crust thin and less absorbent.

free, impervious to spoilage by oxidation or

bacteria, and safe to keep for months.
Now that the modern convenience of refrigera-

Confit the Easy Way

Most modern preparations of con fit
do not preserve the meat, a fact
that is sometimes dangerously
overlooked. Without salt curing,
the cooking process pasteurizes
but does not sterilize the meat.
Uncured confit meat is thus no
different than meat cooked so us
vide and stored in its airtight
packaging. It's essential to refrigerate modern con fit, and the same
safety considerations that apply to
sous vide with regard to toxic
anaerobic bacteria also apply to an
uncured, traditional confit (see
chapter 3 on Food Safety, page
1-162).

tion has eliminated the requirement for preserva-

Among the many techniques of traditional

tion, taste is the new imperative in confit. A

cooking, confit is steeped in perhaps the most

traditional confit is so salty that you have to dilute

mystique. Cooks speak with awed reverence about

the salty taste before serving, either by soaking the

the process of slow-cooking meat in smothering

food in fresh water or by shredding it and mixing

volumes of rendered fat. The sublime richness of a

it with other ingredients. Contemporary recipes

confit can be terrific, but don't confuse the results

use much less salt in the curing step for a milder

result; some cooks have abandoned curing their

with the mode of preparation.

confits altogether.

Con fit originated as a means of preserving meat

Cooking in fat is irrelevant to the final product,

for unrefrigerated storage. Now that that purpose

is outdated, it's possible (and far more convenient)

which depends on the time and temperature. All

to achieve the same rich product by cooking it

that's needed to transform a simple cooked piece

some other way-including a low-fat technique

of meat into a sumptuous confit is an oily coating

such as sous vide (see chapter 9). If you want the

with the fat of your choice. Add the fat while the

mouthfeel of the fat, simply anoint the surface

food is still hot, and let the food cool slowly

with fat after cooking.

When making confit, cooks traditionally cure

THE TECHNOLOGY OF

Vacuum Frying
Vacuum fryers avoid the problem of browning or burning
sweet foods by cooking at lower pressures and temperatures
than ordinary deep fryers do. Because the vacuum lowers the
boiling point of water, a vacuum fryer dries and fries quickly,
despite the lower temperature.
These attributes make vacuum fryers popularfor preparing
the fried fruit chips that are common in Southeast Asia. But these
fryers have some limitations: you can't see inside to check for
doneness, for example. And because oil is more viscous at low
temperatures, vacuum-fried food tends to be greasy.

128

VO LU ME 2 TE CH NI QU ES AND EQUI PMENT

enough to absorb as much of the oil as possiblealthough the amount absorbed will be tiny.

If this approach strikes you as superficial,

remember that even in a traditional con fit, as in
deep-frying, oil doesn't diffuse through the
surface of the meat while it is cooking. Only as the
meat cools does the surrounding oil seep in-and
in confit, not very much of it.
Even then, the wetness of the food just beneath
the surface stops diffusing fat molecules in their
tracks. Ultimately, oil travels no more than a
millimeter or so into the meat's interior. But that's
far enough because it's the fat at the surface that
counts when we taste and chew.
If you're willing to try confit without oil, by far
the easiest way to prepare a modern confit is sous
vide. It provides a clean, reliable way to cook the
meat, and the snug-fitting bag keeps the fat close
to the surface of the meat as it cools after cooking.
Some cooks have complained that sous vide
confit lacks a certain soulfulness. They may be
referring to the missing flavor of oxidation: not
oxidation of the food, but oxidation of the fatty
coating, which causes the nutty aromas of a traditionally aged confit. The vacuum inside the sous
vide bag does prevent this slow oxidation. You can
restore it, however, by aging the rendered fat before
applying it or by opening the sous vide bag once the
food has cooled, thus exposing the fat to air.

T RADITIONAL COOKING

1 29

SMOKING
How does wood burn? Few of us pause to wonder.

smoldering wood, and you lose some of those

Yet the incandescent warmth of fire, the sight of

flavors while releasing less desirable ones. Burn

the dancing flames, and the unmistakable smell of

the wood outright, and it lofts vapors with flavors

smoke evoke feelings that go to the very core of

that, while worthy, are more delicate and fleeting.

our humanity. Our earliest ancestors undoubtedly

felt the same sense of comfort that we do when
gathered around a wood fire, as well as the same

food with flavorful compounds in different

fear of an uncontrolled blaze.

proportions than cold-smoking does, so the same

Prehistoric humans, however, developed a

mastery of fire that few of us possess today.
Lacking matches or accelerants, they learned to

food tastes different when smoked hot and cold.

Contrary to popular kitchen wisdom, smoking's
various grails-the deep, vivid smoke ring; the

start a fire by rubbing the tip of a stick vigorously

dry, tacky pellicle; the pellucid surface sheen-do

against a dry log. The friction charred a small spot

not themselves affect the aroma or taste of smoked

on the log that would smoke and then ignite with

food. These are symptoms-not causes-of the

continued rubbing. Our ancestors had no under-

changes we expect from smoking.

standing of the nature of combustion, but they

could see for themselves that wood becomes

Creating and controlling smoke may be a lost

art these days, when many of us struggle to build a

smoking hot before it burns. Today we say, "Where

fire even with the aid of matches, fake logs, and

there's smoke, there's fire." But our ancestors knew

petroleum starters. A return to first principles can

that smoke can pour indefinitely from hot, smol-

help recover that primeval understanding of why

dering wood that never bursts into flames .

and when wood smolders and burns. You need

That, indeed, is usually the ideal arrangement

that knowledge to create quality smoke. And if

for smoking food. The vapors released from wood

you also understand some of the basic chemistry

on the brink of burning contain a smorgasbord of

of smoke, you gain control over its effect on flavor

aromatic compounds that impart smoking's most

and appearance.

distinctive flavors. Lower the temperature of the

Smoked chickens and pork chops develop very similar colors

despite being quite different meats. The color as well as the flavor
of smoked food comes from the invisible vapors transported in
smoke reacting with proteins common to all meats and seafood.

132

The temperature and humidity of the smoke

itself are just as important. Hot-smoking perfuses

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

For more on the structure of plant tissue, see

Plants as Food, page 3262.

When making charcoal, you want

to starve the smoldering wood of
oxygen while holding the temperature well above 450 c I 840 F.
Almost everything in the wood
then either vaporizes or pyrolyzes,
leaving just a shell of carbon and
ash.

Making Smoke

ever make it edible by humans or any other

Smoke originates from wood, a plant tissue that

animal. That's why people can starve in the middle

shares some structural similarities with other

of a forest. And it's why we cook with wood, rather

plants but differs in a few crucial details. Like

than eat it.

plants that we eat, wood comprises cells encased

Lignin is also what makes smoked food

in rigid cell walls. Each cell wall is made of cellu-

delicious. Most of the aromatic compounds that

lose fibers stitched together by pectin and hemi-

impart the characteristic smoked flavor originate

cellulose molecules. When you steam broccoli or

with this complex chemical. At temperatures

higher than about 300 oc

and dissolves pectin and hemicellulose polymers,

molecules break down into a wide range of

thus tenderizing the food and making it easier to

volatile chemicals called phenols that yield

digest. Even raw, however, edible plants are weak

earthy, warm notes such as peat, clove, and

compared with wood. You wouldn't want to build

vanilla. Mesquite is aromatic because it has more

a house with rhubarb.

lignin than most woods. Wood from pine trees

Wood, on the other hand, is strong enough to

produce a harsh, acrid smoke, in large part

use in construction because its cell walls are

Smoldering wood releases chemicals

called phenols, carbonyls, and other
aromatic compounds that impart the rich,
complex flavors of smoked food.

13 4

I 570 op, lignin

bake rhubarb, the heat softens the rigid cellulose

because their lignins produce different phenols

impregnated with high amounts oflignin, a tough,

than those of hardwoods. In addition to imparting

inflexible compound renowned for its resilience.

flavor, many phenols are potent antioxidants that

Lignin accounts for one-fifth to one-third of the

prevent rancidity-one reason smoking helps to

weight of most woods.

preserve food.

Lignin is hopelessly indigestible to all but

specialized microbes: no amount of cooking will

Food scientists have found that the smoke

produced by hardwoods smoldering at tempera-

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUE S A ND EQUI PM ENT

THE CULTURA L I MPORTANCE OF

Choosing Your Wood

For American barbecue, hickory is the granddaddy of smoking woods, revered for its bold, sweet flavor and the golden
brown hue it imparts to the smoking meat.
People in other parts of the world see other woods in
much the sa me way, as an ingredient no less important to the
authenticity of the dish than the food being smoked. Cooks
in the Pacific Northwest, for example, traditionall y smoke
their sa lmon with alder wood, whereas Tex-Mex barbacoa is
defined by the intense pungency of mesquite.

In the Baltic States, linden is a popular choice for smoked

meats and seafood; grapevine trimmings are preferred in
Spain, Italy, and France (and everywhere else that produces
wine); and the mighty oak tree is a favorite in England. Cooks
in China often smoke their meats using tea leaves and wood
from the camphor laurel.
Cl early, there is no one best species of wood for smoking,
but hardwood s generally work better, producing richer color
a nd bolder aromas than firs and pines.

Good Woods for Smoking Food

Species
==
grapevine

Intensity of flavor

Color imparted

Note

lig ht

go ld en brown

among the lig htest of smoke types

straw

lig ht

ye llow to go ld e n brown

exce ll e nt for giving seafood a quick, lig ht smok ing

ash, elm, hornbeam,

chestnut

lig ht

ye ll ow

typically b lended with other hardwoo ds

tea leaves

lig ht to mediu m

ye llow to light brown

often used for li ght smok ing in parts of As ia

alder

medium

go ld en ye llow to brown

exce ll ent with seafood; so met im es blended with beech

apple

medium

ye ll ow

best of co mm o n fruit woods

cherry, peach

med ium

ye ll ow

typically blended with other hardwoods

corncob

med ium

weakly ye llow

pronoun ced, ea rthy arom a

heather, dried

medium

ye ll ow to go ld e n brown

unu sua l aroma and very flora l fla vor; tradi ti o nall y used with seafood
in Scandinavia a nd parts of Scotl and

mahoga ny

med ium

go ld e n brown

typically blended with ot her hardwoods

thyme, marjoram, or
sage, dried

me dium

weak

recommended for lig ht smoki ng on ly

walnut

me d ium

deep yel low to brown

produces rapid co lo r development in meats and seafood

linden

me d ium

ye ll ow

popular in smoke d foods of Eastern Europe

often blended with beech

birch, poplar, willow

variab le

variab le

hickory

bold

deep ye ll ow to brown

pleasantly sweet aroma

pecan

bold

deep ye llow to brown

pleasantly sweet a rom a

laure l

bold

w ea k

distinctive fl avo r; recom me nd ed for li ght smokin g only

rosemary, dried

bold

weak

sli ghtl y resinous flavor; reco mm e nd ed for li ght smoking only

trad iti ona ll y used with fish ; ofte n blended with oak o r a lder

beech

bold

bright ye llow

juniper

bold

dull brown

interesting but inte nse flavor; suitab le on ly for very li ght smok in g

camphor laurel

very bold

dark ye llow to li ght brown

exotic and intense a roma; camp hor is a popular choice for smoked
duck in Chin a

oak

very bold

deep ye llow to brown

produces very dense, high-qua lity smoke; fl avor overpowering

for some foods

mes quite

very bo ld
a nd pungent

ye ll ow

smo ld ers very hot with an intense aro ma and punge nt flavor

In Ice land, smoked lamb is a traditiona l delicacy. But

with trees and shrub s in short supply, Ice landic cooks
commonly smoke food by burning dried sheep manure
instead of wood. Try exp laining that on a trendy menu!

136

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

tures around 400 "C I 750 "F yields the most

tures higher than that, the vapors combust

flavorful foods. That temperature seems ideal not

spontaneously, combining with oxygen to make

only because of what then goes into the smoke-

fire, smoke, and ash.

the phenols and other aromatic compounds-but

With the right conditions, though, combustion

also because of what doesn't: namely, excessive

can happen on its own even at 400 "C I 750 "F.

amounts of vaporizing acids that taste terrible. For

When you're smoking at prime temperatures,

a more detailed explanation of how the smoldering

then, you are literally playing with fire. How can

temperature affects smoke quality, see The Perfect

you control whether or not your wood bursts into

Temperature for Smoking, page 135.

flames? The trick is to regulate the airflow through

the smoker. The more you restrict the oxygen
supply to the smoldering wood, the less likely the

Playing with Fire

vapors are to combust, though they may be poised

The title of Ray Bradbury's acclaimed novel

on the brink of deflagration.

Fahrenheit 451 refers to the temperature at which

Don't be too stingy with the airflow, however.

paper-and the wood it's made from-ignites.

Choke the smoldering wood too much, and its

(The metric equivalent would be Celsiu s 233.)

smoke will become deficient in desirable aromat-

Yet the ideal smoldering temperature for smoking

ics, such as vanillin, and enriched in carcino-

wood is hundreds of degrees higher than that.

gens, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

How can that be?

The answer is that at 233 "C I 451 "F, the

On the other hand, an overabundance of oxygen

will stop the formation of sweet maltitols and

pyrolysis of wood generates flammable vapors,

toasty furans while inviting unwanted flames.

which will sustain a flame if one is applied (by a

Just as there is an art to controlling the heat of a

match, for example). But absent a spark to get the

grill, it takes special skill to manage a smolder-

fire going, smoldering can continue without

ing fire so that it produces the most fragrant and

flames up to about 500 "C I 930 F. At tempera-

healthful smoke.

TRADIT I ONAL COOK IN G

137

The bright red smoke ring in this rib is

like a watermark that indicates how far
adsorbed compounds have diffused into
the food. The volatile substances in smoke
rarely penetrate more than 1em I% in.

Capturing the Flavor of Smoke

Smoke is much more than a simple gas. In fact,

molecules react with compounds on the food

smoke is a mixture of all three states of matter, a

surface. And, unlike the droplets, they then move

blend of solid particles of soot and tiny droplets of

inward toward the center of the food-as long as it

liquid suspended in air and vaporized chemicals.

is neither too dry nor too wet. Just as a thin oil

Two of these three phases are visible: high concen-

slick can spread through an ocean, the adsorbed

trations of soot turn smoke thick and black, whereas

organic chemicals can form a sheen on the tacky

the translucent droplets of tars, oils, condensing

surface of the food that slowly inches its way

volatiles, and water show up as a wispy blue.

We have seen elsewhere in this
chapter that oil and oil-like
molecules ca nnot diffuse through
wet foo d-and this is just as true fo r
smoke. But diffusion is a bulk
phenomenon, which is to say that it
only applies to large collections of
molecules, such as droplets.
Individual molecules of oil-like
smoke co mpounds do travel slowly
through water in the food.

oils that coats it. Once stuck to the food, the flavor

The components of smoke that are in the vapor

through tiny, moist channels in the tissue, ferrying

flavors to the interior.

If the outside of the food becomes too dry in the

state, on the other hand, cannot be seen at all-yet

it's the vapor that does all the heavy lifting of

smoker, the smoky flavors can't get very far inside

smoking. Contrary to what you might have heard,

because there is no medium through which they

the invisible gases in smoke contain nearly all of

can travel. On the other hand, if the food is too

the compounds that color, preserve, and flavor

wet, the compounds that come out of the smoke in

smoked food. Although they're typically just 10%

liquid and gaseous forms tend to drip off the food

of the volume of smoke, these gases do more than

or to evaporate away. If the food feels warm and

90% of the work.

slightly tacky to the touch, the exterior moisture is

The reason that gases are so important is that

just about right.

Capturing the flavor of smoke thus involves two

most flavor compounds are organic chemicals

that, like oil, don't dissolve in water. Food con-

challenges. The first is making sure the flavor

tains lots of water, so liquid droplets from the

compounds you want are gases, not liquid drop-

smoke just bead up on the surface. The flavors they

lets, when they reach the food. That requires

convey thus don't penetrate the food, although

keeping tight control of the temperature of the

they do contribute somewhat to the texture and

smoke in the chamber. The second challenge is

flavor of the pellicle.

Vaporized organic chemicals, in contrast, float
around as solo molecules. When they land on the

138

keeping the food just wet enough to allow the

volatile organics in those vapors to stick to the
food, form a film on the surface, and then diffuse

food, they can adsorb, meaning they adhere

deep inside. To do that, you must control the

directly to the food or any thin layer of water or

humidity in the smoker.

VOLUM E 2 TEC HNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

The Chemicals at Work in Smoking

Smoke is a gaseous marinade of hundreds of chemicals that together contribute the characteristic flavors, textures,
colors, and curing we associated with smoked food. Some of the names given below represent whole classes of compounds,
such as phenols and carbonyls; others, such as nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde, refer to specific chemicals.
iiiiiiiiii........

Effect

Compounds

Actions

Note

color

carbonyls

adhere to the food surface and engage in

low-temperature, Maillard-like reactions with
high-protein foods

critical reactions don't occur if the food surface

is too wet or too dry; reactions don't occur on plant
foods, which lack necessary proteins

nitrogen dioxide,
carbon monoxide

adhere to the food surface, then diffuse into food

and react with myoglobin in the muscle of meat
and fish to produce a smoke ring

wet wood and low smoldering temperatures

produce too little of these to create a visible ring;
the ring appears only in muscle tissue

flavor

phenols,
carbonyls

adhere to the food surface and diffuse into food

not produced by wet wood or low smoldering

temperatures; don't penetrate food if the surface
is too dry; adsorbed unevenly on surfaces that are
too wet or fatty

preservation

antioxidants

inhibit rancidity in preserved foods,

especially seafood

not produced by wet wood or low smoldering

temperatures

formaldehyde

coats the food surface, slowing bacterial growth

and spoilage

wet wood and low smoldering temperatures

produce too much formaldehyde, ruining flavor and
posing a health risk

acids

lower the pH of the food surface, which improves

pellicle formation and slows bacterial growth

wet wood and low smoldering temperatures

produce too much acid, leaving an acrid flavor

surface finish

phenols,
carbonyls

adhere to the food surface and polymerize

into glossy resins

not produced by wet wood or low smoldering

temperatures; critical reactions don't occur if the
food surface is too wet or too dry; reactions happen
too slowly for short smoking sessions

surface
texture

formaldehyde,
creosote

react with proteins to toughen the food surface

in a process similar to tanning leather

can make the surface of food, especially skin,

too tough during long smoking sessions

!!!!!!!!!!!!~

Hot Smoke, Cold Smoke

that remain vaporized in the cooler smoke. Some

The temperature of the smoldering wood sets the

of the crucial chemical players are carbonyls,

starting blend of volatile compounds you have to

which contribute color, and a subset of flavorful

work with. But smoke cools on its journey from

aromatics: phenols; sweet-smelling maltitols;

fire to food, and the temperature of the smoke in

furans that add toasty notes; earthy- and spicy-

the food chamber is what ultimately determines

smelling syringols and guaiacols; and the very

which flavor compounds will reach the food in the

smoky-smelling creosols.

vapor form that is most useful.

The lightest volatiles, which include carbon

Temperature matters because the volatiles have

monoxide and nitrogen oxide, have boiling points

a wide range ofboiling points. In general, molecules

so low that they remain gaseous even at refrigerator

that are big and heavy-like hefty isoeugenols and

temperatures. Because of this fact and their small

vanillin, which contribute clove and vanilla

size, these compounds go deepest into the food. In

accents-start condensing into droplets at pretty

meats and seafood, you can often tell exactly how

hot temperatures. So, whereas vanillin can perme-

far they traveled into the interior by looking at the

ate deeply into a hot-smoked food, cold-smoking

smoke ring, a kind of watermark that the two

diminishes vanillin's contribution to the flavor.

compounds leave behind when they react with the

When the smoke is colder, most (but not all) of the

myoglobin in muscle tissue. The smoke ring doesn't

vanillin and other very heavy compounds reach

contribute any flavor itself, but you can be sure that

the food in the ineffective form, as liquid droplets.

no flavorful vapors have gone beyond that line.

You're thus not likely to find strong tastes of

1 40

The smoke ring is often considered a proxy for

vanilla and cloves in cold-smoked foods. Instead,

good technique because it's a sure sign that flavor-

their flavors are dominated by lighter compounds

ful vapors have diffused into the food interior. The

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

7
truth is a bit more complicated. Some smokers and

Ultimately, of course, your main concern is not

some styles of smoking do not produce enough

the humidity per se but how fast and far the

carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide to make a

smoked food has dried. The best gauge of that is

visible ring, yet they can still produce very good

the pellicle, the coating that forms from vapors,

smoked flavor. Also, smoke rings won't form in

oils, and tars in smoke as they react with proteins,

foods that don't contain myoglobin-that is, in any

sugars, and starches on the food surface. Phenols

foods that aren't muscle tissue.

Thus, the smoke ring is a sufficient indicator of

and carbonyls that adhere to the surface react to

become glossy resins that impart a shiny finish. In

technique, but not a necessary one. Let taste,

high-protein foods, formaldehyde and creosote

rather than the presence of a flavorless smoke ring,

also firm the surface in a process similar to

be your guide to the quality of smoked food .

tanning.

Although it's common practice, we

don 't recommend wetting wood
chips to increase hum idity. Wetting
chips lowers the temperature of the
smoldering wood so much that the
smoke can turn acrid.

A skilled craftsman can watch the development

of the pellicle and know whether or not the drying

Wet Food, Dry Food

is going right or horribly wrong. A dry, tacky

Meeting the second challenge of smoking-

pellicle with uniform coloration is a sure sign of

ensuring your food stays moist enough to capture

quality smoking. Such a pellicle contributes

flavorful vapors but is not so wet that it drips-

directly to the flavor and texture; it also confirms

usually means, in practice, adding humidity to the

that conditions were optimal for the adsorption

air in the smoker. Smoldering wood produces a

and diffusion of flavorful compounds.

dense smoke that is far drier than the relative

A hardened pellicle, on the other hand, signals

humidity of70%-80% that is usually ideal.

overdrying, and a pale, wet, or streaky one means

Advanced smoking equipment controls humidity

that the food was too wet. If too much water

directly by adding the right amount of water vapor

accumulates on the surface, Maillard-like reactions

to maintain a desired relative humidity. In more

between carbonyls and the food can't happen, and

traditional equipment, you can counter the

proper color and flavor won't develop. Texture can

parching effect of smoke by placing broad, shallow

suffer as well. Hot-smoking fish at a relative

trays of water in the bottom of the smoker or by

humidity above 60% at so oc

frequently misting warm water into the chamber.

humidities at higher temperatures) quickly gelati-

Complicating matters is the fact that the humidity in smokers varies constantly and evades direct

The tanning properties of smoke

can be prob lematic fo r poultry,
making the sk in too to ugh and
leathery.

I 122 op (or lower

nizes collagen fibers. The weakened flesh tears

under its own weight, often right off the hook.

measurement. Relative-humidity meters are of

limited use in smoking chambers because they
quickly become coated with particles of soot and

Cold-Smoking

droplets of tar that compromise their accuracy.

Traditionally, smoking was a way to preserve food

Sophisticated smokers use wet- and dry-bulb

in the absence of refrigeration. The volatile acids in

thermometers to calculate relative humidity instead.

smoke kill bacteria on the surface of food, and

Wood pellets (left) and chips (right) are

both perfectly acceptable fuels for
smoking. Pellets work best in smokers that
have a hopper or an augur system; chips
are fine for hand feeding.

TRADI TI ONAL COOK I NG

14 1

7
thorough drying discourages microbial activity

texture of food cold-smoked over days and weeks,

throughout the food interior.

there are no shortcuts. The extended drying

But cold-smoking, as the name suggests,

typically takes place at 20-30 oc

I 68-85 F or

cannot be fully replicated in any other way.

The challenge, then, is to keep the temperature

lower, temperatures that are too cool to pasteurize

and humidity of the smoke just right for such long

food. Moreover, the drying stage often involved in

periods. If the smoke is too warm, too dry, or both,

cold-smoking can take days or even weeks to

then evaporation at the surface of the food out

complete-days and weeks in which the smoking

paces the migration of water from the interior, and

food is vulnerable to the growth of microbial

a crust forms that seals moisture in the food. This

contaminants. As a result, many traditional

unfortunate condition is known as case harden-

cold-smoked foods are first treated with curing

ing, and it tastes as bad as it sounds.

salts, particularly nitrate and nitrite salts. The

Many cooks try to meet the challenge simply by

cures prevent the growth of anaerobic bacteria

wetting their smoldering wood, hoping that this

and, in combination with smoke, inhibit the

will raise the humidity and lower the temperature

production of the spores that cause botulism.

of the smoke. It will-but it will also make the

These days, cold-smoked food is preserved

food acrid because the wood will smolder at a

mostly in refrigerators, and we prize it less for its

much lower temperature than is ideal. A better

shelflife than for its unique flavors-in particular,

strategy is simply to move the fire box further

the warm and peaty notes of creosols and malti-

away so that the smoke cools more before reaching

tols, which stay in the gaseous phase even at

the smoking chamber, where you raise the humid-

relatively cool temperatures. Contemporary

ity with trays of warm water.

practitioners don't use nearly as much salt as was

The epitome of traditional coldsmoking for preservation is

katsuobushi, an essentialJapanese
preparation of skipjack tuna in
which the fish is briefly boiled,
fe rmented wi th a mo ld, coldsmoked, then fu lly dried.

Some high-tech smokers have refrigeration coils

the historical norm, and some no longer cure the

in the chamber that make it easy to control the

food at all. Thanks to refrigeration, the long drying

smoke temperature accurately. These devices

stage isn't strictly necessary, either.

usually also offer a way to inject low-temperature

If you abandon the curing and drying steps,

Cold-smoked food is low in

po lycyclic aromat ic hydrocarbons,
carcinogenic compounds that
condense out of smoke vapo r at
low temperatures. Early evidence
for the presence of these toxins in
wood smoke came from the high
rate of cancer in chimney swee ps.

steam into the chamber to control the humidity

however, be aware that you do invite some haz-

directly. This sophisticated smoking equipment

ards. The cold-smoking chamber can be a breed-

comes at a cost, but if smoking is a centerpiece of

ing ground for anaerobic bacteria, so it's unwise to

your cooking, the extra control and flexibility are

cold-smoke at room temperature for more than

probably worth the investment.

Smoke has natural antioxida nts that

offset the tendency of salt to
accelerate oxidation and rancidity
in cured foods.

four hours. Consider decontaminating the food

surface by either blanching or parcooking before
smoking. And if you're cold-smoking sausages or

Hot Barbecue

other forcemeats, you must add curing salts (in

At the high temperatures at which you hot-smoke

I 125 oF, but more often

I 160-175 F-the potent clove and

many places, this is more than just sound advice;

food-at least 52 oc

it's also a legal requirement). You can safely

70-80 oc

cold-smoke for longer times without taking these

vanilla flavors of the heavier volatile compounds

precautions only if your smoker operates at

refrigeration temperatures (10 oc

I 50 oF).

Even if you don't have to add curing salts for

safety, you may want to do so for practical reasons.

dominate. Smoking times tend to be much shorter

than those for cold-smoking because in contemporary hot-smoking the goal is to cook the food and
pasteurize it rather than to dry it out to preserve it.

In cold-smoked meats and seafoods, the salts

The higher heat hastens the formation of a colorful,

accelerate the formation of a pellicle, which

glossy pellicle, and the shorter cooking time means

otherwise appears only slowly as drying limps

that humidity control is less of a problem, too.

along. Curing salts draw proteins, sugars, and

other small molecules to the food surface, where

One notable exception to this generalization is

American-style barbecue. In barbecue, smoking

they concentrate. The effect, which occurs with

times commonly reach eight hours and beyond.

even a very brief salt packing, creates a good base

The slow, humid cooking tenderizes the meat as it

for faster reactions with the vapors in the smoke.

smokes by dissolving collagen.

But if you want to re-create the traditional dry

In one style of American barbecue, whole hogs

TRADITI ONAL COOKI NG

Smoking in desert climes, such as

the American Southwest, is often
best done in the even ing or at night.
The ai r is so dry during the heat of
the day that it makes it extremely
difficu lt to raise the humidity in the
smoker enough. At night, the
humid ity natura lly rises as the
desert cools, making it easier to
smoke at high humidity.

143

CONTROVERSIES

Myths and Lore of Smoking

Of all traditional cooking techniques, smoking has perhaps
the most ardent practitioners, who profess the most
elaborate belief systems. Maybe that's because the process
of smoking is somehow inherently mysterious and
ritualistic. Or maybe it's because most cooks don't
understand the scientific facts behind smoking. We don't
want to appear irreverent, but we feel compelled to point
out some cherished precepts of smoking that simply aren't
true or are widely misunderstood .
Myth: The smoke ri ng adds flavor.
The smoke ring results from reactions between a protein
molecule in red meat called myoglobin and the gases
nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide in smoke. The product
of those reactions can be seen but not tasted . The
reactions do, however, prevent rancid flavors from
developing, and they also stabilize the color of the
myoglobin to an attractive pink hue that persists during
and after cooking.
Myt h: Soaki ng wood in flavo rful liquids contributes
to t he taste of the food.
Most ofthese liquids react when heated to form vapors
with an entirely different composition than the liquid. By
dousing your wood with them, all you're really doing is
lowering the smoldering temperature of the wood- and
likely damaging the quality of the smoke.
Myth: O nly so lid chunks of wood generate qua lity smoke;
sawdust or pellets won't work.
Pellets and sawdust are perfectly respectable materials for
smoking, but the people who use them often close the flue
too much, thus starving their smolders of oxygen-a
practice that will, indeed, create poor-quality smoke.

Myth: Membranes on food block flavor penetration .

No, they don't. Biological membranes can block some
liquids, but vapors pass right through them and dissolve
into the moist flesh beneath. There seem to be two schools
of thought on whether to remove the membrane from pork
ribs: some swear it is essential to take it off, even as others
are equally adamant about leaving it on . The reality is that
this is a simple matter of personal preference. The
membrane will not stop smoke or flavor from penetrating.
Myth: On ly raw food abso rbs flavor.
As long as the surface ofthe food stays moist, aromatic
vapors will continue to adsorb there and diffuse into the
[Link] fact, we've had great success cooking food sous vide
before smoking it. This misconception probably arose
because of case hardening, an unfortunate consequence of
poor technique in which smoking food develops a dry,
hardened pellicle that does block flavor penetration.
Myt h: Tars and oil droplets in the smoke create
the pe llicle and color t he food .
Actually, like flavor, the color of smoked food comes from
reactions with the invisible components of smoke-the
gaseous volatiles-rather than the smoke you can see, which
is a combination of liquid droplets and sooty solids. The
gloss and shine of a great pellicle comes from a
combination of resins that form when carbonyls and
phenols in the vapor interact with proteins, sugars, and
starches on the food surface.
Myth: Fat is essential for good smoked flavor.
There is some truth to this assertion . The fat content of meats
and seafood dramatically impacts how well food absorbs
flavor from smoke vapors. Flavorful phenols in the smoke
vapor adhere most readily to fatty tissue, and, as a result, the
fat in food accumulates aromas that would otherwise be
greatly diminished in or even missing from the food . But too
much fat covering the surface of meat actually prevents
these flavors from diffusing into the flesh itself.

These pork spare ribs are in the early stage of

hot-smoking, when neither the pellicle nor the
smoke flavor has had time to develop fully.
Hot-smoking works well for meat because the
high temperatures and elevated humidity
tenderize tough cuts by melting and dissolving
collagen fibers.

TRADITIONAL COOKING

1 45

SMOKING EQUIPMENT
Contemporary smoking equipment comes in a wide range
of styles and prices. Although many designs use traditional
methods of smoking food, at least one-the Handheld
Smoker-was inspired by an entirely different kind of smoking. Not all systems are capable of true smoking or of the long
smoking times at low temperatures that barbecue demands.
A Traeger pellet smoker or a Bradley makes a great entry-level
appliance for the barbecuer.
Stove-top smokers work fine for lightly seasoning pork chops
or fish . And handheld smokers cater to the trend among cooks
to capture smoke in a bell ja r, then place it over the food during
service, as a garnish. But if you're planning to make smoked
food the centerpiece of a restaurant menu, you might want to
invest in a commercial smoker such as the Enviro-Pak.
Custom-built smoker (right)
Price: vari es wid ely
Pros: sizes range fro m bac kya rd units fo r the ho me enthu sias t to caterin g
un it s for big part ies; ve ry goo d fo r traditi o nal cl osed- pit sm o king
Cons: afford s onl y limited co ntrol of th e smold erin g temp erature and
humidity; requires con sid erabl e skill and practi ce to o perate

Handheld smoker
Price: in ex pensive
Pros: suppli es smo ke fo r a visual and arom atic ga rni sh; sui ta bl e fo r ve ry
lightl y smo kin g foo ds
Cons: not ca pabl e of tru e smokin g

Stove-top smoker
Price: inex pensive
Pros: conveni ent and easy to use; suitabl e for light smokin g
Cons: ca nnot eas il y generate high-qu ality smo ke; not suitabl e for co ldsmoking or lengthy hot-s moking

14 6

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUE S AND EQUI PM ENT

Pellet smoker

Bradley smoker

Pri ce : varies by model

Pri ce: moderate ly expensive

Pros: pellet-fueled; suitable for co ld- and hotsmoking; digital control available
Con s: affords only limited control of the smoldering

Pros: provides reasonable temperature control in the smoking chamber;

good for co ld- and hot-smoking

temperature and hum idity; most models cannot

perform cold-smok ing below ambient temperature

Con s: provides only modest control of the smoldering temperature;

cannot perform cold-smoking below ambient temperature

Enviro-Pak smoker
Price : very expensive
Pros: a computer controls the smoldering temperatu re, as well as the
te m perature, vo lume and humidity of the smoke entering the chamber
with high accuracy; allows sophisticated programming
Cons: large and expensive; requires complex installation

TRADITIONAL COOKING

147

Un like the smoke from smoldering

wood, smoke from burning wood is
naturally humid because water
vapor is the main product of
combustion.

The bursts of smoke used in

progressive smoking aid the
penetration of flavorfu l compounds
better than continuo us smoking
does. Continuous smoking can
create an excessively thick surface
fi lm that prevents adhe red molecu les from diffusing into the food
interior.

may cook and smoke for up to 24 hours, with the

advocates of this method recommend smoking in

smoke fed from open fires that burn logs of wood.

20-minute rounds, separated by five-minute

The smoke from open flames is humid, which

pauses, for as many rounds as are needed.

Finally, the smoking stops, and the food cooks

helps to keep the surface of the meat from drying

too much. Premier Texas barbecue joints such as

in hot, dry air just long enough for the color and

Kreuz Market and Smitty's Market shunt the

surface texture to finish developing. Although any

humid smoke from the open fire into a smoking

smoker can accomplish the smoking steps easily

chamber.

enough, the cooking and drying steps work best in

Other American barbecuers hot-smoke with

smoldering wood. Although humidity is ample at

a combi oven or a water-vapor oven, which both

offer greater humidity control.
The advantage of progressive smoking is that it

first as steam wafts from the food, long smoking

sessions require supplemental moisture from

separates the drying and smoking stages, which

water-filled pans or spritzes from water bottles-

maximizes the retention of juices and oils. The

or from basting with wet mops, glazes, or sauces.

food stays moister and thus absorbs flavorful

vapors better. Controlled studies have shown that
progressive smoking produces better appearance,

Smoking Progress

aroma, and bacteriological control.

If this technique seems unorthodox to you, we

German sausage makers have a more high-tech

For more on cooking with combi ovens and

water-vapor ovens, see chapter 8 on Cooking in
Modern Ovens, page 150. For more on cooking
sous vide, see chapter 9, page 192.

1 48

approach to humidity control during hot-smoking.

have an even more heretical suggestion. We

Called progressive smoking, the process was

advocate smoking food cooked sous vide-that

created to make it easier to strip the casings from

is, with the food vacuum-sealed in a plastic bag,

smoked sausages, but it has impressive advantages

then cooked in a water bath. Cook the food sous

for all other kinds of hot-smoked foods.

vide as long as you like, remove it from the bag,

As the name implies, progressive smoking is

and dry the surface in a standard oven at a low

performed in stages. First you cook the food at

temperature until it is just tacky. Then smoke it in

high humidity to the desired core temperature.

a humid environment (ideally around 80%

Then a brief period at low humidity dries the

relative humidity) until the smoked appearance

surface, which initiates the formation of the

and flavor develop fully. Depending on the

pellicle. Next the food is smoked in humid air for 20

desired degree of smokiness and color, this stage

minutes to several hours, depending on the size of

can be as brief as 30 minutes or as long as a

the food. To get a strong but balanced smoke flavor,

couple of hours.

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPM ENT

COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

Culinary tools and implements have come
a long way from ancient days when an open fire pit
was the only place to cook. Ovens were among the

surface texture-the crispy crust or lack thereof.

The ability to manipulate moisture, both
outside the food as well as inside it, is the defining

first advances wrought by civilization; by

difference that set modern oven technology apart

3200 B.C., every house in the settlements of the

from earlier methods. Water-vapor ovens and

Indus Valley Civilization had its own clay oven.

combi ovens control the water content of the

Early ovens were designed to trap the heat of a fire

heated air, so they can preserve the moisture

in the walls of the oven and divert the smoke away

content of food; microwave ovens exploit the

from the users, tasks that they performed well. By

moisture content of food to heat it. Although the

the early 20th century, inventors had developed

technologies are unrelated, they are both exam-

gas and electric ovens that allow far greater

ples of modern approaches to one ofhistory's most

control of heat and had done away with smoke

ancient cooking tools.

entirely.
Yet for all the advanced features on today's
ovens-broilers, forced convection, self-cleaning

Some traditional cooks worry that these newer

devices might somehow devalue their hard-won
skills or could even do away with the need for

cycles, and so on-they still operate on the

those skills entirely. Water-vapor ovens, combi

principle that controlling heat is the most impor-

ovens, and microwave ovens do circumvent, or

tant aspect of cooking. It turns out, however, that

even render obsolete, certain standard cooking

heat is just one of two critical factors that deter-

techniques. But like most tools, a modern oven

mine how food cooks. The other is humidity: the

performs only as well as its operator understands

water content of the air surrounding the food .

it. The devices cannot exceed or replace the skills

Humidity governs the temperature at which food

of the practiced cook; they can only help to better

actually cooks. It is also crucial for the food

achieve the results the cook intends.

Racks of vacuum-packed carrots steaming

in a combi oven (left) and roasting hams
(right) highlight the versatility and large
capacity of modern ovens. Roast chicken
(opening photo) is one of the iconic foods
prepared best by combi ovens. The ovens
can produce a crispy, golden-brown skin on
many birds simultaneously. To see how the
ham turned out in the end, see page 101.

COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

1 53

COOIZING WITH MOIST AIR

Along with greater control over the cooking

Cooks have long understood the importance of

keeping food humidified while it is heating.

environment and expanded cooking envelope

Moisture control is the reason they wrap baked

come higher costs, particularly for the fully

potatoes in foil, cover casserole dishes, roast in

featured models. CVaps are less complex and

bags, and braise and baste. Trapping the water

priced more modestly. But like combi ovens,

vapor from cooking food is a crucial element of

water-vapor ovens demand considerable time and

cooking sous vide as well (see chapter 9, page 192).

Of course, the reason that cooks have had to

effort to master-it takes a practiced operator to

make the most of them.
Whether high-tech ovens are worth the expense

devise all manner of techniques to counteract the

drying effects of hot air is that, until recently, they

and effort depends primarily on how well you

could not rely on existing equipment to do it for

learn to use them. It is helpful to first review the

them. That situation changed a few decades ago,

underlying physics of how heat interacts with

when engineers set out to develop improved

moisture in the air, because that is fundamental to

food-holding cabinets and ovens for catering,

how these appliances work.

Air gains and loses heat much more readily than

institutional service, and fast-food vending. These

For more on the basic physics of heat
conduction, see Heat in Motion, page 1-277. For
more on relative humidity, the heat released by
condensation, and evaporative cooling, see
Vaporization and Condensation, page 1-314.

innovators introduced two separate but related

water (especially liquid water) does. A small

technologies to control, more precisely, the

alteration in the power output of a heating element

moisture content of the hot air and, consequently,

in an oven therefore causes a much greater tem-

that of the cooking food.

perature change than does the same power rise in

One of these groundbreaking technologies was

the heating element of a water bath. Although air

developed by Winston Shelton, a former General

temperature responds rapidly to the application of

Electric engineer who, in the early 1970s, worked

heat, it conducts heat poorly.

with "Colonel" Harland Sanders to design and

Heat transfer from air to food is much more

manufacture the Collectramatic pressure fryer

efficient when water vapor is condensing onto

that became the standard cooker for the Kentucky

cooler food than it is when hot air is simply

Fried Chicken chain of restaurants (see page 120).

convecting around the food (see It Matters How

In the early 1980s, Shelton's Winston Industries

You Heat, page 1283). The net result of all these

introduced the CVap brand water-vapor oven,

factors is that an oven filled with dry air heats food

which cooks with heated water vapor as well as hot

quite slowly compared to an oven containing

air (CVap is short for "controlled vapor"). A few

humid air. Moist air also smooths out temperature

years before that, in 1976, German engineers at

swings in the food and helps minimize hot and

the company that would later become Rational

cold spots.
There is, however, a limit to how much water

AG invented an appliance known as the combi

oven-so named because it can cook with ambi-

vapor air can hold before the water condenses into

ent air as an ordinary convection oven does, cook

fog or dew. All else being equal, the hotter the air,

with injected steam, or do both in combination.

These advanced ovens, and the many variations

Steam burns hurt so badly precisely

because the condensing steam
passes so much heat into the skin. In
that case, your skin is below the dew
point temperature of the steam.

1 54

the more water it can hold. The weather-report

metric known as relative humidity describes how

that other manufacturers have created since, have

close the air is to its maximum water-carrying

their strengths and weaknesses, but overall, they

capacity at any given temperature.

Virtually all air contains water, and the relative

have proved to be extremely useful kitchen tools.

You can use these modern ovens quite successfully

humidity of air striking a cool object can soar to

for proofing, thawing, holding, roasting, baking,

100%. This is the process that makes a chilled

steaming, poaching, and-in the case of the combi

bottle of wine "sweat" on a humid summer day and

oven-"oven frying." Their exceptional versatility

that deposits drops of dew on grass on a cold night.

means that these devices can provide most of the

Indeed, the temperature at which the water vapor

functions of convection ovens, steamers, holding

in a given volume of air starts to condense to liquid

cabinets, and grills-all in a single unit.

droplets is called the dew point.

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUE S AND EQUIP M ENT

further evaporation stops. The same thing hap-

If food is placed in moist air, and if the temperature of the food is below the dew point of that air,

pens in any covered container, such as a pot or a

droplets of water will form on the food. This

canning jar.

condensation releases a remarkable amount of

Low-temperature steam mode can be used to

heat energy, which tends to heat the food rapidly

achieve the same effect without having a sealed

up to the dew point temperature.

container. In that case, the moisture to maintain

Conversely, evaporating water absorbs a great

the humidity comes from the oven, rather than just

deal of heat and hence cools food. In dry air,

from the food. This approach shines when cooks

therefore, the heating of food will be offset by the

want to achieve effects similar to sous vide with

cooling caused by water evaporating from the food

molded foods, such as flan or creme brulee, whose

surface. Because of evaporative cooling, the

shape would be destroyed by vacuum packing. It is

temperature that food encounters in an oven is

also useful for slow-cooking large roasts or turkeys

rarely as high as that of the surrounding hot air.

that are too big to fit inside a sous vide bag.

Instead, food cooks for most of the time at what

scientists call the wet-bulb temperature, the
temperature measured by a wet thermometer.

Another advantage of using low-temperature

steam mode is that it effectively increases the
cooking capacity, as reflected by the amount of

The more common temperature measurement

heating power available. Water baths are typically

is the dry-bulb temperature, which is the temper-

limited to 1.8 kW, so they can't heat large amounts

ature that you measure with an ordinary ther-

of food quickly. But even the smallest combi oven

mometer that you keep shielded from direct

draws 10 kW of power, and CVap ovens draw a

sunlight and contact with moisture. The dry-bulb

minimum of 5 kW.

temperature is the one that you use when you set

the temperature of an ordinary oven.

The main disadvantage of using lowcooking in a water bath is that the temperature

wet-bulb temperature is always lower than the

control may not be as accurate, particularly for

dry-bulb temperature. Food contains so much

temperatures below 60 c

time with their surface at the wet-bulb

Although it is something of a
misnomer to ca ll water vapor that
has a temperature below water's
boiling point "steam," the term
"low-temperature steam" is so
commonly used by oven makers
that it has become standard
termino logy.

temperature steam mode as an alternative to

Unless the relative humidity is 100%, the

water that most foods spend the majority of their

For more on wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures and their significance to cooking, see The
Real Baking Temperature, page 103.

I 140 F.

In steam mode, the relative humidity is also

100%, but the temperature is held exactly at the

temperature.

Fog pours from the open door of a combi

oven that has raised the humidity of the
cooking environment by injecting steam.
Humidity control is a defining feature of
modern ovens.

Cooking aIa Mode

Engineers designed water-vapor ovens and combi
ovens to give cooks better control over the allimportant wet-bulb temperature. These ovens
operate in several modes that are distinguished by
the amount of humidity they employ. To use them
effectively, you need to understand the differences
among the various modes.
The low-temperature steam mode cooks food
with air that has been saturated to 100% relative
humidity, which means that the wet-bulb and
dry-bulb temperatures are the same. "Low"
temperature means heat levels below the boiling
point of water, or 100 c I 212 p (at sea level).
Low-temperature steam mode is the same
cooking environment as that found inside a sous
vide bag or a covered pot. As water evaporates
from the food, it is trapped by the sous vide bag, so
the relative humidity quickly becomes 100% and

COOK I NG I N MO DE RN OV EN S

155

Man ufacturers have chosen to

sidestep the key concepts of
wet-bul b and dry-bu lb te mperatures, pe rh aps in th e be li efthatthe
prospect of cook ing at two different temperatures simu ltaneous ly
wou ld flummox many cooks.
Instead, the ir owner manua ls ta lk
vaguely abo ut "doneness," "browning," and "hum idity," terms that
only obscure the re leva nt pa ramete rs. The tab le of cooking strategies
on page 170 shows the settings on
two popu lar modern oven mode ls.
Note that actual res ul ts vary with
the bra nd.

boiling point of water (typically near 100 c I

units' steam mode will reach temperatures as high

212 F). Only combi ovens support this mode,

as 130 c

which is no different, in principle, than steaming

attained by pressure cookers. Although the

in a pot; it's just much more convenient and can

dry-bulb temperature of the oven will indeed

handle larger quantities of food.

reach 130 c I 266 p, the all-important wet-bulb

Some manufacturers use the term convection

steaming for the steam mode, because their

I 266 p, which falls within the range

temperature cannot exceed 100 c

212 p

without applying pressure. The only way to

ovens use fan-assisted convection to circulate the

steam food at higher temperatures is with a

air and water vapor over the surface of the food, a

pressure cooker.
CVap and combi ovens also have a mode in

feature that hastens heating. Steam mode is useful

for vegetables and other plant-based foods, which

which the wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures

need the high heat of steaming. Most meat will

can be different, which is called humidity-

overcook at steam temperatures if used for

controlled mode, combination mode, or combi

equilibrium cooking, which we describe below,

mode. This approach to cooking can do things

but there are some cases in which it is useful.

Combi oven makers often advertise that their

that no other kitchen appliance function can.

Humidity-controlled mode lets you specify the

THE TESTING OF

Heat and Humidity Control in Modern Ovens

Combi ovens offer far greater control of temperature than
conventional ovens do, and they allow you to control the
humidity, too-but, unfortunately, not as well as we'd like.
Our experiments show that the dry-bulb and wet-bulb
temperatures in these ovens tend to fluctuate by several
degrees around the set point.
These graphs show the actual wet-bulb (blue) and dry-bulb
(red) temperatures for an empty Rational SelfCooking Center
combi oven in steam mode, right after it was temperaturecalibrated by a factory-authorized technician. The top left
graph shows how a cold oven heats to reach its set point
(30 oc I 86 F, in this case). Each subsequent graph, when read
in rows from left to right, shows how the oven heated from
the ending temperature in the previous graph to a new set
point, indicated by the gray line.
Below 60 C I 140 F, both temperatures depart widely from
the set point. This is why we hesitate to recommend combi
ovens for cooking fish, rare meat, or other foods where you
might need temperature accuracy. A water bath is much
better at controlling heat. The manufacturer of the Rational
combi oven reminded us that it is hard to do accurate temperature control in an empty oven and suggested that the performance would be better with an oven full of cold food. That
might be true, but it still points to a weakness in
temperature-control performance. Also note that it takes
more than 10 min for the wet-bulb temperature to stabilize in
the oven-even at the lowest set point (top left graph).
For set points from 60-90 C I 140-194 F, the accuracy of
the oven is quite good, and it gets up to temperature quickly

1 56

(although, in each case, it need only warm by 10 oc I 18 F). A

cold oven would take longerto attain a set point. The oven
also works well for true steaming, in which wet-bulb temperatures are close to the boiling point of water. Note that the
actual wet-bulb temperature is just below the boiling point,
which is typical of "steamers."
Above 100 oc I 212 F (bottom right graph), the dry-bulb
temperature continues to rise, butthe wet-bulb temperature
does not. As long as the outside of the food has moisture
rapidly evaporating away, the cooking temperature will
remain at this lower wet-bulb temperature, unless the air
pressure is increased .
We performed our tests with electric ovens. In our experience, gas-fired combi ovens have even larger variations in
temperature because the gas flame produces large pulses of
heat as it turns on and off. We hope that manufacturers will
design and build ovens that incorporate more accurate and
precise temperature and humidity controls. A direct way to
set wetobulb temperature is also a needed feature (see Ways
to Make Modern Ovens Better, page 167).
In combi and convection mode, the dry-bulb temperature
results are similar to what is shown at right for steam mode: a
cold oven takes about 10 min to come up to temperature-S min or less ifthe oven is already hot. The wet-bulb
temperature is much more variable than in steam mode; the
humidity-control mechanisms have limitations at these
temperatures. These modes are still valuable features, but fine
control of humidity does not seem to be possible with the
combi ovens that we have tested .

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QU ES AN D EQU IP M ENT

temperature at which the food cooks by setting the

set at half speed, low enough to cook some delicate

wet-bulb temperature directly. At the same time,

foods. Alternatively, you can put delicate foods

you can increase the dry-bulb temperature enough

inside a very deep hotel pan or a stockpot to shield

to dry and brown the food-a process that occurs

them from the full force of the convection fan.

The convection oven mode also offers humidity

only when the dry-bulb temperature substantially

control but in one direction only: you can set the

exceeds the wet-bulb temperature. In a conventional oven, only the dry-bulb temperature is

maximum humidity that the oven will allow. It

under your control.

will not add moisture to reach that level, but it will

vent moist air from the oven in an attempt to

Combi ovens offer a convection oven mode;

prevent the humidity from exceeding that value.

CVaps do not. In this mode, the combi oven

The popularity of water-vapor

ovens and combi ovens as tools for
low-temperature steaming (without
the need for vacuum-packing food)
soared in New York City after the
city health department cracked
down on so us vide preparation (see
page 1-188).

To get the most out of these devices, you must

performs like an ordinary convection oven,

reaching temperatures up to 300 oc I

Low-temperature steam mode on a

combi oven or water-vapor oven
can be used to cook food so us vide.
Cooking foods in pans or on trays
placed in such ovens yields results
very similar to those of water baths,
without the need for bags and
vacuum-sealing.

sn F.

experiment to understand the nature of the

Although a combi oven can often stand in for a

cooking processes they offer as well as your

conventional oven, light baking or delicate dishes

machine's specific options and limitations. Only

are out because the force of the oven fan can blow

with experience will you learn to best exploit their

a custard clear out of its ramekin. The fan can be

capabilities to prepare your favorite dishes.

56
52
122

Set point = 50 C I 172 F

44

10

10

15

82

152

78

144

74

Set point = 70 CI 158 F

LL..-~--~-~---"'136
20
15
10

70

15

11 2
20

180

......

rr

172
164

f~

Set point = 80 CI 176 F

10

15

156
20

130 f==================~
r--,r---~~~. 1 260
120
240

110
Setpoint =100 CI 212 F

10

15

196

220
100

20

10

15

20

These graphs show the dry-bulb (red) and wet-bulb (blue) temperatures in a Rational SelfCooking
Center combi oven that is in steam mode (see text at left). Our experiments were performed
immediately after the oven was calibrated by a factory-authorized technician.

COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

157

Dedicated steamers and convection steamers also exist and can

take the role of steam mode, but
they generally have no temperature
control and only operate at the
boiling point of water.

AccuTemp also makes the AccuSteam Griddle, an advanced design

that uses steam to heat the cooking
surface. For more on using the
Accu-Steam, see page 37.

Water-Vapor Ovens

ture stability than any ordinary oven or holding

The basic concept of the water-vapor oven is

cabinet does.
Another vapor oven, the Steam' N 'Hold unit

simple: heat a pan of water in the bottom of an

oven enclosure to cause it to evaporate enough to

from Indiana-based company AccuTemp Prod-

raise the humidity of the air inside, thereby

ucts, works by creating a partial vacuum that

keeping more moisture in the cooking food. CVap

reduces the air pressure until the boiling point of

inventor Winston Shelton figured out how to use

water equals the temperature that the cook selects

this principle to hold prepared dishes for hours

for steaming. Consequently, the Steam'N 'Hold

without drying them out. Previous holding

can function only in steam mode or low-

equipment had improvised on this theme, using a

temperature steam mode. The CVap oven is more

supplementary water vessel to help retain the

versatile, so we will discuss that brand in detail.

The CVap oven contains both a resistance

moisture in food (as steam tables do) or sealing

heating element in a pan of water at the bottom

the holding cabinet to prevent the escape of

moisture (as the cook-and-hold equipment m ade

and other heating elements on the sides (see Not

by Alto-Shaam and others does).

Just Hot Air, page 160). It has two kinds of

controls, typically labeled "Doneness" and

But those designs allow cooks to control

A chicken bakes in a CVap oven. where it

both cooks in moist heat and browns
slowly in a single step.

temperature and humidity only crudely. Shelton's

"Browning" ("Food Temperature" and "Food

oven, while not perfect, enables operators to

Texture" on older models), which control the two

manage the humidity much more definitively,

respective sets of wet and dry heating elements

partly because the CVap provides better tempera-

and thus the oven's wet-bulb and dry-bulb

cooking temperatures.
The Doneness setting allows cooks to manipulate the wet-bulb temperature by setting the
temperature of the water at the bottom of the
machine. As the water warms, it vaporizes into
the oven air. When the preheating process is
complete, both the water vapor and the air will be
at the same temperature as the water in the
pan-the wet-bulb temperature.
Using this setting is much like controlling the
temperature of a water bath, and, like a water
bath, the CVap takes a long time to heat up. In
our experience, you should set aside about 45
minutes to allow the oven to reach the proper
wet-bulb temperature, assuming it starts at room
temperature.
Because water can absorb considerable heat,
any temperature change in a CVap or a water bath
takes time, too. The upside to this delay is that,
once the target temperature is reached, it fluctuates less and hews closer to its set point than a
combi oven does: typically staying within 1-5 oc
/ 2-9 oF. That is still not as precise as a water bath
but is sufficient for most culinary applications.
Unlike the Doneness setting, which is scaled
according to temperature, the Browning control
is demarcated by numbers that run from 0-10
and represent power levels. We feel that this
arbitrary 0-10 scale hinders rather than helps.
Knowledgeable users would strongly prefer to set

1 58

VO LU M E 2 TEC HNI QUES AND EQU IP M ENT

the dry-bulb temperature directly, but that option

skin or crunchy crust, but a high dry-bulb setting

is not yet available.

compensates. You can hold eggs sunny-side up

If you dial the Browning meter to zero, the

heating elements on the sides of the oven do not
energize, and the temperature of the oven air will

this way without ruining their delicate

consistency.
At Browning settings S-10, you can cook food

Browning Level and

Dry-bulb Temperature
Dry-bulb minus
wet-bulb
temperature

be the wet-bulb temperature. Running the CVap

and brown it at the same time. To bake chicken,

with Browning at zero is the closest equivalent

for example, you can set the Doneness dial to

that the CVap has to low-temperature steam

60 c I 140 p and the Browning control to eight

Browning
level

or nine. At these higher settings of the Browning

control, the CVap oven operates in what amounts

2.8

5.6

10

11.1

20

mode. The relative humidity of the air in the oven

will be at or close to 100%, so the food surface will

(c)

( F)

not dry out, nor will browning occur. Use this

to combi mode, where the wet-bulb temperature is

setting either to cook sous vide in a CVap or to get

controlled by the Doneness dial, and the dry-bulb

sous vide-like results in an open pan.

temperature is set by the Browning control (albeit

16.7

30

with no indication of the dry-bulb temperature).

22.2

40

27.8

50

41.7

75

55.6

100

69.4

125

CVap users also value the low-temperature

steam mode for holding fully cooked food relatively intact, thus keeping dishes warm for hours

Unfortunately, the wet-bulb and dry-bulb

temperature settings in the CVap are not com-

without drying them out, which was one of the

pletely independent. The higher Browning settings

target applications that drove the invention of the

inevitably cause the wet-bulb temperature to creep

technology in the first place. Caterers know,

up as the warm oven air starts to heat the water in

however, that holding browned food items often

the pan. The oven could be designed to combat

causes streaking to occur. Moisture inevitably

this effect, but that awaits future work. Conse-

condenses on the surface of the food because it is

quently, at high Browning settings, the air inside

cooler than the surrounding air, and the resulting

the oven eventually gets too humid to dry the food

droplets run.

surface, and the effective cooking temperature

You can prevent streaking by holding browned

food at settings ranging from 1-4, which engages
the side-mounted heating elements. This warming
raises the dry-bulb temperature above the wet-

(the wet-bulb temperature) rises too high to get

the best results with some foods.
In addition, the CVap approach to humidity
control leads to a relatively narrow range of

bulb temperature, reducing condensation. At

temperatures in which it can control the wet-bulb

these low-to-moderate Browning levels, you need

and dry-bulb temperatures independently. Even

not worry about drying the food out completely.

with Browning set to 10, the temperature will

Surprisingly, these settings permit you to hold

reach a maximum of only 180 c

I 356 p, a rather

crispy food such as fried chicken for long periods.

modest oven temperature for browning. This

Without the browning setting, the humid environ-

limitation derives in part from the CVap's heritage

ment of the CVap would inevitably soften a crispy

as a holding-cabinet design.

9
10*

see note below

For browning levels 0-9, the dry-bulb

temperature = the wet-bulb temperature
(Doneness level) + the temperature
difference given in the table above.
At Browning level10, the dry-bulb
temperature is set to 180 c I 356 r
regardless of the wet-bulb temperature.
Each Browning level has successively
larger temperature differences to
approximate a logarithmic scale.
We would prefer setting the dry-bulb
temperature directly, but by using the
table above, one can set it indirectly. You
can calculate the dry-bulb temperature
from the Browning level and wet-bulb
(Doneness) temperature level.

CONTROVERSIES

Forced Convection rn CVap Ovens

Winston Shelton, the inventor of the popular CVap oven
and the Collectramatic pressure fryer, the classic cooker of
KFC franchise fame, has strong opinions aboutforced
convection in ovens, and none of them are positive.
Shelton says that he put a fan in his CVap water-vapor oven
only at the urging of marketing advisors, who maintained
that customers would expect the oven to have a fan,
whether or not it speeds heating or helps to deliver heat to
food more evenly. If you ask him, it does neither.

Shelton says that any kind of convection is unlikely to

hasten heating substantially in a water-vapor oven because
the amount of thermal energy that is transferred to the food
by the phase change when water vapor condenses far
exceeds any extra heat transfer caused by circulating air.
Convection-oven advocates are "word spinners," Shelton
charges: "ma rketers who need to 'featurize' their product to
make more money on it." The truth, according to Shelton?
"'Co nvection oven-ing' is hogwash ."

COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

159

As a result, the CVap browns food rather slowly

and achieves only modest levels ofbrowning.

reservoir to generate humidity, combi ovens supply

moisture directly, by injecting steam into the

Although it is quite possible to achieve good results,

semisealed oven chamber. The combi oven's ability

such proficiency requires trial and error, and the

oven simply may not be suitable for certain tasks.

to use both steam and circulating hot and dry air,

either alone or in combination, can reproduce, in a

Some chefs have developed recipes using the

Doneness (wet-bulb) and Browning levels on a

steaming, proofing, incubating, dehydrating,

single appliance, many cooking techniques:

CVap to cook and brown certain foods perfectly in

baking, grilling, frying, and more. Cooks can

a single step. Developing such a recipe requires

program combi ovens to automate routine tasks,

diligence and experimentation. Even then, their

formulas work only within a certain range of

and the machines are self-cleaning.

On the downside, a combi oven is not cheap: as
of2010, it costs roughly $12,000 for the half-sheet-

foods, temperatures, and food sizes.

For the price of one co mb i oven,
you could purchase a couple of
water baths, plus a convection oven
and a broiler. Or you cou ld get a
water-vapor ove n and a conventional convection oven. If you have
the space, installing multip le tools
yields the same functionality, but
with the added benefit that you can
use them simu ltaneous ly.

Although it's possible to cook and brown in a

single step with the CVap, we would rather cook

pan-size programmable ovens we use-and several

using a multistage process that first employs the

Miniature combi ovens designed for commercial

oven's high heat source for searing and browning,

then uses the CVap in low-temperature steam mode

kitchens have recently come on the market for as

little as $2,000, but these are limited to using much

to finish the cooking. You could also do the reverse:

low-temperature steam first, then sear. The multi-

for the home have also started to show interest in

stage approach gives the cook greater control and

works with a broad spectrum of foods. In essence, it

many more options.

times that amount for larger configurations.

smaller pans. Manufacturers of kitchen equipment

combi ovens, so in the future, there will likely be

is cooking sous vide without the vacuum packing.

Combi ovens are also rather expensive to

operate because they consume a lot of energy, at
least when using those modes that employ high

Combi Ovens
The Rational combi oven was the first
of its kind and is still a market leader.
We base our discussion on this particular
brand, but its features are similar to
those of many other combi ovens.

Many veteran chefs rate the combi oven as the

heat. And while their flexibility is unmatched, the

fact remains that a single combi oven can do only

most versatile kitchen tool ever made. Unlike the

one cooking task at a time. If you really want to

CVap, which relies on evaporation from a water

fully exploit the versatility of these machines (and

if you have the necessary budget and space),
buying several small units rather than a single large
one makes sense.
Seasoned cooks especially appreciate the combi
oven's unprecedented ability to get consistent
results in operating conditions that would
otherwise cause fluctuations in the wet-bulb
temperature-deviations that would ordinarily
produce undesirable outcomes. Differing results
can arise, for instance, from the change in cooking
performance when an oven is full or only partially
filled, or from the seasonal change in humidity
between a dry winter morning and a muggy
summer afternoon. Combi oven settings enforce,
more or less, a steady regime of temperature and
humidity that smooths out most variations.
Note that we say "more or less." Our experimental results (pictured in the graphs on page 157)
reveal that temperatures in combi ovens do tend to
wander a bit more than is ideal. That failing stems in
part from their design. The ovens were developed in
a context that did not put a premium on tempera-

16 2

VO LU ME 2 TE CH NI QU ES AND EQU I PM ENT

8
ture accuracy, so this aspect of performance may
not have been a high priority for the designers.
For example, we've seen temperatures fluctuate

The "exact percentage" that Rational refers to is

in fact something more arcane, though in some
ways more absolute. It measures the fraction of the

in our combi ovens because the fans reverse

total mass of air and water in the chamber that is

direction every four minutes. The reversal helps

water vapor. If a volume of air has no water in it,

distribute heat more evenly, but it also causes

then the so-called Rational humidity is 0%.

momentary, local temperature blips in the oven. In

our experience, the oven temperature tends to

Note that this 0% is purely a theoretical minimum that is impossible to achieve in practice

drift over time, and you need to calibrate combi

because doing so would require perfectly dry air,

ovens frequently if you want them to be accurate.

which simply does not exist in Earth's atmosphere.

Out of the three Rational combi ovens that we

The minimum humidity that the oven can pro-

have, one of them-admittedly, the oldest unit-

duce depends on how much water is in the air of

has consistently had poor temperature perfor-

the kitchen-which can be quite a bit. In a work-

mance despite repeated service calls. The humidi-

ing kitchen on an extremely muggy, blisteringly

ty control on these machines is also rather wobbly,

hot summer day, for example, relative humidity in

again as a result of their design and of intrinsic

the ambient air could be near 100%. The oven can

physical limitations. His quite possible that the

add water (as steam), but it cannot remove water.

increasing focus on Modernist cooking and the

On the other hand, if the chamber contains

accuracy it requires will drive manufacturers to

only pure water vapor (steam) in the chamber,

improve temperature performance.

with no air at all in the oven, then the Rational

The other problem with combi ovens concerns

their humidity settings, which are quite obscureto the point where even experienced combi oven

humidity is 100%-another condition that could

never occur in practice.
Regrettably, this explanation does not appear in

users and company personnel often have the

the owner's manual for the unit; we had to extract

wrong idea of what the settings mean. To explain

it during detailed correspondence with the compa-

the problem, we'll consider the Rational combi

ny's engineers (who were very helpful). Their

oven in detail. It was the first combi oven and

reasoning makes sense: by inventing the concept of

remains a leading brand. Other combi ovens have

Rational humidity, the engineers created a scale

similar issues, however.

that works at all temperatures, whereas relative

humidity becomes completely unhelpful at tem-

Halibut fillets cook in a combi oven.

Comb i ovens need to be ca librated

regularly. Their temperature
controls can be off even when
they're brand-new, so have yours
checked upon in stallation and
check it again yourself at least once
a year thereafter. Use a digital
thermometer positioned in several
places in the oven, and if you find
the readings don't match one
another or the mach in e's
temperature setting, have a
techn ician adjust the unit.

peratures above the boiling point of water.

Rational Humidity
The control panels of Rational combi ovens

Unfortunately, most of the Rational humidity

scale is useless because it represents values of heat

feature two buttons that operators find fairly

and humidity that the oven cannot attain, even in

straightforward to use: a blue one for moist heat

principle. At 30 c I 86 p (the lowest temperature

(steam) and a red one for dry heat. When you hit

setting on a Rational combi oven\ the only valid

either of the keys, a pane below the buttons

Rational humidity settings are between 0% and

illuminates with either blue or red bars that can be

2.6%. Any setting above 2.6% is impossible to

set from zero to 100.

Rational's user manual describes this action as

achieve. At 60 c I 140 p, a common cooking

temperature, the valid range is 0%-13%. Even at

I 194 p, the valid range runs only from

setting "the exact percentage of humidity." That

90 c

description might, however, lead operators to

0%-58%.

suppose that the scale corresponds to relative

Imagine cooking on the humid summer day

humidity, or the amount of water vapor in air

described earlier, with outside temperatures

expressed as a percentage of the air's total carrying

around 40 c I 104 p and relative humidity near

capacity at that temperature. Indeed, some

100%. The minimum possible Rational humidity

Rational employees told us just that. The trouble is

would be 4.6% (at any temperature). Setting the

that this interpretation cannot be accurate be-

oven to 0% will not help.

cause relative humidity loses any useful meaning at

temperatures above the boiling point of water.

On a very cold winter day, in contrast, you could

get closer to the mark. If the outside temperature

COOKING IN MOD ER N OV ENS

1 63

One could argue that the S% setting results in

is below 0 ' C I 32 ' F, and you bring the external air

into the kitchen unchanged (without further
humidification), you could get the oven to operate
under conditions that correspond to 1% on the

For the best results, control both

temperature and humidity in your
kitchen. This will improve the
reliability of your combi oven but
also has many other advantages
because humidity affects almost
every aspect of cooking.

greater repeatability because at that setting, the

Rational humidity will be the same whether it is a
dry or moist day. This is true, but the oven's

Rational humidity scale-but still not all the way

humidity controls do not seem to be accurate

toO%.

enough for that subtle point to matter.

The situation is a bit different when the oven

A further limitation on the Rational humidity

gets to temperatures above the boiling point of

system is the fact that the food itself gives off water
vapor as it heats, and that causes the humidity in

water (100 ' C I 212 ' Fat sea level, lower at higher

the oven to rise. The oven can compensate for this

effect somewhat by venting the humid air, then

elevations). At the high end of the scale, 100%

Rational humidity then means that there is no air

refilling with new kitchen air heated to the right

left in the oven at all; it is filled with pure steam. If

the oven vented the combination of steam and

level. But the compensating effect is limited by the

electrical power available. The oven must recirculate at least some of the air; it does not have

condensed fog as fast as it could and replaced that

combination with pure steam, it could make the

enough power to heat kitchen air all the way up to

most oven temperatures, then dump it, the way a

Rational humidity very high. The oven is limited,

however, by the heat capacity of its boiler (or, for

hair dryer does. The amount of air that the oven

some ovens, the capacity of the steam generator).

must recirculate depends on the temperature

It can only vent gases as fast as the steam generator

can replace the steam-air mix with steam, and that

setting and the oven's power rating.

The practical consequences of these deficiencies
is that, below 100 ' C I 212 ' F, you have only very

rate is limited by the electrical power. So the oven

will never replace all the air with steam.
In practice, a different limitation makes this

crude control over humidity-not the sophisticated command suggested by the control panel.
Realistically, you have only two settings to consid-

insufficiency moot. The only practical reason to raise

er: 0% and 100%. Use 0% to dehydrate the food.

temperature approach the boiling point of water

Use 100% if you are performing low-temperature

steaming, a process in which you want the dry-

(100 ' C I 212 ' Fat sea level). The wet-bulb temperature can never exceed the boiling point, even with

bulb and wet-bulb temperatures to be the same.

the humidity of an oven is to make the wet-bulb

100% Rational humidity. And as the humidity

rises, incremental increases in humidity make less
and less of a difference to the wet-bulb temperature.

Oven temperature (' F)

100

120

140

160

Even at a dry-bulb temperature of 300 ' C I

180

S72 ' F, theory tells us that the wet-bulb temperature for 30% Rational humidity will be 81 ' C I
178 ' F. At SO%, it will be 89 ' C I 192 ' F, only a

bO

"E

small improvement. Note that dry-bulb temperature is not much of a factor: at 100 ' C I 212 ' F, the

:;:
Theoretically possible

wet-bulb temperature at 30% Rational humidity is

77 ' C I 171 ' F, and at SO%, it is 87 ' C I 189 ' F
(again, this is from theoretical calculations). The
wet-bulb temperature only changes by a few
degrees as the dry bulb increases by 200 ' C I 360 ' F

Oven temperature (' C)

The Rational humidity setting spans 0%-100%, but most of that range is impossible to achieve at temperatures
below the boiling point of water. The red zone indicates settings that can be achieved-but only when the kitchenair is dry enough. The green zone denotes those settings that are practical for cooking under most circumstances.
The blue range shows settings that the oven can achieve in theory but that are difficult to attain in practice and that
would not significantly change cooking conditions in any case. All Rational humidity settings higher than those in the
green range produce the same effect. Note that we assume sea level elevation, where boiling point is 100 'C I 212 'F;
the curve would shift to the right at higher elevations, where the boiling point is lower.

164

and also by only a few degrees as the humidity

changes from 30% Rational humidity to SO%
Rational humidity.
Meanwhile, our experimental data show that
the wet-bulb temperature in a Rational fluctuates
by 10 ' C I 18 ' F over the course of 10-20 minutes
in even the best and most stable cases. So the
reality is that, once the dry-bulb temperature is

VO LU ME 2 TEC HNI QUES AND EQUI PMEN T

above the boiling point, Rational humidity

all dry-bulb temperatures produce the same

settings above, say, 40% do not differ from one

wet-bulb temperature of about 67 c I 153 F,

another in any meaningful way.

which varies from 64-72 c

At the low end of the humidity scale, another set

of restrictions apply. The only way the oven can

I 147-162 F.

At Rational humidity of 30% or greater, the

results at dry-bulb temperatures below the boiling

minimize humidity is by venting moist air from the

point are basically the same as for 0% Rational

oven and replacing it with kitchen air, which must

humidity. That's because the range of possible

first be heated to the proper temperature. The

Rational humidity is restricted-and because the

available power limits the rate at which the oven

controls are just not that accurate. Again, the

can generate this hot, dry air. The extent to which

wet-bulb temperature is about 45 c

I 113 F, with

this becomes a limitation also depends on tempera-

a similar range. Dry-bulb temperatures above the

ture. Heating ambient air to 60 c I 140 F takes

boiling point produce a wet-bulb temperature of

less energy than heating it to 300 c

I 572 F. Using

a very low humidity setting (0%-10%) with high

about 84 c

I 183 F, which varies from 80-86 c I

176-187 F.

oven temperature is likely not to achieve what it

Note, however, that these results are all approx-

ought to, but the oven will try its best to get there.
In our experience, in either convection mode or

imate: your oven's performance may vary. Note

also that these results are from sea leveli you can

combi mode, you again basically have two choices:

expect somewhat different results from combi

0% and 100% Rational humidity. For dry-bulb

ovens located at higher elevations.

temperatures below the boiling point, all dry-bulb

All this criticism may leave the impression that

temperatures produce the same wet-bulb tempera-

the humidity control on the Rational combi oven

ture, which is about 45 c

I 113 F but varies from

42-48 c I 108-118 F. Above the boiling point,

It is much harder to set the wetbulb temperature in a comb i oven

than in a CVap oven. At temperatures below the boiling point of
water, the wet-bu lb and dry-bulb
temperatures are the same insid e
the oven. Above the boiling point,
the wet-bulb temperature is, in
principle, a comp li cated mathematica l funct ion of the humidity,
dry-bulb temperature, and fan
speed. But we found that, in
practice, the empirical oven results
do not match the results of the
calcu lations very well.

is a bad thing. Quite the contrary: humidity

control on combi ovens is a great feature that you

Effective Cooking Temperatures in a Rational Combi Oven

In the four cooking modes offered by a Rational cooking oven, the effective cooking temperature (the wet-bulb temperature)
depends on both the dry-bulb temperature that has been set as well as the Rational humidity setting. The table below shows
the ranges of wet-bulb temperature that are accessible in each mode.
Dry-bulb
temperature setting

Wet-bulb temperature
actually achieved

("F)

Rational
humidity

30-60

86-140

100%

60-90

140-194

steam

100- 129

212-264

100%

98 (96-99)

208 (205-210)

good temperature control

convection

30-100

86-212

0%

45 (42-48)

113 (108-118)

useful primarily for dehydration

orfor dehydration and cooking combined

~ limit

42-88

108-190

poor control of wet-bulb temperature, which

varies with oven load and moistness offood

0%

80-88

176- 190

oven keeps humidity as low as it can; best

regime for browning

Mode

(c)

low-temperature
steam

100-300

212-572

(c)

(F)

same as dry bulb

30-100

poor temperature control

good temperature control

poor control of wet-bulb temperature, which

varies with oven load and moistness of food

~30 %

combi

Note

86- 212

0%

45 (42-48)

113 (108-118)

30-60

86-140

?.maximum *

same as dry bulb

60-90

140-194

100-300

212-572

~30 %

84 (80-88)

functions just like convection mode

poor temperature control
good temperature control

183 (176-190)

more reliable than convection mode because

moisture is added

*Maximum Rational humidity in combi mode depends on the dry-bulb temperature setting. It is 2.6% at 30 c I 86 Fand 58% at 90 c I 194 "F.
Note that Rational humidity settings above 50% are difficult for the oven to achieve in practice.

COOKIN G IN MO DE RN OV ENS

16 5

A PANOPLY OF PANS
Combi ovens call for a range of accessories to
accommodate their many uses. The various
pans used in combi ovens testify to just how
versatile these appliances can be. Some of
these pieces, such as the hotel pans, are
standard-issue essentials; other pans are
more specialized.

. . . ....
. .. . .. . . ... .. .. - .. -. ... . -. . ..
. . . .. .. .. .. -.. -.. .. -.. . ............
.. .. .. . . . .. .. ..
~..

Perforated hotel pan, or "steamer pan"

Hotel pan

Combi grill

D epth s range fro m 1-2 0 em I Y2-8 in

Ava il abl e w ith o r w ith o ut Te fl on coatin g

and in o ne-h alf and o ne-third sizes

M ark s foo d, ju st as a co nve nti o nal grill does

Perforated baking sheet

Enameled pan

Poached-egg pan

Ho les in th e non sti ck sheet help th e bottom

Coating w ith stand s high heat

Ind ented and coate d w ith Tefl o n

of bread to bake rather than stea m

and ca n pro du ce sea rin g effects

fo r easy remova l

Wire basket

Chicken rack

Pizza stone

Allows full access to hot air

Ho ld s bird s up right fo r optimum cri sping;

A custo m-m ad e sheet of thi ck met al fo r

for simul ated frying

a du ck rac k is also ava ilabl e

bakin g p izza pi es

1 66

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUE S AND EQUI PM ENT

can use to make terrific food. There is just plenty

in bulk, and they also take advantage of the speed

of room to improve the current technology with a

of the deviceSj combi ovens come up to tempera-

different interface and approach.

ture within 5-10 minutes and cook far faster than

either a water bath or a CVap does.
In our experience, however, combi ovens are not

Cooking in a Combi

particularly adept at holding temperatures below

Fortunately, a cook need not know the precise

60 c I 140 F. We've used them to cook fish, which

wet-bulb temperature in a combi oven to get

we most often prefer steamed at 45 c I 113 p, and

fantastic results (see the table of cooking strategies

to prepare steaks, which we like rare to medium rare

I 122-131 F). The equilibrium cook-

on page 170). We have favorite applications for these

(50-55 c

ovens when they operate in several different modes.

ing approach, similar to that used for sous vide (see

Low-temperature steaming, for instance, works

page 243), is to set the oven to a temperature 1 c I

very well in combi ovens, especially at tempera-

2 p above the desired core temperature. Unfortu-

tures of 60 c I 140 p and higher. Set the unit to

nately, the temperature in a combi oven varies so

steam mode with humidity at 100% and the

much at temperatures this low that a water bath is

temperature anywhere between 30-100 c I

a much better place to cook fish and red meat.

86-212 p, This mode excels for poultry, meats,

and all manner of plant foods . Conventional
steaming at 100 c

I 212 p works well, too.

The advantage of the combi oven, when used

To circumvent this shortcoming, you can adopt

a "hotter-than-core" cooking approach (see page
245) with the combi oven set at 60 c I 140 p, the
lowest temperature at which it seems to provide

this way, is its capacity: how else can you steam

reasonably accurate and precise performance. The

4.5 kg I 10 lb of broccoli or prepare a hotel pan of

risk with this approach is overcooking the food.

rice? Caterers often rely on combi ovens to steam

Even when the core is cooked perfectly, some

Large roasts can be successfully

cooked to rare temperatures in a
combi oven. Even though the
temperature is not perfectly
accurate, the fluctuations tend to
average out when a large piece of
meat is cooked over a long period
of time. Small er food pieces with
shorter cooking times are more
problematic. The shorter the
cook ing time, the more important
the fluctuations become.

INNOVATIONS

Ways to Make Modern Ovens Better

Modern humidity-controlled ovens such as CVaps and
combi ovens share a common flaw: they don't let you set
the wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures directly (although
the CVap does let you set it indirectly). Why the designers
chose to make them that way is difficult to comprehend .
These two temperatures are the primary parameters that
control cooking, and they are based on concepts that are
reasonably easy to grasp. Substituting the arbitrary scales
of "Browning" and "Humidity" may seem simpler in theory,
but in practice, it means that users need lots of trial and
error to find the settings that work best.
So we appeal to the oven makers of the world, especially
the many innovative engineers and designers who work in
the industry: please give us ovens that let us select separate
wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures! And while you're at it,
clever engineers, perhaps you could solve a related problem: the inadequate precision of the humidity- and temperature-control systems in these ovens. Both temperature
and humidity levels stray from the set points more than
they should .

This deficiency results largely from their heritage. The

CVap started out as a holding oven, and the combi oven was
meant to be a catchall appliance for commercial kitchens,
a culinary utility fielder. Neither was originally envisioned as
a precision tool for high-end cooking. Design engineers have
made clear improvements in each of these oven types. But
they have not yet captured theirfull potential.
Accurate and stable control of wet-bulb and dry-bulb
temperatures is critical to successful high-end cooking using
these techniques. To brown food perfectly without overcooking its interior, for instance, an oven must be able to
maintain low wet-bulb temperatures and high dry-bulb
temperatures simultaneously. The ideal wet-bulb temperature is 45 oc I 113 F for cooking fish, 50-55 oc I 122-131 Ffor
rare to medium-rare meat, and 60 - 70 oc I 140-158 Ffor
braised dishes. You want to hold those wet-bulb temperatures steady while maintaining dry-bulb temperatures in the
range ofl00- 300 oc I 212- 572 F. These conditions are
physically possible, but they would require upgraded
heating- and humidity-control systems in modern ovens.

COOK I NG IN MO DE RN OV ENS

167

Rational ovens feature a probe that

you insert into the center of the
food to track the core temperature.
The probe has five separate sensors
to give you a more accurate
reading; the machine's digital
control chooses the lowest. That
way, you don 't need to hit dead
center of the food with the tip of
the probe.

outer portions will be overcooked because hotter-

achieve 90% Rational humidity, but there is little

temperatures in the food. To compensate somewhat, use the oven's temperature probe to measure

reason to change the setting.

core temperature. You may need to set the probe

for less than the target temperature to compensate

Program Cooking

for overshoot.

Busy cooks can easily become enamored of the

combi oven's unique ability to do program

We have had success cooking large pieces of

food, such as roasts, in this fashion. Built-in
programs such as "overnight roasting" effectively
mimic the results of cooking sous vide. But you
will probably get more desirable outcomes if you
cook thinner cuts of red meat or fish sous vide in a

For large cuts of meat, overnight

roasting is effective even with
core temperatures in the range
of 50-60 oc / 122-140 F. The size of
the meat compensates for temperature fluctuations, which average out
during the long cooking time.

For more on how dehydration works,

see Drying, page 428.

cooking and to carry out programmed recipes

automatically. This convenient feature is made
possible by the unit's built-in computer controls
and the temperature sensors on a probe that you
insert into the food. The combi oven is perhaps

water bath or CVap oven, both of which perform

the most digitally enabled kitchen equipment

better at low temperatures.

available today.
Once the cook enters the sequence of desired

Convection mode is quite handy in a combi

oven for dehydration and browning. Dehydrating

cooking steps, the program takes the oven

food by setting the Rational humidity to 0% and

the temperature below 30-90 oc I 85- 195 op is a

through that sequence-different modes at

various temperature and humidity settings for

common choice that quickly dries foods without

cooking them. Remember that drying is a diffu-

specified time periods. You can create your own

custom programs for common cooking tasks, or

sion process, so you can shorten the drying time

by slicing the food as thinly as possible.

you can use the factory-installed programs.

The idea is to make it simple for kitchens that are

To brown or sear food using convection mode,

staffed by mostly unskilled workers to consistently

set the Rational humidity to 0% and the temperature to 175-300 oc I 347-572 F. The higher the

produce decent-quality [Link] place food in the

oven and press graphical icons on a touch screen;

temperature, the faster the surface of the food will

the combi oven does the rest. The programs may, in

desiccate and brown.

some cases, prompt you to insert a temperature

probe, but that's the most you' ll be asked to do,

The combi mode works fine for everyday baking

Cauliflower steaming in bulk quantities

highlights the large capacity a combi oven
possesses.

As mentioned earlier, the oven will never actually

than-core cooking always creates a gradient of

as well. The default setting for combi mode on the

Rational oven selects 90% humidity, which is a

beyond perhaps removing the cooked food.

reasonable choice for many general baking tasks.

which can use any or all of the oven's modes. A

program can h<~ve many steps-hundreds in

Cooks can customize their own programs,

principle, but we've never seen more than a

handful. Each step can include any combination
of changes to the temperature, humidity, and
mode. The oven monitors the temperature probe
to determine when the food is done; it can even
prompt the operator to load or unload the oven.
These programs work very well in certain
settings. The executive chef of a chain restaurant
could, for example, supervise the creation of a
program for a new dish, then distribute it to each
kitchen. Home cooks can automate simple tasks
that they find themselves doing repeatedly, or that
they tend to botch regularly. We are quite pleased
with several programs that we created (for an
example, see page 176).
Program cooking bothers some chefs, who
complain that it can never produce the same

1 68

VOLUM E 2 TE CHN IQUES A ND EQU I PM ENT

8
by the manufacturer's concern for food safety),
but for a conventional and fast technique, it does

results that they could do manually. In some

cases, there may be an additional motivation for
these complaints: the worry that automation will

a great job. We developed a chicken program that,

to our taste, does even better (see How to Roast a

make their jobs obsolete. But professionai chefs

have little real cause for concern. Using a combi

Chicken in a Combi Oven, page 178), but it takes

oven in program mode is definitely a labor saver,

but it's unlikely to replace a chef's skills in any

several times longer to cook.

meaningful way.

is the self-cleaning program. Combi ovens get

Perhaps the most appreciated built-in feature

very messy, because the high-velocity air tends to
splatter juices and drippings all over the inside of

That said, several of the factory-installed

programs do an excellent job and may even be

the oven. Thankfully, the self-cleaning program

useful in preparing high-end food. The overnight

roasting program is a case in point: it sears a roast
or other large cut of meat (including poultry), then
cooks it for many hours via low-temperature

handles the dirty work. Just put cleaning compound (which comes in large tablets) into the
oven, and start the program. Even the dirtiest

steam, and holds it until serving time. The process

generally takes four to eight hours, but you can

oven comes out sparkling-clean afterward.

extend it to 24 hours if desired. The result easily

combi-fry program cooks frozen french -fried

Other programs are less successful. The

matches the quality oflong-term cooking sous

potatoes so that they can almost pass as deep-

vide, but with the advantage that many roasts can

fried . This program works well enough for

cook simultaneously in a combi oven.

service in a school cafeteria and other institutional settings or for vanquishing late-night

The built-in roast chicken program also performs quite well. It directs one of the machine's
most complex cooking procedures, which takes
trussed chickens through multiple steps to produce

munchies. But few gourmands would consider

these combi fries a real substitute for true deepfried potatoes.
As smart devices get ever more capable (and
presumably less costly), there's no reason that the

roasts that have extremely crispy skin and succulent interiors. The engineers at Rational developed

combi oven won't eventually be able to carry out

the program to allow the combi oven to match the

qualities found in rotisserie-cooked chicken for
restaurants and take-out sections in grocery stores.
The result tends to be a bit overcooked, in part

Each brand of combi oven has its

own set of features. This discussion
focuses on the Rationa l SelfCooking Center, the company's most
advanced model.

programmed, or even interactive, cooking tasks

that better emulate the skills of a practiced cook.
Even so, it will at most merely free up cooks to
pursue new ways to create terrific dishes.

due to excessive temperatures (perhaps dictated

Comparing Cooking Modes

CVap water-vapor ovens and Rational combi ovens have different strengths and weaknesses.
Mode

low-temperature steam

steam

CVap
very good

n/ a

Rational

Operating co nditio ns

Note

good

dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures are

identical and less than 100 ' C / 212 ' F;
relative humidity is 100%

for combi ovens, temperature

control is typically poor below

dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures are

CVaps generate too small a volume

of steam to perform true steaming

very good

100 ' C / 212 ' F; relative humidity is 100%

60 ' C / 140 ' F

combi (humidity-controlled)

good

fair to good

dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures

diverge; oven directly controls humidity

convection

fair

very good

same as convection baking in a conventional oven; no moisture is added

by the oven

CVaps cannot attain temperatures

high enough or humidities low
enough to do conventional baking

program

n/ a

very good

control of oven temperature and

humidity is automated

applies to combi ovens only;

CVaps can only store single settings

COOKING IN MO DE RN OV EN S

16 9

STRATEGIES FOR COOKING IN CVAP OVENS AND COMBI OVENS

Combi oven settings
Temp erature

------------------

Humidity
(%)

Method

Cooking mode

incubation, fermentation,
or proofing

low-temp erature steam

30-50

85-120

100

dehydration

co nvection

30-90

85-195

low-temperature or
sous vide cooking

low-temp erature steam

30-60

86-140

100

60-100

140-212

Note

limited, due to temperature in accuracy

good temperature accuracy

steaming

steam

100

212

100

baking

co mbi mode

60-300

140-450

90

more consistent than co nvection

mod e

convection

60-300

140-450

promotes drying and browning more

than co mbi mode

frying or grilling

convection

180-300

programmed cooking

all mod es

full range

355-450

full range

built-in coo king programs available;

custom programming possibl e

Frying potatoes with herbs

170

Baking hamburger buns

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

8
CVap settings
Done ness
(F)

Browning Note

Examp le use

30-50

85-120

yogurt, sausage fermentation

30-60

85-140

1-6

35-93

95-200

fruit leather, vegetable chips,

bacon and ham chips

set browning hig her for faster drying

fish, shellfish, poultry, red meats

vegetables, grains, braised meat

not recommended

60-100

140-210

1-10

low maximum temperature and difficulty achieving low

humidity limit its suitability for many baking applications

baguettes, brioches, rustic loaves

choux pastries, pizzas, gratin

not applicable

not applicable

CVaps are not designed to reach the high dry-bulb

temperatures necessary for frying and grilling

fried chicken, onion rings,

grilled fish and steak, ham

not applicable

no programmability features are available in CVaps, but

com mon settings can be stored as presets

fried rice, rib roasts, omelets

Steaming sausages

Making yogurt

COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

171

EXAMP L E REC IP E

CANTONESE FRIED RICE

Yields 1.2 kg

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Chi cken fat, rendered,

see page 3116

56 g

7%

CD Preheat oven to 245 c / 475 F.

0 Add fat to nonstick roast ing pan, and let heat.

Shiitake mushroom, thinly

sliced
Chinese sausage, thinly sliced

BOg

10%

Add mushrooms, followed by sausage, and oven-fry until mu shrooms softe n and
sausages blister, about 5 min .

BOg

10%

jasmine rice, cooked

and cooled

BOO g

100%

Garlic chives, cut into

5 em / 2 in lengths
Scallions, white only, fine
julienne

BOg

10%

40g

5%

Red Thai chili, seeded and

cut in fine julienne

2g

0.25%

English peas, shu cked and

blan ched (frozen peas work)

BOg

10%

Duck egg, beaten

160g
(four eggs)

Add, stir to eve nl y distribute other ingredi ents into ri ce.

Oven-fry for 3 min .

Add, stir to distribute eve nly, and oven-fry for abo ut 30 s.

Fold into ri ce and oven-fry for about 2 min.

Remove ri ce mi xture from oven, leav ing heat on .

20 %

Make a well in th e middle of the fried ri ce.

@ Return ri ce mixture to 245 c / 475 F oven to heat.

@ Add egg, and allow to cook until just coagulated, abo ut 1'/2 min.
@ Remove fried rice from oven.

White soy sauce

32g

4%

@ Combine liqu ids an d stir into fried ri ce evenly to season.

@ Check seasoni ng and serve.

Dark soy sa uce

24g

3%

Mushroom soy sauce

12 g

1.5%

Toasted sesame oil

1.5g

0.4%

(2008)

4
176

6a
VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

6b

8
This recipe uses a combi oven as a substitute
for a wok to fry the ingredients. A combi oven has
a big advantage over a wok if you want to cook in
quantity. In the example photos, we made one
half-sheet pan of rice, but we could have made
five pans' worth simultaneously.

lla

llb
13

A variety of vegetables will work, such as mushrooms or scallions (photo below). It's entirely up
to the cook what to include.

COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

177

EXAMPLE RECIPE-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COMBI OVEN RIB EYE

Yields 900 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Beef rib eye, bone in

900g

100%

<D Brush rib eye with butter.

Unsalted butter, melted

as needed

Salt

to taste

0 Place meat on perforated rack,

and begin program.
After stage 5, brush with more butter.

(2010)

PROGRAM
STAGE

TEMP

HUMIDITY COMMAND

55 "CI 131 "F

100%

0 Preheat the oven to 54 "C I 131 "Fin steam mode

55 "CI 131 "F

100%

Steam until core temperature reaches 54 "C I 129 "F, aboutl h.

55 "CI 131 "F

0%

@ Dry for 5 min.

58 "CI 136 "F

0%

61 "Ci l42 "F

0%

0 Dry for 5 min.

Dryforl5 min.

300 "C I 575 "F

0%

@) Preheat oven until it reaches temperature, about 10 min.

300 "C I 575 "F

0%

Remove steak from oven.

This cooking program uses 25 min

of drying to prepare the surface for
searing. During the drying steps, the
temperature is increased, but the
humidity is decreased so that the
wet-bulb temperature does not exceed
the cooking temperature. The temperature is increased in stages to give the
oven time to get rid of the extra humidity. The temperatures at left are for what
we judge to be a medium-rare steak.
The temperatures can be adjusted for
other levels of doneness by using the
table below.

@ Searfor2 min.
@ Turn and sear another 2 min.

STAGE RARE
51 "C 1 124 "Fwith 100% humidity
to core of 50 "Ci l22 "F

MEDIUM RARE

MEDIUM

55 "C I 131 "F with 100% humidity

to core of 54 "C I 129 "F

60 "C I 140 "Fwith 100% humidity

to core of 58 "CI 136 "F

51 "C 1 124 "Fwith 0% humidity for 5 min

55 "C I 131 "Fwith 0% humidity for 5 min

60 "C I 140 "Fwith 0% humidity for 5 min

53 "C I 127 "Fwith 0% humidity for 5 min

58 "C I 136 "Fwith 0% humidity fo r 5 min

63 "C I 145 "Fwith 0% humidity for 5 min

56 "CI 133 "Fwith 0% humidity forl5 min

61 "CI 142 "Fwith 0 % humidity forl5 min

66 "CI 151 "Fwith 0% humidityforl5 min

A CVap oven will not get

hot enough for the browning stage, but you can do
stage 1 in CVap with
Doneness at the same
temperature as the combi
oven examples and with
Browning at zero. Sear with
a torch, plancha or other
means (see page 267). The
drying stage can be done
by then increasing the
Texture setting to 4.

180

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

EXAMPLE REC I PE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

COMBI OVEN-STEAMED BROCCOLI

Yi elds 1.5 kg

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Rice vinegar

lOOg

10%

CD Whisk together to make pickling brine.

Sherry vinegar

100g

10%

Water

64g

6.4%

Rese rve.

Sugar

28 g

2.8%

Salt

3g

0.3%

Broccoli stems, peeled

and thinly sliced

40g

4%

Shallots, thinly sli ced

28g

2.8%

Cool completely.

Currants

18g

1.8%

Broccoli florets

1 kg

100%

Arrange florets in one layer in combi oven steam basket.

Broccoli, sma ll florets

200g

20%

@ Toss sma ll florets in oil, and place on baking sheet.

Frying oil

50g

5%

Bring to simmer.

@ Combine.
Pour warm brine over broccoli-stem mixture to pickle.
Reserve.

Steam at 90 "C/ 195 "F and 100% humidity for 8 min, or until des ired texture is achieved .
Oven fry in combi oven at 270 "C I 520 "Fand 0% humidity for 4 min.
@ Drain.
Salt

to taste

@ Season steamed and fried broccoli.

Pickling brine,
from above

to taste

@ Strain reserved pickled mixture, reserving brine.

Toasted pumpkin seeds

50g

5%

Chili oil
see page330

30 g

3%

Salted lardo, frozen and

very thinly sliced

100g

10%

@ Toss steamed and fried broccoli with pickles, brine, pumpkin seeds, and chili oil.

@ Drape over warm broccoli mix, and serve.

(2010)

COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

181

COOKING WITH MICROWAVES

Numerous misconceptions surround the micro-

microwaves are tuned to a particular frequency

wave oven, despite the fact that nearly every home

that excites vibrations in water molecules-vibra-

in the developed world now seems to contain one.

tions that generate heat.

Water molecules can receive this kind of

The common notion that microwaves cook food

from the inside out is incorrect, for example; they

transmission because they are polar (see Why

penetrate only a centimeter or two (perhaps V2-

Water Is Weird, page 1298). This means that they

l in) beyond the food surface. And although the

have a weak positive charge at one end and a slight

phrase "nuking" food in the microwave has

negative charge at the other. When polar mole-

entered the lexicon, microwave radiation has

cules are subjected to an electric field, they rotate

nothing to do with nuclear radiation.

to align themselves with the field lines-an

electric version of the way a magnetic compass

Microwaves are simply light waves, just like

needle spins to face north and south.

those that comprise visible light. And just like

In the rapidly alternating electric field of a

visible light, infrared light, and radio signals,

For more on radiative heat transfer,

see Heat in Motion, page 1277.

microwaves are a specific class of invisible light

microwave oven, the molecules of water and other

waves. In the case of microwaves, their wave-

polar substances spin back and forth repeatedly,

length-the distance between neighboring

transforming electromagnetic radiation into heat.

sinusoidal crests that distinguishes light waves-

Fats and oils are not polar molecules, but they can

ranges from about one millimeter to one meter

also be vibrated in other ways using microwaves,

(0.04-39 in). They feature much shorter wave-

so they also become a source of heat generation.

lengths and higher frequencies-measured in

Their vibrations set neighboring molecules in

hertz (cycles per second)-than do radio waves.

motion, which conducts the heat further afield and

On the other hand, microwaves have longer

eventually heats the entire food by conduction.

Microwave ovens do not heat air, dishes, or the

wavelengths and lower frequencies than the

Microwaves do n't normally heat

dishes or co ntain ers. If yo u put a
ce rami c dish co nta ining metal in a
mi crowave oven, howeve r, it will
heat up -pe rh aps enough to break.
So me special brow ning dishes are
designed to heat safely in a mi crowave oven.

infrared light waves that we recognize as radiant

walls of the oven. They heat only water and oil. Dry

heat. Microwaves themselves carry little power;

substances will not heat up at all in a microwave

most hair dryers pull more wattage than micro-

oven. That explains why you can microwave water

in a paper cup and still remove the cup with your

wave ovens do.

Like grills and broilers, microwave ovens deposit

bare hands: the water heats up; the paper doesn't.

A fatty food was key to the discovery of the

energy and thus heat into food by radiative transfer,

but the radiative heating of a microwave works

cooking potential of microwaves. A Raytheon

very differently than these other methods do. The

scientist named Percy Spencer was touring the

Microwave oven (2.4 GHz)

Air-traffic control (2-4 GHz)

Cordless phone (2.4 GHz)

Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz)

Police radar (7-40 GHz)

Bluetooth (2.4-2.5 GHz)

Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic
radiation with frequencies between 300
megahertz (MHz) and 300 gigahertz
(GHz). Microwave ovens, cordless phones,
and wireless Internet connections all
operate at frequencies near 2.4 GHz,
which cannot be used for long-distance
signals, because water molecules in the
atmosphere interfere with their transmission-the same phenomenon that makes
these wavelengths perfect for cooking.

182

Cosmic microwave
background radiation (160 GHz)

Automatic garage door opener

Infrared

Radio

300 GHz

300 MHz

Global Positioning System, GPS

(1.2 GHz and 1.6 GHz)

Microwaves: 300 MHz- 300 GHz

VOLUM E 2 TEC HNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

company's radar lab in 1945, when he found that a

tremendous impact on the way that they cook

piece of equipment had melted a chocolate bar

food. In a microwave, small things take longer to

that he was carrying in his pocket (see page 122).

cook than larger ones-just the opposite of what

The device responsible was a magnetron, a micro-

happens in conventional ovens (see Why Micro-

wave transmitter that served as the heart of the

waves Heat Small Foods Slowly, page 188).

powerful but compact and therefore mobile

Popcorn pops well in a microwave because all of

microwave radar set that British engineers perfect-

the kernels are crowded together to form one

ed during the Second World War to detect Ger-

target mass that "sees" and absorbs the micro-

man airplanes and ships. British innovations to

waves. Put a whole bag of popcorn in the micro-

the magnetron boosted its power by a factor of 100

wave, and the first kernels pop in less than a

over competing designs.

minute. An isolated, individual kernel, in contrast,

Despite the name, the microwaves that these

can take minutes to pop. That is why, at the end of

ovens emit are in fact macroscopic: their wave-

the cooking cycle, a few recalcitrant kernels pop

length is 122 mm I 4.8 in long, corresponding to a

frequency of2.45 GHz. The reason that it is safe to

with long periods of silence in between-it takes

put screened windows on microwave ovens is that

ual kernels.

light waves of such a long wavelength cannot

escape through the fine holes of the window mesh;
they merely reflect back inside.

Popcorn was one of the first foods cooked

in a microwave oven and remains one of
the most popular.

the microwaves longer to heat the smaller, individDespite their macroscopic wavelength, microwaves do not pass through large objects the way
that radio waves (whose wavelength is much

Microwaves are, in fact, so long from peak to

longer) do. Because microwaves penetrate only a

peak that they often "miss" smaller food items that

couple of centimeters into food, whole chickens,

people place in the ovens, and that property has a

roasts, and other very thick items do not cook

COOKING IN MODERN OVENS

1 83

FROM WARTIME TO SUPPERTIME

The microwave oven is an offshoot of military radar technology
developed by British engineers to detect enemy planes and
ships during the Second World War. One key advantage of
the new device was its size: it was compact and portable.
That same feature allowed a new generation of users to tuck a
microwave cooking appliance into the slot above a stove. Its
sophisticated electronics fit into a small space outside the oven
chamber.

This motor runs the fan that:

distributes microwaves
evenly in the oven.

The waveguide carries the

microwaves from the magnetron
to the food
: The magnetron generates
the microwaves.
A fan coo ls the
magnetron and
its power supply.

The glass door has

a perforated meta l
shield that allows
you to see inside,
but preve nts
microwaves from
leaving the oven.

Controls allow
the user to set
cooking times
and power leve ls.

: .............. A power supply converts line

power to forms suitable for
the inte rnal electronics

18 4

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

quickly in a microwave oven. For the heat to reach

the center of the food, it must move by the slow
process of thermal conduction, just as if that food
were cooking in a conventional oven or on a stove
top. A one-gallon I 3.8-liter jug of water, for example, will take about the same time to come to a boil
in a microwave as it would on a hot plate or stove
top. The best approach to microwave cooking is thus
to choose food that is not too small and not too big.
Engineers have fitted microwave ovens with
metal fans to "stir" the incoming microwaves by
reflecting them every which way, much as a mirror
ball distributes a reflected spotlight around a

fundamental cooking process. Microwaves heat

dance floor. Sending the microwaves in all direc-

food by exciting water molecules in the food to

tions helps to distribute their heating effect

vibrate, but food cannot brown until the applied

throughout the food. Without this diversion, the

heat drives off all of the water at the surface. The

waves would travel as a single beam from the

basic physics indicates that, at just the moment

magnetron duct, blazing a hot trail straight

when the last bit of water vaporizes from the food

through any food in their way, while leaving

surface and the oven is primed to start browning,

surrounding food raw. This tendency also explains

microwaves become essentially ineffective, for

why many microwave units feature rotating

there is too little water left in the food for them to

turntables.

vibrate and heat the dish!

Even if you size the food to match the beam

pattern, however, microwave ovens can be tricky

Another problem for browning is that microwaves penetrate food, whereas browning is a

to operate because they do not have standard

surface phenomenon. In a hot oven-or under a

power settings. You have to get used to your own

broiler-you create a browned layer less than

machine's idiosyncrasies, and that generally

1 mm I 1/32 in thick. In a microwave, you can't heat

involves determining the most favorable cooking

just the top millimeter; you must heat a layer

times for various dishes by crude trial and error.

10-20 times that thickness.

What's more, many cheaper microwave ovens

have only the most basic of controls. In these

You can exploit the limitation on browning in

drier foods by using microwave ovens to fully

models, the microwaves are either on or off; the

desiccate them without ever burning them: items

only variables you set are the total cooking time

such as herbs (see page 3-312) and meat jerky (see

and the power level, which is accomplished by

page 3-184), for example, in which browning is not

cycling the magnetron on and off. Power level is

important or desirable. Microwave ovens also

usually measured by a numerical scale that

allow you to crisp food with little fear ofburning it.

corresponds to the ratio of the time power is on

Dry foods that are naturally high in fat will brown

versus the total cooking time. Full power means

because fat will not evaporate the way water does,

that the magnetron is on all the time, 50% power

so it keeps on heating the food after the water is

means that it is on half the time, and so forth.

gone. In some cases, you can brown food in a

Newer, more costly microwave ovens incorporate inverter technology, which directly controls

microwave by first rubbing oil on its surface.

Engineers have developed various hybrid

the strength of the microwaves so that the magne-

schemes to compensate for the microwave's

tron can stay on throughout the cooking process.

browning problem. Some of these hybrid devices

Although that feature ought to be an improve-

are microwaves that incorporate a broiler element

ment, in practice the results are pretty similar to

for browning. Others, such as the Turbo Chef

on- off power control for most cooking situations.

brand high-power microwave oven, include a

One of the main shortcomings of microwaves is

Tilapia cooks beautifu lly in a microwave;

see our recipe on page 3-115.

convection oven as well. The TurboChef oven uses

that they will not normally brown food. This is

microwaves for rapid heat transfer while also using

unavoidable; it results from the technology's

hot air (up to 260 c I 500 p) for browning.

COOKING IN MOD ERN OVENS

18 9

HOW NOT TO Do Irresponsible Things with a Microwave

We certainly do not recommend using kitchen equipment
irresponsibly-but the reality is tha t peop le have been
sticking odd things in microwaves for years, as hundreds of
rather [Link] videos show. These questionable escapades may damage your microwave and
could even be d a nge rous, so again, for the record, we
suggest you not perform these actions, interesting though
they may seem!

1
2
3

Plasma grapes: cut a grape in half down th e center, leaving a seam of skin connecting
the two halves. Microwave on high . Hovering blobs of plasma emerge from the grape.
Toothpick inferno: stick a toothpick into a piece of cork, light the other end on fire,
and putthe burning toothpick into the microwave (cork base down) under a clear
glass. Balls of fire will unfurl from the burning toothpick.
Sparks from aluminum foil: crinkled foil and foil edges cause arcing.
Incandescent light show: fill one glass with water and put a light bulb in another
glass. Put both glasses in the microwave turntable and turn it on for three seconds
(use the low-power setting if it has one). Don't leave it for too long and be careful
when you remove the glasses: the light bulb gets hot.

5 Soap monster: microwaves heat the fats in soap, causing rapid and uneven foamy
expansion. Put a bar of soap in a big bowl - the soap expands a lot. This trick also
works with marshmallows.

6
7

Dancing plasma: put a short candle in the microwave, with an inverted glass jar
over it, propped up so air can get in. Light the candle and start the microwave. The
microwaves excite the hot gases, turning them into a plasma.
CD light show: a microwaved music CD or CD-ROM (left) generates a spectacular
light show as electrical currents short out the thin layer of metal on the otherwise
plastic disc. Don't let the CD cook for more than five seconds or it will start to smoke,
releasing hazardous gases.

THE PHYSICS OF

Microwave Myths and Reality

Microwaves are perhaps the most misunderstood
appliance in the kitchen . Here we explode several
common myths.
Myth: You can't put metal in a microwave.
Fact: Microwaves already have plenty of metal in them: the
walls of the oven, the fan, and so on, are all metal! What
you need to be careful of is m etal that has sharp points or
edges. Those features concentrate the electrical field in the
oven and cause arcing. Arcing in and of itself isn't too
dangerous, but it can ignite dry flammables in the oven.
The reason not to use metal cookware is that microwaves
cannot penetrate metal, so your food will not cook.
Myth: Microwave ovens use nuclear radiation .
Fact: Microwaves are electromagnetic radiation that
occurs at frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz.
They are made of the same stuff as visible light and have
nothing to do with radioactivity or nuclear reactors,

190

despite the fact that the term "nuke" has entered common
parlance.
Myth: Microwaves cook from the inside out.
Fact: It may seem that way, because the interior of food
heats so much faster in a microwave than in a conventional oven and because you don't typically put very large
foods into microwave ovens. But microwaves actually
penetrate only a couple centimeters into food; the rest of
the food heats by conduction, just as it does in conventional ovens.
Myth: Microwaves are always faster than conventional
ovens.
Fact: There's an optimum size offood that microwaves will
indeed heat very fast. But very large foods, such as roasts,
and very small foods, such as individual kernels of popcorn, will heat much more slowly than they do in conventional ovens, and very dry foods may not heat at all.

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

l- l I 1-1

:1 -,_,_,

II
1

'

PolvScience

;a
.~~d:

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COOKING SOUS VIDE

On a September evening in 19ss, a

!'Est train station. Mr. Cliche had been able to

privileged group of diners sat down to enjoy the

cuisine ofJoel Robuchon, a legendary French chef

reheat the food in the cramped galley of the dining

whose Jamin restaurant in Paris had earned three

Michelin stars and a reputation as one of the best
in the world. It was in many respects a typical
Thursday dinner scene, with business executives
and politicians on expense accounts settling into

car without diminishing its quality.

All this was possible because Robuchon's crew
had prepared the food sous vide, a novel way of
cooking and preserving food that, among its other
benefits, allows cooks to store and later reheat
their creations without sacrificing any subtleties
of flavor or texture. The essence of the technique

plush leather chairs before tables set with the very

best linens, china, and silver. Michel Cliche, Chef

is to seal ingredients inside a flexible plastic bag

Robuchon's trusted aide of many years, was

overseeing the cooking and presentation to ensure

before cooking them in a water bath, a combi

oven, or some other system that permits precise

that the food met Robuchon's renowned standards.

It did not disappoint, and as the guests ate they

often translated as "under vacuum," and indeed

were also treated to a remarkable accompaniment

to their meal: a view of the French countryside

bag before cooking produces better results.

whizzing by in a blur. For this evening they were

dining not in Jam in but in the Nouvelle Premiere

The idea of cooking food in sealed packages is

not new. Throughout culinary history, food has

car of an eastbound bullet train streaking from

been wrapped in leaves, potted in fat, packed in

Paris to Strasbourg. Even more amazing, the

entire meal had been cooked days before in an

salt, or sealed inside animal bladders before being

cooked. People have long known that isolating

experimental kitchen in the depths of the Gare de

food from air can arrest the decay of food .

Banana leaves are an ancient form of packaging food for convenience.

regulation of heat. So us vide, a French phrase, is

often (but not always) removing the air from the

For more on the historical development

of sous vide cooking. see From the Vacuum of
Space to Vacuums in the Kitchen. page 140.

Food en papillote (in paper) cooks in a sealed, humid environment.

COOKING SOUS VIDE

195

Both venison tenderloins in the photo above started at the same weight. One steak (at left)
was pan-roasted to a final core temperature of 52 cI 126 "F. The other (at right) was
cooked sous vide to the same core temperature. then seared with a blowtorch.

196

The pan-roasted steak shows more than 40%of the meat was overcooked, becoming gray
and dry (above left). The steak cooked sous vide (above right) shows even doneness
throughout the meat. as well as an attractive crust.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

9
The defining feature of sous vide cooking thus is

at 58 c I 136 p for 72 hours is a revelation-and

unimaginably difficult to achieve without using a

not packaging or vacuum sealing but rather the

fine control of heat that modern timing and

digitally controlled water bath. The delicate,

temperature-control technology enable. Sous vide

custard-like texture of an egg poached at 65 c I

techniques can produce results nearly impossible

to achieve by traditional means. A venison tenderloin cooked sous vide at 52 c I 126 p has a

149 p is similarly eye-opening.

rationale for sous vide cooking and the options it

juiciness and edge-to-edge perfection unmatched

provides. We then discuss the special equipment

by a tenderloin cooked traditionally. The melt-inyour-mouth tenderness of beef short ribs braised

used and present various strategies and techniques

This chapter begins with an explanation of the

for sous vide cooking.

. -. .'
,.._c.:~:.
.
...

";N;.;'

!(" .

..

....

. . ,1

..~,.

~ : 'i; ,.
t.0/,
~.

6-l (

1-17 I for 2-l hou"

When cooking temperature can be

precisely controlled, braised beef short
ribs will yield textures ranging from
steak-like to flaky.

COOKING SOUS VID E

1 97

WHY SOUS VIDE?

Modernist chefs have embraced sous vide principally because of the unparalleled control it pro-

variations in temperature are just an unavoidable

vides over the flavor and texture of the cooked

food. Using sous vide, you can heat the food to

case, the result of the gradient is that the cooking

precisely the temperature you want for precisely

the amount of time you desire. Equally important,
the heating can be made to happen uniformly, so
every region within the food reaches the same
temperature. With sous vide, there is no need to
overcook or undercook part of the food to achieve
a desired level of overall doneness at the center.
Sous vide is especially useful for cooking meats

consequence of the cooking method. In either

must be timed perfectly. With just a moment's
inattention, the core temperature of your fish
quickly overshoots perfection.
Perfect timing is complicated further by the fact
that food heated by traditional methods continues
to cook even after it is removed from the heat. Fish
pulled from a frying pan has a hot exterior, which
cools down primarily by leaking heat into the core
of the food until the entire piece of fish equili-

and seafood, for which the window of proper

doneness is often vanishingly small when tradi-

brates to roughly the same temperature. A chef

thus must remove the fish from the pan well before

tional methods are used. When you fry a piece of

fish, for example, the flesh is most succulent and

the center is done if it is to be perfectly cooked at

the time of service.
Sous vide, in contrast, makes it very easy to

tender within a very narrow temperature range.

Although opinions vary about what temperature is
ideal, everyone can agree that it is much cooler

control temperature accurately. The simplest

technique is to place sealed parcels of food in a

than the searing surface of the frying pan. Because

the cooking temperature is at least 200 c I 360 p

water bath or a convection steam oven that is set

to maintain the desired core temperature. Then

hotter than the ideal core temperature of the food,

the edges of the fish will inevitably be far more

you just wait for the food to reach the set temperacontrolled heater, a water bath with a high-quality

Sometimes this steep gradient in doneness is

exactly what you want: panfrying can provide a

stirring system fluctuates less than half a degree

above or below the temperature setting, eliminat-

crispy skin and the pleasant grilled flavors of the

ing undercooking or overcooking. Moreover,

when the food emerges from the bath, its surface

Maillard reaction, for example. But sometimes

1 96

ture, take it out, and serve it. With a computer-

cooked than the center is when pan-fried.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Cooking sous vide is simple because it

eliminates guesswork. In a water bath, you
can cook every piece of fish to precisely
the same degree of doneness.

continue to cook.

all important issues in a busy kitchen. Portions

can be quickly weighed, labeled, and seasoned

Perfect control yields perfect consistency.

Because little temperature fluctuation occurs

while they are being bagged. When individual

portions of salmon are being prepared, for exam-

during sous vide cooking, its results are highly

repeatable. No amount of skill and judgment can

ple, olive oil, herbs, and spices can be added to the

bag before it is sealed. The entire ensemble is then

achieve such repeatability when food is cooked

over open flames and other less-predictable heat

ent ensures accurate portion control as well as

and core are already at equilibrium, so it doesn't

sources.
Sous vide techniques also improve control over
portion size, product quality, and food hygiene-

refrigerated until needed. Weighing each ingrediconsistent quality after cooking.

Storing food sealed in plastic bags strikes some
as unnatural. That may be true, but vacuum sealing

COOKING SOUS VIDE

When combined with proper hygiene and

a reliable scale. sous vide cooking can
simplify portion control and extend the
time that ingredients can be held at the
peak of quality. Vacuum sealing individual
portions also provides an easy way to add
measured amounts of seasoning to each
portion, which ensures that every serving
is seasoned correctly and consistently.

1 99

Thin plastic wraps permit oxygen to seep through. Oxygen binds to myoglobin molecules,
initially giving meat its pleasant, fresh, red color (above left). Over time, however, the
oxidation changes myoglobin into the brown-colored pigment metmyoglobin. This is why
plastic-wrapped steaks soon take on a less-desirable mottled-brown hue (above right).

200

Sous vide plastic bags preserve the color of steaks because they are mostly impermeable to
oxygen. When vacuum sealed, red meat often turns dark (above left) for the same reason
that our blood becomes blue when it lacks oxygen. Just like blood, vacuum-packed meat
regains its brightness as soon as the air hits it (above right).

VOLUM E 2 TEC HNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

erators of professional kitchens. When done

greatly reduces one of the most vexing problems

that nature poses for cuisine: the chemical damage

properly, so us vide cooking may be the best way to

that oxygen causes when it reacts with food. It

takes very little time, for example, for the natural

ensure food safety.

As with any approach to cooking, however, the

fats in fish to oxidize and produce unpleasant fishy

aromas. Oxidation is likewise what makes the

proper handling of raw and cooked foods is

myoglobin pigment in red meat change from an

initially attractive red to an unappetizing brown

hygiene apply as much to sous vide cooking as to

color (see photos on previous page).

attention when cooked food is cut into portions

When apples, artichokes, endives, and many

other fruits and vegetables begin to brown at their

and bagged for later reheating.

cut surfaces, that process reflects oxygen at work

with enzymes called polyphenol oxidases. Sealing

the benefits of cooking sous vide. Some chefs have

criticized sous vide techniques for removing the

these foods in plastic bags that are impermeable to

art and craft from cooking. That criticism misses

the point. A busy kitchen offers no shortage of

air slows these reactions tremendously, keeping

fish smelling fresh, meat from discoloring, and
produce from turning brown for far longer than

paramount. The general practices for kitchen

any other method and should be given special

Control, consistency, quality, safety: these are

challenges to cooking consistently great food. By

refrigeration alone can.

guaranteeing perfect consistency in heating, sous

vide methods allow cooks to finesse the many

Inside the vacuum-sealed bag, food also enjoys

a fully humid environment. This humidity elimi-

other details of great cooking. Furthermore, there

is no "right" temperature for cooking most foods.

nates drying. As a result, food cooked sous vide is

often noticeably juicier and more tender than the

One person may prefer beef short ribs cooked to a

steak-like 55 c I 131 p, whereas another may

same food cooked outside a bag.

prefer the flakier texture that appears around

82 c I 180 f. The most important goal is consis-

The bags protect the food from more than just

the atmosphere. Food inside sous vide packets is
less likely to become cross-contaminated during
handling and storage in the often crowded refrig-

For more on safe food handling and kitchen

hygiene, see chapter 3 on Food Safety, page
1-162.

For more on egg texture at various tempera

lures, see page 476. For more on meat
doneness and texture at various times and
temperatures, see page 3-109.

tently delivering a chef's vision or a guest's preference. Sous vide cooking makes that easier.

Like artichokes, apple slices turn brown

with exposure to air. The discoloration can
be slowed by adding lemon juice (left),
which works in two ways. Citric acid in the
juice lowers the pH, which reduces the
activity of the phenolase enzyme
responsible for the browning reaction.
At the same time, ascorbic acid mops up
oxygen, another element in that reaction.
Unfortunately, the lemon juice changes the
flavor of the apple slices. Vacuum packing
the apple slices (right) eliminates oxygen
and thus prevents browning without
altering the apple's flavor.

COOKING SOUS VI DE

201

Sous Vide Steps

(steps in gray are optional)

1 ingredients
Prepare
Trim and portion
Marinate, brine, or
cure
Presear
Preblanch

2 Package
the food

3 Setthe cooking
temperature

Pl ace in coo kin g

co ntain er

Select target co re
temperature

Vacuum pack

Select so us vide
strategy and set bath
temp erature

Insert temperature
probe

Cook for
appropriate time
Determine coo kin g
time from recipe,
table, or ca lcul ation
Monitor temperature
probe readout

Rest or coo l
Reheat
Sear
Portion
Store

Season

Serve

202

5 orFinish,
store,
serve

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

The So us Vide Cooking Process

about which temperature and time combinations

Cooking any food sous vide involves five steps:

yield the best results. Understanding all of the

options available makes it easier to select the best

preparation, packing, temperature setting,

timing, and finishing. Preparation of the ingredients and organization of your mise en place for

approach for your purpose.

Three broad strategies can be used to cook sous

technique. When sealing food into packages,

vide: cooking for immediate service, cooking then

refrigerating or freezing until needed, and cooking

restaurants that use sous vide regularly typically

rely on expensive chamber-style vacuum packers,

at high enough temperatures long enough to

pasteurize food (see Sous Vide Cooking Strate-

but improvised options can cost less. The goal of

this second step is to create a sealed, ready-to -

gies, next page, for more details).

cook food package that excludes as much air as is

is finishing. The cook-chill approach may include

further work, such as breaking down a large joint

sous vide is similar to that for any other cooking

practical.
The most crucial steps are selecting a tempera-

The final step in the sous vide cooking process

of meat and repackaging the individual portions.

ture for the water bath, combi oven, or other

cooking equipment, then choosing the cooking

When cooking sous vide for immediate service,

many items need no work beyond opening the bag

time. Should cooking stop as soon as the final

temperature is attained, or should the food be held

and plating the dish. Some foods, however-such

at that temperature for some time? Although the

without a seared crust.

choice is informed by food safety considerations,

which we discuss later, the palate of a talented chef
is essential. Some choices are more reasonable
than others, but there are no hard-and-fast rules

as a medium-rare steak-just aren't appetizing

Later in this chapter, we describe several good
strategies for creating the perfectly seared crust
while retaining the unique, edge-to-edge even
doneness of sous vide cooking.

COOK I NG SOUS VIDE

203

SOUS VIDE COOKING STRATEGIES

Immediate service

How soon
will the food
be served?

How should the

food be stored
after cooking?

within minutes

should not be stored

When food will be served and eaten immediately after cooking, chefs
have the greatest flexibility in choosing so us vide cooking times and
temperatures. This strategy is often the best approach for delicate
foods, including fish, crustaceans, and tender meat, which would be
ruined if cooked to the extent required for cook-chill or so us vide
canning.

within one week

Cook-chill
Cook-chill methods were developed for use in large-scale catering,
where meals must be precooked, stored in chilled orfrozen form, and
later reheated and served. This approach is also convenient for some
kinds of gastronomic cooking because it allows advance preparation
of complicated dishes and the use of foods that require very long
cooking times.

within six months

within six months

Sous vide canning

refrigerator
{1 - 5

freezer
(below 0

-...::- -------~
-~~"

Cook-chill

204

- -

~--

--=--------- .. -

VO LUM E 2 TE CHN I QUES AND EQUIPM ENT

_.......-... __

oc I 32 F)

room temperature

Canning is desirable when you need food to keep for long periods of
time without refrigeration . Special equipment is needed to do canning
with so us vide, including a pressure cooker or autoclave. Both standard canning jars and and retort bags will withstand the high temperatures needed to sterilize the food within. Safety requires strict attention to minimum cooking times when canning-see Canning, page 75.

Immediate service

oc I 34- 41 F)

How will the

food be contained

What cooking

What cooking and

If immersing the food

equipment will

storage strategies

while cooking?

be used?

will be used?

what bath temperatures

will be used?

chamber-sealed bag
edge-sealed bag
impulse-sealed bag
zip-closure bag
roasting bag
open bag
retort bag
jar or rigid container

water bath
co mbi oven
low-temperature steamer
steamer
pressure cooker
autoclave
improvised equipment
pot on stove

remove at temperature
ho ld at temperat ure
pasteurize for chilling
high temperature and pressure
infuse or extract
age

any, as long as the food spends

no more than four hours within
the range of 5-54 oc I 41-129 oF
For more on this, see chapter 3
on Food Safety, page 1162.

chamber-sealed bag
edge-sealed bag
retort bag
jar or rigid conta in er

water bath
combi oven
low-temperature steamer
steamer
pressure cooker
autoclave
improvised equipment

extended hold at temperature

pasteurize for chill ing
high temperature and pressure
cool
freeze
thaw or cook from frozen
reheat

at least 54 C I 129 F for no less

than the time required to
pasteurize (see chapte r 3).

retort bag
jar or rigid container

pressure cooker
autoclave

sterili ze for canning

at least 115 oc I 239 oF

Sous vide canning

COOK ING SOUS VIDE

205

THE SCIENCE OF

Common Myths about Sous Vide Cooking

Myth: Cooking food without air increases the risk of
food borne illness.
Why do people think this? The toxin that causes botulism,
as well as microbes that produce other serious forms of food
poisoning, can develop or grow in vacuum-packed food
stored improperly or cooked at too low a temperature.
Fact: All of the evidence indicates that food is actually
much safer when stored and cooked so us vide than when
cooked in traditional ways. Because the food is sealed
before being cooked sous vide, it is less likely to be accidentally contaminated during handling, which is the most
common cause offoodborne illness.
So us vide methods also allow chefs to accurately control
cooking temperatures, so they need not guess when the food
is done. This improves the margin of safety. As long as cooks
adhere to proper guidelines for chilled storage and use
acceptable combinations of cooking time and temperature,
so us vide methods pose almost no risk of botulism or other
serious forms offood poisoning.
Myth: Safe cooking of vacuum-sealed food requires
blanching the package in a water bath, typically at a temperature greater than 80 oc I 176 F, before finishing the cooking at a lower temperature.
Why do people think this? Certain thermophilic pathogens can survive at temperatures that are almost high
enough to blanch food .
Fact: Briefly blanching food provides an additional margin
of food safety because it pasteurizes the surface of the food .
In some cases, blanching is worthwhile (see How to Cook in
Multiple Baths, page 248, and Blanching and Searing for
Sous Vide, page 267), but pre blanching is not required to
ensure food safety.
Restaurants that use sous vide cooking methods almost
always cook the food quickly to its desired final temperature,
then serve it immediately. This practice is safe and permissible
if the cooking times are relatively short.
For food that may have surface contamination, cooks often
intuitively take an alternative approach that rapidly destroys
any pathogens on the surface: they simply sear the food.
Whether searing occurs before or after so us vide cooking
doesn't matter much; either approach makes the food saferand often tastier, too!

206

Myth: Seafood cannot be safely cooked sous vide.

Why do people think this? Most people prefer fish cooked
lightly, at time-temperature combinations that are insufficient to pasteurize the food.
Fact: As many restaurant menus note, consuming raw or
unpasteurized foods poses some risk, which remains
regardless of how the food is cooked. So us vide cooking
neither increases nor decreases this risk. Nor is there anything special about fish in this regard-fish just happens to
be commonly served raw or very lightly cooked.
Note that even the times and temperatures recommended
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cooking fish
(see page 1184) do not necessarily ensure pasteurization! For
more details, see chapter 3 on Food Safety, page 1-162 .
Myth: The temperature at which food is cooked so us vide
affects how long it can safely be stored under refrigeration.
Why do people think this? Interconnections between
pasteurization standards and concerns about the growth of
anaerobic pathogens have caused confusion on this point.
Fact: Proper pasteurization is important before refrigerated storage of many foods, regard less of how they are

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

9
prepared . For guidance on pasteurization methods, see
chapter 3. Once pasteurized, foods cooked so us vide may be
safely stored for up to three days below 5 oc I 41 F, for up to
30 days below 1 oc I 34 F, and for an unlimited period below
- 20 oc I - 4 F (see page 252).
Myth: Meat must be cooked so us vide to higher tempera-

tures when on the bone than when filleted.

Why do people think this? The reason this myth endures is
unclear, but some misconceptions persist about how bones
affect the movement of heat within food.
Fact: Meat that contains bones can be safely cooked so us
vide. Some bones conduct heat faster and others conduct it
slower than meat does, but with the right time and temperature, you can cook meat on the bone so us vide.
Myth: Plastics used in sous vide packaging contain harmful

chemicals that can leach into food during storage and

cooking.
Why do people think this? Media reports have raised
concerns about chemicals leaching into foods and drinks
from their plastic containers.
Fact: According to the latest research, the safest plastics for
use with food are high-density polyethylene, low-density
polyethylene, and polypropylene. Virtually all sous vide
bags are made from these plastics, as are most brand -name
food storage bags and plastic wraps such as Saran Wrap.
Concerns about the safety of so us vide bags are misplaced.
Less expensive, bulk plastic wraps sold to the catering trade
are not as safe, however. These products are still commonly
made from polyvinyl chloride or polyvinylidene chloride,
which can contain harmful plasticizers that have been shown to
leach into fatty foods such as cheese, meat, or fish . Legitimate
concerns exist about food exposed to these plastics at higher
temperatures. Polyethylene-based plastic wraps are available at
only slightly higher cost and do not raise such concerns.
Many professional kitchens use clear, rigid, plastic storage
containers that are made from polycarbonate. These plastics
also may be a cause for concern because they contain bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that can disrupt hormone activity and
can leach into food or beverages. Cracks and crazing due to
wear and tear increase the rate at which BPA leaches out of
polycarbonates. Polycarbonate containers are currently
approved for food use. If you are concerned about BPA contamination, however, replace any polycarbonate containers
that have cracks or crazing.

COOKING SOUS VIDE

207

PACKAGING FOOD
FOR SOUS VIDE

Vacuum packing is a conven ient

way to package food for sous vid e
cooking, but it is not necessary,
strictly speaking. One can cook in a
sous vid e style without vacuum
sealers.

Sous vide has become synonymous with vacuum

vacuum-packed meat, cheese, coffee, and ready-

packing-indeed, the phrase is usually interpreted

to-eat food products. This technology substantial-

as "under vacuum"-but that literal translation

ly increases shelflife because it removes oxygen

can be misleading in two ways. Food can be

from contact with food. Oxygen is a highly

prepared sous vide without vacuum packing as

reactive element; that is why iron rusts, fire burns,

long as the meal will be served within a few hours

and some fruits and vegetables (including arti-

of cooking. Moreover, the food itself does not

chokes, apples, avocados, and endives) brown

experience a vacuum-that is, very low pres-

when their flesh is exposed to air. Oxygen is also

sure-after it is sealed inside a bag. The weight of

essential to the growth of spoilage bacteria, almost

the atmosphere still presses down with full force

all of which are aerobic. By sucking all the air away

on both the bag and its contents (see How Vacu-

from the food, vacuum packing simultaneously

um Packing Works, page 212). A more apt transla-

forestalls the two biggest causes offood degrada-

tion of sous vide would be "packed without air,"

tion with age: direct oxidation and aerobic micro-

because this accurately describes how we usually

bial growth.
Strictly speaking, vacuum packing is only

prepare food for cooking sous vide.

For more on aerobic and anaerobic bacteria,
see chapter 2 on Microbiology in the Kitchen,
page 1-102.

20 8

Vacuum packing is most commonly used to

required (as a safety measure and to prevent

prevent spoilage of food during distribution rather

oxidation) for cook-chill sous vide, in which the

than for cooking. Supermarket shelves are full of

food is stored after cooking. Cooks often choose

VO LUME 2 TEC HNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

Pomegranate seeds yield juice without

mess when crushed in a sous vide
bag-just one of many convenient uses for
vacuum packing.

to use vacuum packing even if they are serving the

poor conductor of heat, excluding air improves

food immediately, however, because it offers

the uniformity of heating. Even more important,

numerous practical advantages. Unsealed bags

water cannot evaporate from the food without air

tend to float in the water baths that are often used

to evaporate into. Without the cooling effect of

for sous vide cooking, for example, and holding

evaporation, the cooking temperature is always

the bags down with weights or nets is inconve-

the same as the air or the bath temperature

nient. In contrast, vacuum-packed bags generally

outside the bag.

do a better job of sinking on their own. Removing

But if you are going to seal the food anyway, you

may as well do it with a vacuum machine. The only

the air by vacuum packing food offers another

advantage as well: it helps prevent chemical
reactions that can give cook-chilled foods a
warmed-over flavor.
These benefits are admittedly modest, and
certainly food can be cooked sous vide without
using vacuum packing at all. Even sealing food
tightly in an ordinary press-and-seal bag achieves
the main advantage of cooking without air, which
is consistent temperature control. Because air is a

important disadvantages of this approach are the

cost of the equipment, which can be considerable
for a chamber sealer, and heightened (but largely
unjustified) concerns about anaerobic pathogens-microbes that thrive in the absence of air.
Vacuum-packed food actually poses no greater
risk of foodborne disease than food prepared in
air. Vacuum packing has drawn attention from
regulators simply because it is unfamiliar to them.

COOK IN G SOUS VI DE

For more on food safety issues and precautions

in sous vide cooking. see Pasteurizing for
Storage. page 249. and chapter 3 on Food
Safety, page 1-162.

20 9

How Vacuum Packing Works

Before we describe the several kinds of machines

vacuum-sealed bag are the same, and this

you can use to contain food when cooking it sous

exception explains why vacuum packing can crush

vide, it is important that we explain what actually

delicate foods such as raspberries. The exception

happens during the vacuum-packing process. The

arises for foods that contain air-filled nooks,

phenomenon can be counterintuitive, and confu-

crannies, and hollows. A plastic sous vide bag isn't

sion about it has given rise to some myths about

elastic enough to stretch into a narrow void-such

as the hollow center of a raspberry-and to apply

cooking sous vide.

supportive pressure after the air is removed. So the

We mentioned one of these myths earlier: that

Although fish can be quite delicate
after cooking, raw fish is extremely
robust-by necessity. A fish swimming at a depth of just 10 m I 33ft
experiences twice the normal
pressure of the atmosphere. That
pressure is far greater than any a
cow will ever experience and also
exceeds the force that vacuum
sealing exerts on fish flesh .

the food experiences a vacuum inside its bag. A

crushing weight of the atmosphere causes the

vacuum is space containing little or no matter-

berry to collapse. In special cases, this crushing

not even gas. The nuts in a hermetically sealed

can be desirable (see Vacuum Compression, next

can are in a vacuum, and when you open the can

page), but usually the effect is unwanted.

One obvious way to avoid this problem when

you can hear the air rush in to fill the void. But
no such hiss is heard when you tear open a sous

packing delicate foods is to draw the pressure

vide bag with food inside. Unlike cans, flexible

down only slightly when sealing the bag, so plenty

bags aren't strong enough to resist atmospheric

of air remains to fill any tight spots. This largely

pressure, which at sea level is about 1,013 mbar I

defeats the purpose of vacuum packing, however.

14.7 psi. As a result, the pressure inside a sealed

Even a 75% vacuum during sealing leaves more

sous vide bag equals the pressure outside the bag.

than enough oxygen inside to eliminate the

If you really want food to experience a lengthy

preservative benefits of vacuum packing. Reduc-

vacuum, pack it in a rigid container, then suck out

ing the sealing vacuum less dramatically-say

the air. Even then, however, the contents won't

from a 99.9% vacuum (1 mbar I 0.01 psi) to a 95%

remain in a low-pressure environment for long.

vacuum (SO mbar I 0.7 psi)-will not help to

Water, alcohol, and other volatile compounds will

avoid compression damage to the food, despite

evaporate or outgas from the food, gradually

assertions to the contrary. A 95% vacuum simply

does not leave enough residual air pressure to fill

filling the container with a mixture of vapors.

Raspberries don't do well when vacuum
packed because the plastic bag cannot fill
their hollow centers to support them
against the weight of the atmosphere.

in voids and invaginations in the food.

There is an important exception to the general

A better but more complex solution is modified-

rule that the pressures inside and outside a

atmosphere packing, which is often used in

commercial food packing. Oxygen-free gases like
nitrogen and carbon dioxide are pumped into the
vacuum chamber to replace the air that has been
pumped out. The bag is then sealed with enough
gas pressure inside to resist crushing. The complexity of this system unfortunately puts it beyond
the capabilities of most restaurants.
Rigid containers offer a more practical alternative for chefs and home cooks when oxygen-free
storage is the goal. But because heat flows evenly
only through a tight-fitting package, neither
modified-atmosphere packing nor rigid containers
are suitable for cooking. One work-around that
can help when cooking delicate pieces of meat or
seafood is to stretch a few layers of thin, elastic
plastic wrap around each portion before placing it
in the sous vide bag. The plastic wrap adds padding that absorbs some of the uneven forces on the
food after it is vacuum sealed, thus preventing it
from being pinched or crushed.

212

VOLUME 2 TEC HNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

Boiling not Crushing

Many chefs have noted that certain foods,
particularly seafood and meats, seem slightly
drier or have a change in texture after they have
been sealed in a strong vacuum. These effects
have nothing to do with being crushed; they
occur because the food boils during vacuum
packing.
Vacuum packing speeds evaporation of water
from food-so much so that a strong vacuum can
actually bring the water in the food to a boil (see
Liquids in a Vacuum on page 215). By evaporating
rapidly into water vapor, the expanding steam
does a lot of damage to the food, even though it is
not hot. Cells rupture and are pushed aside to
create channels. During cooking, juices leak out of
the food through these channels, drying the food
and damaging its texture. If this seems a bit
abstract, imagine stepping out the airlock of a

pressure of 30-50 mbar I 0.4-0.7 psi works best

space station into the vacuum of outer space and

for nearly all foods. Pulling a harder vacuum will

how it would feel as the water in your body boiled

not tighten the packaging perceptibly; by that

from exposure!

point, very little air is left to remove from the bag.

You can avoid low-pressure boiling by sealing

Any marginal benefit from an ultratight vacuum is

only very cold food and by setting the pressure no

in any case quickly obliterated as soon as cooking

lower than necessary. Keep in mind that in food at

begins. Water evaporating from the food rapidly

refrigerator temperatures, water begins evaporat-

increases the pressure in the bag: by the time food

ing rapidly at pressures less than 20 mbar I 0.3 psi,

reaches 55 c I 130 p, the pressure in the bag is

and it boils at 5-10 mbar I 0.1-0.2 psi. A sealing

approximately 150 mbar I 2.2 psi.

I I! I

I' II \ ' I r '

When wrapping delicate food to protect it

during vacuum sealing, use food-grade
polyethylene film rather than cheap
polyvinyl chloride plastic wrap for safety
reasons (see page 206).

If the bag contains any alcoho l,

such as wine, then the pressure wil l
in crease even faster during
cooking. At warm temperatures,
ethanol evaporates even more
quickly than water does.

rI I

Sometimes crushing food with vacuum sealing is exactly

ber is opened. The net result is that plant foods tend to shrink

what you want to achieve. Vacuum compression has be-

when vacuum packed . Cooks often repeat this process

come a popular technique with chefs, but how it works is

often misunderstood.

several times to rupture most of the vacuoles and achieve

complete compression. Incidentally, this phenomenon also

Vacuum compression works best on plant foods , thanks to

a distinct feature of plant anatomy. The cells of plant tissue
contain pockets of air and water called vacuoles (see Plants
as Food, page 3262). As the outside pressure decreases
during vacuum sealing, these vacuoles act like balloons rising
up through the atmosphere, and like balloons they eventually pop. The popped vacuoles cannot reinflate after the bag is
sealed - no air is left in the bag-so they collapse under the
weight of atmospheric pressure as soon as the sealing cham-

is the reason that infusing liquids into fruits or vegetables

under vacuum compression works so well. Once the vacuoles rupture, they quickly fill with any surrounding liquid.

See page 3288 for recipes that exploit this effect.

Vacuum compression works well only with plant foods.
The muscle cells in meat and seafood contain no vacuoles or
large air pockets. Although meats do brine and marinate
faster during vacuum compression, a very different mechanism is at work (see Brining, page 315-l).

COOK I NG SO US VI DE

2 13

Chamber Sealers
Large-scale commercial operations and restau-

Although most sealing problems are merely

annoyances, a bad odor coming from a bag when it

rants that use sous vide cooking typically rely

is opened should be a big concern. Bad odors can

heavily on chamber-style vacuum sealers. These

be a signal that bacterial growth has occurred

appliances are large, heavy, and expensive, but

during storage or cooking. Because some bacteria

they do an excellent job and enable several novel

generate dangerous toxins, promptly discard any

culinary techniques.

food in bags that smell bad when opened. Similar-

To use a chamber sealer, you lay bags of food in

ly, bags puffing up over time while cold may be a

the chamber and place their open ends on a

symptom of bacterial growth inside. (Note,

sealing bar. After the lid is closed, a powerful

however, that a bag with a poor vacuum seal may

vacuum pump evacuates the air. The sealing bar

be puffy all the time.)

The exception to this guidance is for cruciferous

heats up, melting a strip of the bag and bonding it

closed. The chamber then returns to atmospheric

cauliflower, kale, and turnips, which naturally

Pack Food with a Chamber Sealer, page 218.)

emit sulfurous gases during storage. Typically,

One advantage of this approach to vacuum

A chamber sealer enables a cook to

vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, cabbage,

pressure and unlocks the lid. (See How to Vacuum

these vegetables should be blanched before

sealing is that liquids stay put. If air were to be

cooking, then either frozen for storage or cooked

sucked out of the bags directly, any liquids inside

very quickly (see page 3-286). If their odor be-

alter food in several ways that are

difficultto do otherwise, including
by vacuum-assisted compression
and by vacuum-assisted aeration.
For more on vacuum compression,
see page 3390. Vacuum-assisted
aeration is described on page

the bags would be pushed toward the inlet of the

comes a problem, it may be better to cook them

vacuum pump. But because the entire chamber is

some other way.

4310.

same as the pressure inside the bag.

Bags containing alcohol normally inflate when

evacuated, the bags never collapse; the pressure

pushing on the outside of the bag is nearly the
Actually, a keen observer would notice that the
bags briefly inflate a little. That short period of

heated because the temperature of the alcohol is

near its boiling point (70 ' C I 158 ' F). Even bags
without alcohol can puff up when they get very hot
simply because the residual air, water vapor, and

expansion happens because the air flows out of the

other volatile materials in the bag expand when

chamber a bit faster than it can escape from the

heated. If a bag is puffy or inflated while at room

bag, especially once the sealing bar clamps down

temperature or lower, however, it may contain

on the bag. This sets up a small pressure differen-

harmful bacteria and should be discarded.

Vacuum packing food is not difficult, but it is

tial that causes the bags to puff slightly at first.

A second advantage of chamber sealers is their
high throughput. With a powerful vacuum pump

important to remember that generally only cold

foods should be sealed. Once you have removed

and a large chamber capable of sealing multiple

roughly 80% of the air from the bag, the boiling

bags at a time, a single machine in a busy profes-

point of water is at 60 ' C I 140 ' F and falling. If the

sional kitchen can seal hundreds of bags on any

food in the bag is hotter than that, it will begin to

given day.

boil in its own juice (see next page).

It is possible to tightly seal hot liquids if you

Like any advanced cooking technique, vacuum

214

sealing requires some experience to achieve

allow them to boil in the chamber long enough for

proficiency. Even with practice, several kinds of

the pump to remove nearly all the air, but we don't

problems occur regularly when food is being

recommend this approach. The result is usually a

vacuum sealed. The bag may not seal properly, air

soft seal. Although the seal tightens as the food

may still be in the bag, or the food may be dam-

cools, it never becomes as tight as it would have if

aged or distorted while being sealed. We suggest

the food were sealed when cold. Air remaining in a

solutions to these and other common problems on

bag can cause it to float in the water bath and can

page220.

lead to uneven cooking of the food inside.

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Chambe r seale rs are expe nsive, so it's worth ex ploring th e features avail able and selecting one that has th e features th at match your
needs. He re are so me of th e o ptio ns we have fo und to be especiall y useful.

HOW TO Vacuum Pack Food with a Chamber Sealer

Professional kitchens that have embraced so us vide cooking as a way to
deliver cons istent quality usually rely heavily on chamber sealers. The

accidents will happen, so it 's important to use good hygiene. Many

foods, both raw and cooked, will pass through the chamber, so be sure

speed, efficiency, and flexibility of these app liances justify their steep
cost. Although using a chamber sealer is stra ightforward, sp ill s and

to package foods properly and sanitize the appliance regularly to reduce

th e risk of cross-contam in ation.

1 Fill the bag. Place the food into a bag large enough to allow you to flip

the top 5-8 em I 2-3 in of the bag inside out. This technique improves
hygiene and ensures there will be enough clean material atthe top to
make a secure seal; it does not damage the bag, as sometimes asserted.

Setthe vacuum level (not shown). For most solid foods, 30- 50 mbar I
0.4-0.7 psi produces a hard seal. Fragile foods that can be damaged by
the contracting bag can be sealed for storage at 200-500 mbar I 3-7 psi.

Adjustthe sealing time (not shown). The sea ling time determines how
long the sea ling wire stays hot. Thicker bags and bags made of more
heat-resistant material need longer sealing times.
Place the bag in the chamber. Unfold the top of the bag, lay the bag flat
in the chamber, seat its top on the sea ling bar, and tuck the open end of
the bag under the bar. Double-check that the edge of the bag does not
protrude from the chamber, then close the lid firmly.

Monitor the sealing process. The vacuum shou ld engage automatically.

a. Because air rushes out of the

chamber more quickly than it
escapes the bag, the pressure will at
first be slightly higher in the bag,
which will cause it to puff up. Too
much swelling can pull the ends of
the bag off the sea ling bars.

218

b. The pressure inside the bag will

equa li ze as air gradua ll y leaks
through the open end. Use the
vacuum gauge to monitor the
pressure inside the chamber.

c. When the vacuum reaches the

preset level, wires in the sealing bars
w ill bond the sid es of the bag
together.

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUE S AN D EQU I PM ENT

d. The chamber will then refill with

a ir, and atmospheric pressure will
push the bag tightly around the
food.

VARIATION: Vacuum Packing Liquids with a Chamber Sealer

1 Fill the bag. Placing the top 5-8 em I 2-3 in of th e bag over a cylinder
makes it easier to fill without spilling.

Setthe vacuum level and sealing times (not shown). For cool liquids,
use a vacuum of 50 mbar I 0.7 psi to help prevent boiling in the bag
that can foul the vacuum pump (see liquids in a Vacuum, page 215).
Place the bag in the chamber. laying the fluid-filled bag on a ramp will
help prevent it from leaking during the sealing process. The remaining
steps of the technique are the same as for solid foods.

COOKING SOUS VI DE

2 19

Common Problems When Vacuum Sealing Foods

Problem

Possible cause

Solution

The vacuum pump ran,

but the bag did not seal.

The opening ofthe bag was not

seated on the sealing bar properly.

Make sure that enough material

is left out so the opening of the
bag can sit flat across the sealing
bar, with the open end folded
over and tucked behind the bar.

The sea ling bar wire was not

plugged in.

Most sealing bars can be

removed for cleaning. Make
sure that the sealing wire is
connected and tight.

The vacuum was set to the wrong

level.

Check the vacu um settings.

The food was too warm.

Chill the food, and consider

repackaging it.

The bag had a slow leak.

Check the integrity of the seal

and the bag. Repackage if
necessary.

The vacuum level was too high.

Delicate items may need to be

sea led at a higher pressure (in a
weaker vacuum).

The food was compressed by the

packaging.

If packing for storage and not

cooking, use a rigid container.
Otherwise, wrap the food with
thin, elastic plastic film to
provide extra support for the
desired shape while cooking the
food in the bag.

The temperature was too high for

the packaging material.

Check the maximum temperature rating ofthe bag. Some

materials become weak at
temperatures near 70 c I 158 F
and fail at temperatures greater
than 80 c / 176 F. If this is the
case, use a different kind of bag.

The food was not sealed tightly

enough.

The shape of the food

was ruined.

The bag burst, or the seal failed

during cooking.

220

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIP MENT

9
Problem

Possible cause

Solution

The bag sealed tightly,

but now air has gotten
back in.

The seal was bad.

Wrinkled or dirty seals often

fail and slowly let air back in.
Cut off the top of the bag, and
reseal it.

The bag was punctured .

Bones and other sharp items

can puncture the bag. Wrap the
bone or sharp edge in
protective padding such as
plastic wrap. Alternatively, use
a heavier bag.

Anaerobic bacterial growth

occurred.

Throw out the food. The bag

has not been properly
refrigerated, and anaerobic
bacteria have begun to grow
and produce excess gas.

When the bag was opened,

it emitted a bad odor.

Bacterial growth occurred.

Throw out the food. The food

was not properly refrigerated
or was cooked at too low a
temperature for too long.

After cooking, the food was too

dry, or the texture changed.

Water in the food boiled during

vacuum sealing.

Cool the food to lower

temperatures before sealing.
Use a higher sealing pressure
(lower vacuum).

The bag fogged during cooking.

The seal was bad, or the bag was

ruptured .

Resealing the food in a new

bag may be possible.

The plastic became opaque

during cooking.

The bag material was unsuitable for

the cooking temperature.

Use a different kind of

packaging material. Many
plastics become opaque when
heated beyond their useful
temperature.

During sealing, the bag exploded

in the chamber.

The edge ofthe bag was sticking out

of the chamber.

Check bag placement before

closing the lid. When the edge
of the bag is outside the
vacuum chamber, no air can
escape. As the pressure in the
chamber drops, pressure in
the bag increases until the bag
bursts.

COOKING SOU S VIDE

221

Edge Sealers

bags that have a special waffie texture. The waffie

Edge sealers are a lower-priced alternative to

chamber sealers. For the savings in cost, you have

texture ensures that air does not get caught in

pockets around the food. It also prevents the

to trade some functionality, however. The vacuum

opening of the bag from being sucked closed

pump in an edge sealer is not nearly as powerful as

during the vacuum-sealing step.

the one in a chamber sealer, so the packages

cannot be sealed as tightly. An edge sealer also

expensive, but they are generally well constructed.

end of a specially textured bag. This approach

Because they are laminated from five layers-four

inner layers made of polyethylene and an outer

works poorly when sealing liquids because they

tend to get sucked into the vacuum pump as the

layer of tough, gas-impermeable nylon-the bags

are quite durable and particularly good for storing

bag collapses. Finally, edge sealers can only use

frozen food.

removes air differently: it sucks it out of the open

222

The special texture makes the bags somewhat

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

COMMON PROBLEMS WHEN SEALING

to having liquid or debris sucked from the bag into

FOOD IN AN EDGE SEALER

the vacuum pump reservoir. This problem can

As with chamber sealers, some common problems

cause a poor seal or prevent the pump from

tend to occur with edge sealers. Most of the

removing all of the air in the bag. As a preventive

problems and solutions listed for chamber sealers

step, freeze or otherwise solidify the liquid before

in the table on page 220 apply to edge sealers as

adding it to the bag and sealing it. Alternatively,

well. But edge sealers are also uniquely susceptible

use the optional rigid containers.

We do not recommend using an edge sealer to vacuum pack

liquids.

Both air and liquids get sucked out through channels in the
waffle-textured bags.

COOK I NG SO US V I DE

Instead of being sealed in the bag, the liquid creates a mess

in the machine.

223

Impulse Sealers

happens, simply anchor the bag underwater with

An impulse sealer is another low-cost alternative

something heavy. Sous vide cooking in a combi

to a chamber sealer. The main downside to an

oven, steamer, or other equipment works just fine

impulse sealer is that it only seals; it does not

with impulse-sealed bags.

remove air from the packaging. An impulse sealer

Both conventional sous vide bags and shrink

has essentially the same set of sealing bars that one

bags work with impulse sealers. Shrink bags must

might find in a chamber sealer, except that they

be heated (and thus shrunk) before sealing,

are mounted on a simple frame.

however. Otherwise the bag will swell like a

Impulse sealing is acceptable for immediate-

balloon as it shrinks. Even if it doesn't burst, a

service sous vide, which does not require keeping

swollen bag surrounds the food with air, which

oxygen away from food . To prevent the bag from

results in uneven cooking.

floating, the air can be removed by pushing down

Impulse sealers can be handy for making

on the bag to squeeze the air out before sealing.

separate compartments in a bag that is then

Alternatively, dip the bag in a sink full of water to

vacuum packed. This technique can be extremely

displace the air before using the impulse sealer to

useful for sealing several components of a dish

close the bag.

together in one package, simplifying service, and

Even after taking such precautions, you'll find

that these bags have a tendency to float. If that

ensuring that everything is cooked just when it

needs to be.

COOKI NG SOUS VIDE

225

lfyou really want food to experience a lengthy vacuum, vacuumpack it in a rigid container. Even
then, however, the contents won 't
remain under very low pressure for
long. Water, alcohol, and other
volatile compounds will evaporate
or outgas from the food , gradually
filling the container with a mixture
of vapors.

226

Rigid Containers for Storage

maintains a vacuum after packing. That is, the

Rigid containers are less useful for sous vide

food inside remains under very low pressure. This

cooking than bags because the container takes up

environment can be just what you want for storing

space. Also, food tends to cook less evenly in a

fruits and vegetables, but the container must be

container than in a bag. But rigid containers can

sturdy enough to resist atmospheric pressure in

be quite useful for vacuum storage and are

addition to the normal stresses of handling.

available in various shapes and sizes for most edge

Although generally it is important to refrigerate or

sealers. Special lids are made for standard Gas-

freeze vacuum-sealed foods after cooking, it is not

tronorm hotel pans, which can be used with some

a good idea to free ze food in a rigid container.

chamber sealers to create rigid vacuum

Expansion and contraction of the plastic during

containers.

freezing may break the vacuum seal and can

Unlike a sous vide bag, a rigid container

VO LUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQU I PMENT

eventually ruin the container.

SOUS VIDE EQUIPMENT

In the Middle Ages, the chef of an estate would hire

produce results that are as good as or better than

a "spit boy" to turn a large portion of meat by hand

those of any spit boy-and can do so more reliably

beside a fire. If you have ever seen (as we have) a

and nearly automatically. Whereas food on a

rotating spit feels widely varying pulses of heat,

chef press a raw steak into a hot frying pan for a few

For more on the science of the rotisserie,

see Roasting, page 28. For more on combi
ovens and water-vapor ovens, see chapter 8 on
Cooking in Modern Ovens, page 150.

seconds, take it out for a moment to cool, flip it over,

the same ingredients in a sous vide cooker are

and repeat this cycle again and again until the

center of the steak is perfectly cooked, then you

bathed in uniform warmth, and the temperature is

have seen a modern version of the medieval rotis-

of a degree_
The gear for cooking sous vide can be as afford-

serie. The idea is to heat the meat in intense pulses

that are short enough that no single pulse overcooks

able as a jerry-rigged crock pot or as foolproof (and

the surface, yet strong enough that cumulatively

expensive) as an industrial process controller.

they create a crispy crust and a juicy, perfect center.

Water baths of various kinds are the most com-

Unfortunately, this process takes hours, which

makes it wildly impractical to do in a busy kitchen.

water-vapor ovens, and even autoclaves are also

Modern chefs are blessed with a wide range of

choices in sous vide cooking equipment that can

228

continually monitored and controlled to a fraction

mon tools for cooking sous vide, but combi ovens,

used. Each has its advantages and disadvantages,
as summarized on page 232.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

ill

A digitally controlled immersion circulator

has fast become a feature of the modern
professional kitchen. This and similar
equipment give cooks unrivaled control
over cooking.

Controlling the Temperature

derivative of the temperature enables the PID to

The defining feature of so us vide cooking is the

anticipate where the bath is headed and to adjust

tight control of temperature it offers-not, as

the heater power accordingly.

commonly cited, the use of vacuum packaging. The

The proportional and derivative controls let a

key element that enables such accurate control is a

PID hit its set point with great accuracy, but the

feedback loop: a thermal sensor immersed in the

controller must also combat the tendency of the

water or humid air near the food and connected to

temperature to drift away from the target. To do

a heating element. You have a system like this in

this, the controller measures the small temperature

your oven: it's called a thermostat. Whereas your

error every so often and adds the errors over time.

oven thermostat probably allows the air tempera-

The mathematical term for that sum is the integral

ture to vary by at least 10 c I 18 "F, a sous vide

of the temperature difference (the I in PID), and by

cooker can maintain temperature to within about

tracking it the controller compensates for the drift.

2 c I 4 "F-and very good units will stray less

For a PID controller to work properly, it must be

than 0.5 c I 1 "F.

tuned to match the characteristics of the bath,

Two quite different types offeedback loops are

heating element, and temperature sensor to which

used in sous vide cookers. The less expensive, less

it is connected. PIDs that are built into water baths

accurate kind works much like a thermostat. It is

or other equipment are tuned at the factory,

called a bang-bang controller because it switches

although they occasionally need calibration.

on-bang-when the thermometer reads a bit

Many manufacturers of immersion circulators

below the target temperature, then switches

have gone beyond bang-bang and PID controllers

off-bang-when the reading exceeds the set

to create temperature control systems that com-

point. Because it can run the heating element only

bine PID control with so-called fuzzy logic or

at full power or not at all, a bang-bang controller

neural networks. Although no more accurate than

inevitably causes the bath temperature to oscillate

a well-tuned PID controller, these controllers adapt

a bit over and then under the set point (see Con-

to changing circumstances without requiring

trolling Bath Temperature with Bang-Bangs and

recalibration. This capability makes it possible to

PIDs, next page). The temperature does not swing

move the immersion circulators among baths

nearly as wide as it does for food on a rotisserie, but

without losing temperature control and stability.

it varies enough that the outer portions of the food

High-end PID and PID-like controllers often

can become overcooked.

A different kind of controller solves this problem

offer additional features that we find useful, including programmability, alarms, and temperature

by varying the amount ofheating power it applies to

logging. A programmable PID helps with multistage

the bath. Called a proportional-integral-derivative

cooking. For example, you might want to tenderize a

controller (PID controller for short), this device is

tough flat-iron steak by cooking it to SO c I 122 p

one of many examples oflaboratory technology that

and holding it there briefly to accelerate enzymatic

has entered the modern kitchen. A PID controller

activity before increasing the temperature of the

uses a small microprocessor to constantly evaluate

bath to the final cooking temperature. A program-

and manage the difference between the current

mable PID can automate that process. When

measured temperature and the set point. When the

cooking food for very long periods of time, some-

bath is much cooler than the target temperature, the

times days, you can use a PID with a data logger or

PID supplies lots ofheat; as the temperature

alarms to check that the bath never inadvertently

converges on the set point, the controller throttles

cools to dangerous temperatures, as might occur

the heat flow back to a trickle. The heat output is, in

during an overnight power outage, for example.

other words, proportional to the difference in

temperature-hence the Pin PID.
Another way that a PID controller avoids

23 0

Regardless of which variety of temperature

control you use, it's important to periodically
calibrate the bath's internal thermometer. Simply

overshooting or undershooting the target is by

use a reliable, hand-held thermometer to check the

monitoring how fast the temperature of the bath is

bath at several different temperatures. Check the

changing. In mathematical terms, a rate of change

manual or contact the manufacturer for instruc-

is called a derivative (the D in PID). Tracking the

tions on how to adjust the calibration if needed.

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUES AN D EQUI PM ENT

Controlling Bath Temperature with Bang-Bangs and PIDs

The temperature controller used on a water bath can affect cooking
quality noticeably. When cooking food so us vide to a target temperature (straight black line), a bang-bang controller always turns
the heat either fully on or off. This causes the bath temperature (light
blue curve) to overshoot the set point and then oscillate around it.

During cooking, each oscillation overcooks the food more.

A PID controller adjusts the temperature more intelligently,
whether the bath is stirred (red curve) or unstirred (purple curve).
When cold food plunges into th e bath, a PID-co ntrolled bath will
recover more quickly and with less overshoot.

70

158

60

140

o::J

"'g.

.2
(:!

122

50

..c
~

rD
3

"U

vQ..
E

rt>

PID-controlled, unstirred bath

OJ

40

104
Bang-bang-controlled bath

-n

"'
PIO-controlled, stirred bath

30

86

20

68

10

50

50

2
iP

100

150

200

250

300

350

Time (m inutes)

This add-on PID controller is made to be used with

"dumb" devices like crock pots and rice cookers; it gives
them the "smarts" to control temperature accurately.
Immersion circulators and water baths have similar
control logic circuits built into them.

COOKING SOUS VIDE

231

SOUS VIDE COOKERS

Although the water bath is fast becoming a standard tool in the modern professional kitchen and the icon for so us vide cooking, it is not the only choice, nor
always the best choice, for cooking sous vide. A number of other equipment
options offer appealing combinations offeatures and price points.

Noncirculating water bath

Circulating water bath

Cost: less expe nsive

Cost: moderately expensive

Pros: very accurate temperature contro l and very common

Pros: easy to clean . More usable vol um e than an

eq ui va lent circu lat ing bath

among chefs who frequently cook so us vid e

Cons: heating/ circu lating unit takes up bath space. Usuall y

Cons: develops hot and co ld spots more eas il y than a

circ ul atin g bath. Shares the power limitations of circu lating

limited to 1,8 00 watts, enough to evenly heat bath volumes

baths

only up to 30 liters I 32 quarts

Water-vapor oven

Combi oven

Cost: mod erately expe nsive

Cost: ve ry expens ive

Pros: very large capacity. Capable of very high tempera-

Pros: available with very large capacities. Capable of

high er temperatures and va riable humidi ty

tures, va ri able humidity, even direct steam ing. Some have

Cons: heats small portions slower than a water bath does.

sophist icated cooking programs

Maximum temp erat ure is lower than that of a combi

oven . Lacks th e so phisti cate d programs of so me comb i

Cons: less accu rate temperature stab ility than water baths
or water-vapor ovens at temperatures below 60 c I 140 F.

ovens

Comp lex in sta ll at ion requirements

232

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

9
For more on cooking sous vide with a pressure
canner, see Canning, page 75.

a uarnato

SM510

Pressure cooker or pressure canner

Cost: inexpensive
Pros: capable of increasing core food temperature to temperatures
greater than 100 c / 212 "F. Pressure canners are suitable for canning
Cons: pressure and cooking time must be controlled manually

____, m
Autoclave
Cost: very expensive
Pros: fully automatic control of pressure/ temperature and
cooking time. Available in a wide range of sizes. Suitable for
ca nning. Can reach 140 c / 284 "F, which is a higher temperature than most pressure cookers can reach
Cons: useful for cooking at temperatures only above 100 c I
212 "F. Food must be packaged in a jar or retort pouch

Pot on the stove

Cost: very inexpensive
Pros : uses equ ipm ent already in the kitchen
Cons: w ith out a temperature control loop, it is very
hard to adjust the temperature accurately,
so this can work only when
cooking times
are limited

PID controller added to an existing appliance

Examples: PID-controlled crock pot or rice cooker,
warming drawer, or oven
Cost: inexpensive
Pros: much less expensive than dedicated water baths or circulators
Cons: Because there is no pump to circulate the water,
this cooker has less eve n heat flow than many alternatives. This drawback can be remedied by adding an aquarium air pump and bubbler

--~-1!'!111111111'~

Controlling Water Circulation

There are two basic approaches to circulating

Less expensive sous vide cookers, including those

improvised from other kinds of cooking equipment

water baths. One is to integrate the heater and the

control unit within an insulated tank. This type is

(see page 240), generally heat a bath of still water.

In some baths the heating element is immersed,

usually called a dedicated water bath or a stirred

water bath. The other approach is to have the same

but more commonly it sits beneath an insulated,

double-walled pot. That latter arrangement has its

heater and control unit made as a module that can

be attached to any sort of water tank or container.

advantages: the pot has no hard-to-clean crannies,

and the unexposed heating element is less easily

This second type, usually called an immersion

circulator, almost always has a built-in pump.

damaged. This design includes some laboratory

water baths, called unstirred water baths. It also

Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The

dedicated water bath can have an insulated tank,

includes some consumer sous vide baths such as

the Sous Vide Supreme (see page 236).

which heats up faster and is more energy efficient

than the immersion unit. The clip-on immersion

Such noncirculating baths have a substantial

disadvantage, however. They rely on natural convec-

circulator can be attached to all sorts of water

containers and thus is more versatile, but when it is

tion to even out any temperature differences from

the top of the water to the bottom. This approach

used with an uninsulated tank, there can be

can work reasonably well for small, well-separated

bags of food with lots of space around them. When
the bath gets crowded and the food is large compared with the bath size, water does not circulate
well. Cold spots can develop, and the food will not

problems in maintaining temperature.

Just because you can mount a circulator on an
enormous stock pot doesn't mean it's a good idea.
Most circulators have a maximum heating power of
about 1,000 watts, and none delivers more than

cook evenly. Even worse, if a lot of water evaporates,

1,800 watts if it has been designed for a standard

120V, 15 amp North American outlet, or 2,400

bags may touch hot spots on the bottom, which can

melt the bag and scorch the food.

watts if running on a 240V, 10 amp European outlet.

Under ideal circumstances, this is enough power to

Circulating baths, also called stirred baths,

avoid these problems by pumping the water to

heat up to 20-30 liters / 21-32 quarts of water-but

only if you cover the top and have considerable

promote rapid circulation and uniform heat

distribution to all parts of the bath. When

patience. If your bath is poorly insulated and

uncovered, a low-power circulator may not even be

working with a large or crowded bath, you can

connect a hose to the pump outlet so that it
transports hot water to a far corner of the bath,
thereby creating stronger circulation to overcome hot and cold spots.

able to maintain the cooking temperature. Large

metal stock pots, for example, lose heat rapidly by
evaporation and by conduction through the sides of
the pot. With an underpowered heater or Circulator,
this heat loss can quickly lead to hot and cold spots

Just because a lot of food can fit in a bath

doesn't mean that it is a good idea. Food
packages jammed together will impede
convection (made visible with a red dye)
and allow hot and cold spots to develop.
These cause the food to cook unevenly. In
this case, the left side of the bath is not
getting enough circulation, even with a
powerful pump driving the flow. There is
just too much food in too little bath.

234

VOL UM E 2 TEC HNI QUES AND EQU I PM ENT

9
and inconsistent cooking. Large pump-circulation

In addition, whenever possible keep your baths

systems use higher voltages and bigger electrical

covered with something: a hinged lid, the lid of a

circuits to heat several hundred liters of water for the

hotel pan, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, even

biggest and busiest of kitchens.

Ping-Pong balls. A lid improves heating perfor-

Whatever type of water bath you use, take care

mance and limits evaporation. That is especially

not to overcrowd it with food. There is no point in

important for immersion circulators, which tend

cramming more food into a bath if it produces

to overheat and shut down if the water level falls

inconsistent results from the inevitable hot and

enough to expose the heating element-a very

cold spots. Choose a bath that is the appropriate

inconvenient experience if it happens in the

size for the job.

middle of the night, two days into a slow braise!

Circulating water baths designed to be plugged into a standard 120 V. 15 A North American
outlet are generally limited to a volume of 30 I I 32 qt at most. Larger baths need more
power than the electrical circuit can supply to keep the temperature even and stable.

2 minutes

COOKI NG SOUS VIDE

5 minutes

235

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A SOUS VIDE WATER BATH

Water baths can be divided into two groups: those that stir the
water mechanically and those rely instead on natural convection to spread the heat and even out the temperature. Of the
two kinds, noncirculating baths tend to be less expensive and
can be a good choice for consumer-level cooking or selected
tasks in restaurants.

If food is frequently added and removed from the cooker,

however, as often occurs during restaurant service, natural
co nvection may not be e nough to maintain an eve n temperature. Modern water baths use PID or PID-Iike controllers,
but some older models use analog bang-bang controllers,
which are less accurate.

A BASIC BATH
A spacer prevents the bags from impeding co nvec- :
tion a nd protects them from bei ng scorched by the
heating element, which typically is mounted
und e rn eath the water reservoir.

Two walls with insulation in betwee n

improve energy efficie ncy and
evenness of heating. This design
offe rs no way to alte r the size of the
bath, however.

A lid is important to redu ce evaporatio n, ......... 0

which coo ls the water near the su rface
of the bath faste r than natural convection
ca n mix in hot waterfrom the bottom,
and thus leads to un eve n cook ing.

When cooking with sous vide bags in a

water bath, use a spacer to keep the bags
from resting on the bottom of the bath.
This step is particularly important in a
noncirculating water bath, but it's always
a good idea.

A wire rack helps separate bags

offood so that natural co nvection
can keep water circulati ng to
moderate hot spots. Even with a
rack in place, it is easy to
overstuff the bath, so re me mbe r
to leave room for currents.

laboratories often cover water baths by

floating Ping-Pong balls on the water. The
balls insulate the water from the air and
slow evaporation and heat loss. The balls
move aside easily when you move objects
into or out of the bath.

A CIRCULATING WATER BATH

A lid is even more important for a circulating bath than ito ooooooooooo
is for a noncirculating bath. Evaporation from a n uncovered bath can lower the water level so much that the
heating element and pump motor sustain damage. And
if enough water evaporates, bags of food will be left
uncovered, which will create a food safety hazard .

A portable immersion circulator

with digital controls can be used in
baths of various sizes and designs .
Acrylic construction provides adequate insulation for
smaller baths, but large baths should have insulated
double walls to prevent hot and cold spots from forming. Avoid a single-walled metal container, such as a
large pot, which virtually guarantees uneven heating.
Instead, inexpensive plastic coolers can be adapted to
do a n excellent job.

Pumps agitate the water in circulating baths to give

natural convection a boost. Pumps are more efficient
and robust than propellers. Typically the agitator and a
heating coil enter the reservoir from the top. That
arrangement makes it eas ier to move the head unit from
one bath to another. But this flexibility comes at a price:
an immersion circulator usually costs more than a
noncirculating bath of similar capacity. For a restaurant,
the ability to maintain even temperatures, even as food
is continually added and removed, easily justifies the
extra cost.

A protective cage (optional, shown on page

229) protects the heating coil and circulation
system. It also prevents the heating element
from scorching so us vide packaging.
A tube attached to the pump oooo o
drives hot water to the far corners
of the bath and ensures more
even heating.
ooooooooooooooooo The immersed heating element
reduces the usable volume of the
bath and requires more effort to
clean than external heaters do.

COOKING SOUS VIDE

237

THE TECHNOLOGY OF

Chilling Water Baths

Some models of water bath are good not only at heating
food but at chilling it, too. Chilling water baths come in two
styles: immersion and reservoir. An immersion chiller works
much like an immersion heater, except that the coil you
plunge into the liquid gets cold rather than hot. If you have
an immersion heater that has a data port on the back, you
may be able to place the immersion heater and your immersion chiller in the same bath and connect them with a data
cable. (This setup usually works only ifthe heater and chiller
are the same brand.)
A reservoir chiller includes a built-in circulating water bath,
heating system, and refrigeration system . Baths in these units
are typically rather small, but some reservoir chillers include a
duplex pump that can be used to add an external bath, which
greatly expands the cooking or chilling capacity ofthe appli-

ance. You can connect two hoses from the duplex pump to
another water-filled container, such as a large plastic cooler.
The chiller will then circulate both the water in its built-in bath
and the water in the external tub through the heat exchanger
to control its temperature.
Chilling water baths are expensive but invariably include a
full-featured , programmable PID controller, so you can set up
customized heating and cooling processes, such as a heating
stage followed by a holding stage and later a cooling stage.
This flexibility can be very handy when a very long-cooking
so us vide recipe needs to be taken out of the bath and chilled
in the wee hours ofthe morning! Programmable heating and
cooling water baths can start and stop cooking automatically,
then keep the cooked food properly chilled until the chefs
return to work.

Controller
Heating/ cooling coi~
Water ....... . . .
reservoir

~ump

Specialized water baths can be programmed to both heat and chill food ,
thereby automating the entire cook-chill
sous vide process. The are essential
accessories to rotary evaporators. vacuum
concentrators. and other tools described
in chapter 10 on The Modernist Kitchen.

Refrigeration
compressor

Radiator

238

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPM ENT

~ uamato

Slenhze<

SM 51 0

In the early 1980s, the Canadian

scientist Pierre de Serres developed
an im provised so us vid e system for
home cooks. De Serres's system
in cluded a "Smart Pot" that was
essentially a slow cooker with a
simple adjustable temperature
contro ll er. Although he promoted it
tirelessly, the id ea was ahead of its
time. Today, an actual de Serres's
"Freedom Cooking System" is a rare
historical curiosity, but the spirit of
his idea is inexpensively recreated
and improved by plugging a simple
rice cooker with a mechanical
switch into an external temperature
contro ller that adjusts the power
delivered to the rice cookerto
maintain a stable temperature.

Homemade and Improvised

Water Baths

on-off or low-medium-high switch; avoid any

The price of combi ovens and laboratory-grade

ceramic cooking vessels, because their high mass

water baths erects a formidable barrier for many

makes them slow to heat and cool. A thin alumi-

cooks interested in sous vide. Although this

num cooking pot responds faster to temperature

expensive equipment is the best choice for cooks

changes and provides better thermal stability.

and restaurants committed to the technique, it is

not necessary for those on a tighter budget. A pot,

You will need a PID controller to upgrade your

appliance. At least one company (Auber Instru-

a good thermometer, and patience are enough to

ments, [Link]) makes one for just this

cook sous vide.

purpose. Plug the PID controller into the wall

One dead-simple approach is to clip a digital

thermometer onto the side of a large pot full of

outlet, plug your cooker into the PID controller,

and switch the cooker on, then drop the attached

water. Heat the water to the target temperature,

temperature sensor into the cooking pot. When

carefully adjust the burner to a setting that

you set the temperature on the PID controller, it

maintains the temperature, and start cooking. It's

controls power to the cooker to maintain the

not even necessary to vacuum pack the food.

target temperature. A system like this can be had

Filling jars with raw food or suspending food-

for slightly more than $100 and is essentially

filled plastic bags in the water works fine. Al-

equivalent to a noncirculating bath that costs

though the temperature is unlikely to be steady

substantially more.

enough for many hours of unattended cooking,

As is true of any noncirculating bath, these

this setup will cook food acceptably for up to a

improvised systems may heat unevenly, particu-

couple of hours. Just don't expect perfection.

For more on the historical development of sous
vide cooking, see page 140.

that is programmable or has digital controls. Avoid

Cutting-edge gastronomes may swear by

larlywhen overloaded with too much food or

when food bags come too close together. A simple

laboratory-style baths, but fundamentally they are

way to even out the heating is to add an inexpen-

little more than crock pots with better tempera-

sive aquarium air pump and bubbler to the pot.

ture controllers. With a little effort, you can create

The bubbles stir the water and help prevent cold

such a system yourself by using a budget crock pot

spots from developing. Because the air being

or rice cooker, as long as it has a simple mechanical

pumped in is at room temperature, the system

Perhaps the simplest way to cook sous

vide-although certainly not the most
convenient or accurate-is with some
zip-closure bags and a pot with a digital
thermometer clipped to the side.

9
Improvised setups, like this rice cooker controlled by a Sous Vide
Magic PID controller, are an inexpensive way to start experimenting with sous vide.

does tend to cool the water somewhat, which may

Vacuum-sealed food is put into the pots, hot water

make the heater work harder. But usually the loss

of efficiency is worth the better circulation.

is added, and then the whole arrangement is sealed

inside a thermos until the food finishes cooking.

Clever cooks have improvised many other ways

to cook sous vide without professional-level

Inside the thermos, the food heats up as it cooks,

and the surrounding water cools down. Some trial

equipment. Ultimately all that is needed is a way to

heat food accurately at low temperatures. An oven

and error is thus needed to figure out how much

with the door cracked open can sometimes work,

as can a sink filled with running hot water. Some

hotter than the target temperature to make the

water so that it and the food eventually equilibrate

cooks have had success with cooking pots designed

to the perfect temperature. Nevertheless, this

system provides a great opportunity to take sous

to go into heavily insulated thermos bottles.

vide out for a picnic at the park.

COOKING SOUS VID E

24 1

STRATE GIES FOR

COOKIN G SOUS VIDE
One of the most appealing features of sous vide
cooking is the flexibility it offers cooks in dealing
with a wide range of culinary situations, ranging

however, you may face a choice between the

strategy that will produce the best-tasting, most
attractive result and alternatives, such as freezing

preparation to cooking directly from the frozen

and later reheating, that are more convenient or

economical. This section and the two that follow

state. We have collected strategies for using sous

step methodically through the many possible ways

vide in all the circumstances to which it applies

to prepare and store food sous vide and offer tips

from immediate service with minimal advance

and have divided them into two groups (see table

and safety considerations for each. Once you

below).

understand the strengths and limitations of each

In most situations, the approach that will work

best will be immediately clear. Sometimes,

strategy, you'll be well prepared to use sous vide

appropriately in all the areas in which it excels.

Strategies for Sous Vide: A Comprehensive Guide

Professional chefs usually cook sous vide at low temperatures; when cooking times are long enough, low-tempe rature cooking
can even pasteurize food for long-term refrigerated storage. Another type of cooking, involving cooling cooked food and
heating it again, comes into play when food must be prepared well before it can be served. For long-term unrefrigerated
storage, see Canning, page 75.

Cooking at Low Temperatures

Cooking to a target temperature
(page243)

Remove the food for service as soon the core temperature hits the target, which may be a few degrees
below the final desired temperature if you are using a bath that is hotter than the target temperature.

Holding at the target temperature

(page247)

Allow the food to reach its final core temperature, then hold it there-typically for 4-72 hours-to
achieve the desired texture. This strategy is also useful for accelerating the aging or ripening of certain
foods and for extracting or infusing flavors.

Holding until pasteurized

(page 249)

Cook to temperature, then hold there until the the time-temperature combination is sufficient to
reduce the levels of the most dangerous bacteria and parasites by 6.5 orders of magnitude
(99.99997%). This procedure is done for food safety reasons. It is also required if you chill food and
hold it for later use.

Chilling and Reheating Strategies

Prepare foods for refrigeration by chilling them quickly. Once chilled, they may be held cold for a

Chilling
(page254)

period oftime for later use.

Freezing
(page256)

Freeze food quickly because the faster the food freezes, the better its texture when thawed.
Cryogenic freezing is discussed on page 456.

Thawing or cooking from frozen

(page 258)

frozen state.

Reheating
(page262)

242

Use a water bath to quickly and conveniently thaw frozen foods or cook them straight from the
Warm foods that have been cooked hours or days in advance and chilled until needed for service.

VOlUME 2 TEC HNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

Cooking Food to a
Specific Temperature

TARGET CORE TEMPERATURE

The chemical reactions that transform food from

The simplest (and in our opinion best) approach

raw to cooked can be very fast; once a critical

for sous vide cooking is to set the bath tempera-

temperature is reached, the food is essentially

ture one or two degrees above the desired target

USING A BATH SET jUST ABOVE THE

cooked, and it does not cook further with more

temperature. This approach is called equilibrium

cooking time. The simplest strategy for sous vide

cooking because the food temperature comes into

cooking is thus to heat the food until its center

equilibrium with the bath temperature.

reaches the desired temperature, then immediately pull it out of the heat.
This approach works well for tender red meats,

The advantage of this technique is that the food

cannot overcook. This benefit is particularly
important when you are cooking food that is

poultry, fish, and other seafood, as well as for some

irregularly shaped-the appropriate cooking time

fruits and vegetables. But tough meats, many fruit

will be determined by the thickest parts, but the

and vegetable preparations, and most grains and

thin parts can't overcook.

legumes do not respond well to this treatment.

The key chemical reactions responsible for the

Another advantage to this approach is that

timing does not matter that much. The food takes

transformations we call "cooking" take time to

time to reach the target temperature, but heating

happen in these foods. Another cooking operation

is very gradual during the last part of the cooking

that takes time is pasteurization-killing patho-

process. So if you take the food out of the bath a

gens that may be present in the food. In most

bit early or you leave it in the bath longer than the

cases, cooking just to a given temperature is not

recommended time, nothing bad will happen.

enough to pasteurize food; the food must be held

at a temperature for a specified time.
You can use either of two heating techniques to

With the excepti on of pressure

coo king and low-tempe rature
(be low 60 c I 140 F) coo king
applications, the so us vid e
strategies discussed here all work
well in a water bath, water-vapor
ove n, co mbi oven, or some other
setup. We refer to water baths
si mply fo r conveni ence.

For more on how to choose the target

temperature that will produce the texture and
tenderness you desire. see Cooking Meat and
Seafood, page 3-70.

For more on why holding times are critical for

pasteurization, see Bacterial Death, page 1-148.

The disadvantage to this approach is that the

cooking is very slow. Heat transfer is proportional
to the temperature difference between the food

cook food to a specific temperature. The first is to

and the bath (see page 1277). As the food tempera-

set the bath slightly above the desired tempera-

ture approaches the target temperature, the heat

ture. The second is to set the bath much hotter

flow into the food steadily decreases. So cooking

than the final target temperature.

times increase, and that can be inconvenient.

COOK I NG SOUS VI DE

243

WATER BATH STRATEGIES FOR COOKING SOUS VIDE

Cooks can choose among three m ain strategies when coo king so us vide: set the b ath at the
fin al core t emperature you want to achieve, m ake the bath hotte r than that target temperature,
or use two or more b aths at diffe rent temperatures.

Bath set just above final core temperature

You can use this approach in alm ost every situatio n- if
you have enough tim e. It is simple and nearly foolproof:
the food can't get hotte r t han the bath, so it can't
overcook because th e bath is set just one degree higher
than t he target core temperature you want the center of
the food to achi eve. The drawback is that because of
the nature of heat transfe r, the food ca n take a ve ry lo ng
time to com pl ete the final few degrees of cooking. Th e
lengthy cooking period may not matter if yo u plan to
hold the food at t he final temperature for a long time in
any case (as shown in the blue curve at right).

87.4 min
130

Target core temperature

so

120
110

E4o

Steak in a 56 c 1 133 "Fbath,

a 65 c I 149 . , bath,
or a 85 c I 185 "F bath

"'

100

t.

90

"'e

80

E
J!l

30

OJ

c.

E
J!l
~

3 20

70

60

Bath hotter than target temperature

Setting the bath hotter than the desired fina l food
temperature wi ll shorte n the cooking time dramatically

10

(gree n and red curves). But in exchange for ex ped iency,

you will have a narrower window of opportu nity during
w hi ch the food ca n reac h id ea l doneness: remove it too
soo n, and it w ill be und ercooked; take it out too late,
and it wi ll overcook . The higher t he bath temperature,
the more precise the timing must be. With perfect
timing, t he center of the food w ill be at the right

50
40
20

40

60

80

Tim e( min )
The speed at which the temperature rises at the center of a steak 30 mm I 1'!. in thick depends on the temperature
of the cooking bath. In a bath set to 56 cI 133 r, the meat reaches the target temperature in about 87 min, and is
close enough (0.7 c I 1.2 r) to the target by 77 min that it will not be undercooked (blue curve).
In a bath at 85 cI 185 r, the food must come out of the bath at a much more precise time (23'1.. min), then rest
for almost 10 min as the core temperature drifts upward to the target (green curve). Although cooking takes only a

temperature, but the exte ri o r w ill be overcooked.

third as long as in the previous case, the risk of overshoot is higher, and 40% of the steak will experience temperatures over 60 c I 140 r and will thus be medium rather than medium-rare.

240 min

Two or more baths at different temperatures

To use this co mbin ation strategy, use baths set to
different temperatures . If the first bath is very hot, it can
actua lly blanch t he food and redu ce any surface
co ntam in ation to safe levels, but searing with a blow
torch works even better.
A more comp lex setup starts w ith a torch searing,
then uses a low-temperature bath to activate e nzymes
that ten d eri ze the meat. You then move the food to a
seco nd bath to b rin g it to the fina l cooking
tempe ratu re.

295 min
130

50

The steak begins in a 45 oc I

113 .. Ftenderizing bath ..

... then moves to a cook ing

bath set to 56 c I 153 . ,

120
110

E 40

u..

100~

"'e~30

90

"'e
OJ

c.

E
J!l

E
80 J!l

~
0

70 u0

u 20

60
10

50
40
100

150

200

250

300

350

Tim e(min )
The core temperature of the steak rises in stages over the course of several hours when the steak is seared with a
blowtorch, then placed in a tenderizing water bath followed by a cooking water bath. The graph shows the
calculated temperature at the core if the steak sits in the first bath for 4 h-long enough to activate enzymes in
the meat that help tenderize it-then cooks in a hotter bath to a final core temperature of 56 cI 153 r, which takes
an additional 55 min. Leaving the steak in the cooking bath for 24-48 h will tenderize it further.

244

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

9
You might wonder why you can't just set the

misplaced concern about food safety. Some say

I
I 145 p, even if their desired

bath temperature to exactly the target tempera-

that it is safer to cook with a water bath at 60 c

ture. The answer is that the food will never reach

140 p or even 63 c

the target temperature; instead, it will remain

final temperature is substantially lower than that.

slightly below it. In most cases, however, there is

In general, however, a hotter bath actually makes

no practical difference between setting the

little or no difference in the safety of the food, as

temperature to target and setting it one to two

explained in chapter 3 on Food Safety. In selected

degrees above target temperature because most

cases, scalding the exterior of food makes sense,

food is not sensitive to that small a difference.

but it is better to do this using multiple baths than

Most kitchen thermometers can't sense more

to use a single bath that is too hot.

accurately than that. (Note that, because 1 cis

1.8 p, the recommendation works in either scale.)
As discussed in chapter 5 on Heat and Energy,
the physics of heat transfer makes the cooking

Some people choose to use a hotter bath

because this approach can accelerate cooking.
For example, a large roast that is 15 em I 6 in. in
both length and diameter will take approximate-

I 41 p to a

time proportional not to the thickness of the food

ly 71;4 hours to warm from 5 c

but to approximately the thickness squared. So

perfect edge-to-edge medium rare at 55 c

whereas a water bath set to the target temperature

131 p, if the bath is set just above the target

will cook a cutlet that is 5 mm I 1;4 in thick in less

temperature. When done, the outer edge of the

than two minutes, a 150 mm I 6 in rib roast will

roast will be the same temperature as the bath,

have to sit in the same bath for 8'h hours until it is

and the center will be about 1 c

done! Cut the roast in halflengthwise (reducing

but its temperature will increase by about 0.5 c

the thickness), and it will cook in a quarter of that

I 0.9 p after resting-a difference so minute that

time. For this reason, we generally try to keep so us

you could not detect it from the appearance,

vide portions small.

texture, or flavor.

Even professional cooks often lack an intuitive

sense of this law of heat conduction because we

I 1.8 p cooler,

If we instead set the water bath just 4 c I 7 p

hotter, to 60 c I 140 p, then the time it takes the

typically cook small and thin pieces of food by

roast to reach 55 c I 131 p falls dramatically-

pan-roasting, grilling, or stir-frying over high

from 71;4 to 4 1/2 h. A bath 15 c

heat, whereas we use usually roast or braise large

final core temperature will shorten the cooking

pieces in an oven. Conventional cooking does not

time to just over 2 1/ 2 h. In certain circumstances,

27 p above the

give you a good intuition for how long food will

the hotter-than-core approach can thus take sous

take to cook so us vide.

vide from impractical to downright convenient.

The acceleration comes at a cost, however. The

USING A BATH SET HOTTER THAN

farther the temperature of the bath rises over the

THE TARGET CORE TEMPERATURE

Cooking with the bath set to the final temperature
works so well that it begs the question: why would
anyone use a hotter bath? Some chefs do prefer

desired core temperature, the more sous vide

cooking this way, and frankly it can be hard to

gradient within the food, which causes the outside

explain that choice.

and thinner parts of the food to overcook. A bath

Many people who advocate cooking with a bath

hotter than the core temperature do so out of a

cooking is susceptible to the misjudgment of

cooking time that plagues conventional high-heat
cooking methods, and the steeper the temperature

set 15 c

27 p hotter than target may reduce the

cooking time by almost a factor of three, but it also

COOK IN G SOUS VIDE

24 5

9
will heat much of the outside of a roast above 70 oc

I 158 op, turning it grayish white and depleting it

of the juices that make it succulent.

Holding Food at the

Target Temperature
Cooks in a busy kitchen aren't always able to keep

Another problem is that it isn't easy to know

when to remove the food from the bath. Heat

a close eye on a temperature probe to pull food

from the bath the moment it reaches the target

keeps moving into the core during resting, so we

temperature. Coordinating the completion of a

need to take the food out of the bath well before

complex dish is easier if you can simply hold all the

the core reaches the desired final temperature or

components at their final temperature until it is

we risk overshooting the target. Too long in the

time to assemble them. Fortunately, most foods

bath, and we overdo it; too short, and the meal is

can sit at their target temperature for some time

underdone. In our opinion, the hotter-than-core

without harm.

method thus undermines one of the big advantag-

Indeed, some foods improve from holding,

which is effectively the Modernist version of

es of cooking sous vide.

braising. Like braising, holding meat sous vide can

USING MORE THAN ONE BATH

almost magically tenderize tough cuts into flaky

Cooks who enjoy the luxury of having more than

and tender morsels-the culinary equivalent of

one water bath in the kitchen can take advantage of

making a silk purse from a sow's ear. The mecha-

a hybrid approach that combines the accuracy of a

nism at work here is not magic, of course, but a

bath set to the target temperature with a bit of the

chemical process known to scientists as hydroly-

speed advantage of hotter-than-core cooking. You

sis or denaturing, which breaks down the colla-

can set one bath to a scalding temperature-as hot

I 158 op_

as possible but typically at least 70 oc

gen that holds the muscle together. Although no

one would mistake the kind of tenderness that

and then set a second bath to the desired core

results from this process for the inherent tender-

temperature (or slightly higher).

ness of a medium-rare filet, it is still satisfying.

Plunging the cold food into the scalding bath for

Older cookbooks often say that during gelatini-

10 s-1 min alters the exterior of the food in several

zation, collagen turns to gelatin at some specific

useful ways without overcooking the interior. The

temperature. That is misleading: the reaction that

surface quickly pasteurizes, improving food safety.

transforms collagen to gelatin takes time. The

When cooking poultry or fish with the skin intact,

amount of time depends on the cooking tempera-

a brief scalding can break down some of the

ture. In addition, the life experience of the animal

connective tissue and render some of the fat from

affects the structure of the collagen in its muscles,

the skin, changes that can improve its palatability.

so the exact reaction time can vary from one piece

Delicate meats, such as tenderloins, often benefit

of meat to the next.

from a brief scalding because the high heat forces

Like most chemical reactions, collagen break-

proteins on the surface of the meat to contract

down proceeds faster at higher temperatures.

rapidly, which helps create a more attractive shape.

There is a tradeoffbetween speed, texture, and

After blanching the food, you can transfer it to a

separate bath set at, or slightly above, the desired

appearance, however. Traditional braising-in

which the simmering liquid is typically at 80-88 oc

core temperature to finish cooking it. For smaller

I 176-190 F-maytake only a few hours, but it

portions of food, this approach can cut the cooking

leaves the meat gray and somewhat dry as well. A

time by several minutes.

sous vide approach can produce a better result,

If a third bath is available, you can set it to a

lower temperature-typically SO oc

I 122 F-and

use it in between the blanching and the cooking

For more on collagen and its role in cooking

meat. see How Muscle Works. page 3-6, and
Cooking Meat and Seafood, page HO.

albeit far more slowly. Cook a tough cut of meat

sous vide for 12-96 hours at 54-65 oc

I 129-149 oF,

and the meat is juicier than it would be if it were

steps to tenderize meat. The intermediate bath will

traditionally braised; its texture, color, and flavor

activate calpain and cathpepsin enzymes that

are closer to those of a medium-rare filet.

break down contractile proteins in the meat.

When cooking in a bath set well

above the target core temperature
of the food , use food that is as
uniform in shape as possible.
Otherwise, thinner parts of the
food will overcook before the
centers of the thickest parts
are done.

Holding food at the final cooking temperature

Because the tenderizing bath warms the food, less

has several uses besides tenderizing, including

cooking time is needed in the third bath set at (or

aging meats and softening plant foods. The chemi-

slightly above) the final temperature.

cal and enzymatic reactions that produce the

COOK I NG SOUS VID E

247

pleasant aromas and tenderness of aged meat occur

For more on the nuances of cooking plant foods,

see chapter 12 on Plant Foods, page 3-258.

out how long it will take the food to reach the

much more quickly in a hot bath than in a refriger-

target core temperature. Even if it takes a couple

ator (see Aging or Ripening Sous Vide, page 250).

of hours to hit the target, that is still a small

And one often needs to hold starchy vegetables,

fraction of the cooking time. Typically, when the

legumes, grains, and other food from plants in a

bath is set at or near the final core temperature, a

bath for some time to allow water to penetrate the

variation of up to 10% in the holding time makes

seed coat and soften the core. Classic dishes such

no noticeable difference in the quality of the

as risotto only attain their thick, rich texture after a

food. Even if the holding time is a mere five

period of hydration that swells and extracts some

minutes, pulling it out 30 seconds too early or

of the starch from the rice grains. As with the

too late shouldn't matter. And if the holding time

breakdown of collagen, many variables influence

is 36 hours, you can give yourself as much as four

the time needed to age and soften food sous vide so

hours' leeway.

trial-and-error is often the best way to determine

the holding time.

If you will be holding the food for a very long

time-say 36 hours-don't worry about figuring

When cooking large items over long periods of

time, it's generally not a good idea to set the bath
hotter than the desired final food temperature
unless you are using multiple baths. A multibath

approach can be the safest way to go if the food is

Pasteurizing For Storage

so large that the core temperature will spend

What does it mean to cook food until it is safe to

hours above 10 c

SO p but below 54 c

eat? We address this complicated question in great

130 p. Because bacteria thrive in that tempera-

detail elsewhere in this book. The science of

ture zone, it's important to reduce the surface

microbiology is covered in chapter 2, for example,

contamination of the food as much as possible at

and chapter 3 provides a thorough discussion of

the beginning.

food safety rules.

The easiest way to do this is to blanch the food

In part because the underlying biology is

briefly before putting it into the primary cooking

complex, the terms used to describe it can be

bath. (Note, however, that this approach doesn't

confusing. Some people use sterilize to mean

solve the contamination problem for forced meats

cooking that is sufficient to kill pathogens and

or food with punctures or fissures that admit

render food safe to eat. Others use the terms

bacteria deep inside.) Preblanching is imperative if

sanitize or pasteurize in a similar sense.

you intend to tenderize the meat in a very low-

Technically, none of these terms is strictly

temperature bath (below 54 c I 130 p), in which

accurate in describing what cooks do. Sterilization

surface bacteria could proliferate quickly.

(as used in medicine) means killing or inactivating

When cooking tenderl oin sous

vid e, you can obtain perfectly
round medallions by rolling the
meat tightly in plastic wrap before
vacu um packing, then briefly
dipping the bags in scalding water.

essentially every pathogen, including the heat-

particular strain) active in the food before cooking,

resistant spores and toxins produced by certain

only one microbe remains viable after cooking.

anaerobic bacteria. Truly sterilizing food requires

So us vide methods make it relatively easy to

lengthy cooking in a pressure cooker or autoclave.

pasteurize food to this standard. Bag the food,

That may be fine (even necessary) for canning, but

bring it to a specified core temperature, and hold it

it is literally overkill if the food will be served

there for a specified time (see the tables in chapter

immediately or chilled soon after cooking.

Sanitization and pasteurization are not as well

The term pasteurization originated

with Louis Pasteur, a French
microbiologist who championed
the germ theory of disease and in
the 1860s invented a heat treatment
that extended the shelf life of milk,
vinegar, and wine (see page 84).

For more on pasteurization, sterilization, and

how they apply to sous vide cooking, see
chapter 3 on Food Safety, page 1162.

3). Pasteurizing sous vide, in other words, is simply

cooking and holding food at a target temperature,

defined. Both terms are used to describe treat-

except that the time is selected not for optimum

ments that disable some but not all dangerous

texture but rather for sufficient food safety.

microbes and that may or may not destroy toxins.

Pasteurization is required for two reasons . One

Pasteurization is familiar because of its wide use to

is to ensure intrinsic food safety. Many foods, like

improve the safety and shelflife of dairy products,

poultry, have a history of pathogen contamination,

fruit juices, and even beer. Dairy pasteurization

so health authorities recommend that they always

involves very specific processes that require

be cooked to pasteurization levels. For other foods,

temperatures and holding times that differ from

pasteurization is generally considered optional,

those required for most other foods . Nevertheless,

unless the food is being served to people who are

most cooks and cookbooks refer to pasteurization

elderly, ill, or have compromised immune systems.

when talking about safe cooking, so we will, too.

Let us be clear what we mean when we refer to

Pasteurization is also required if the food will be

stored after sous vide cooking and later reheated

pasteurization, however. We mean cooking food

and consumed. This is sometimes called cook-chill

to an extent that meets a common standard set by

sous vide. Food safety regulations require that food

regulatory agencies to reduce the risk of foodborne

cooked sous vide be cooked to pasteurization

illness to an acceptable level. That means supplying

levels. It can then be stored for up to 30 days at 1 C

enough heat for enough time to reduce the popula-

tion of pathogens by 99.99997%, or 6.5 orders of

magnitude. In the scientific literature, microbiolo-

34 F and for up to three days at 5 C I 41 F.

Canning, which allows food to be stored at

room temperature, requires a much higher level of

gists refer to this as a 6.5D process. In food "cooked

pathogen destruction-a 12D process-discussed

to 6.5D," for every three million microbes (of a

in chapter 7 on page 75.

THE TECHNIQUE OF

Aging or Ripening Sous Vide

Fruits and vegetables ripen as a result of natural enzymatic
reactions that accelerate at warmertemperatures. The
aging process in meat works similarly. A warm water bath,
set a bit cooler than the cooking temperature, thus offers a
convenient way to age or ripen foods faster than normal.
We typically use temperatures near 38 oc I 100 oFfor
accelerated ripening or aging of plant foods . Higher temperatures tend to cook the food. For meats, aging is preceded by
a quick blanching to reduce surface contamination.
This technique works for many fruits, vegetables, and
meats-but not all. Melons ripen nicely in a so us vide bath,
for example, whereas bad things happen to avocados.

250

For more on which fruits and vegetables ripen well in a so us vide bath and which suffer heat damage,
see Cooking So us Vide in chapter 12 on Plant Foods, page l286. For more on accelerated aging of
meats, see Aging, page 3-39.

VO LUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

..

STRATEGIES FOR
CHILLING AND REHEATING
The invention of technology to chill food arguably

But for all its culinary and economic advantag-

made the modern restaurant-and, in particular,

es, the technology for cooling food does not

fine dining-possible. Before the advent of

entirely solve the problem of food preservation.

refrigeration, food vendors had to transform food

Yes, refrigeration retards bacterial growth and

dramatically to preserve it. Whether they used

slows the enzymatic and other chemical reactions

prehistoric techniques-salting, pickling, fer-

that change food for the worse. Freezing goes even

menting, drying, or smoking-or the Napoleonic-

further: it halts bacterial growth altogether and

era innovation of canning, vendors had to invest

prevents reactions among waterborne components

substantial effort to create inventories of food that

of food. Neither process fully halts the oxidation

would stay palatable for days to weeks. Those

oflipids and other fatty substances that eventually

treatments both added cost and limited the

turns food rancid, however. Oxidated flavors are

spectrum of possible flavors because, although the

the telltale signs of poor ingredients and reheated

preserved food might taste delicious, it rarely

foods. Sealing food in tight-lidded containers or

tasted fresh.

plastic wrap slows rancidity only a little.

Refrigeration and freezing allowed restauraIro nicall y, the sous vide techno logy
that has revolu tionized high- end
restaurants was origin ally
deve loped by the Swed ish
healthcare system to improve
the quality of mass-produ ced
hosp ital food-see page 140 .

Sous vide techniques maintain the fresh-cooked

teurs, caterers, and home cooks to vastly improve

flavor of food by eliminating nearly all oxygen

the quality of their dishes while simultaneously

from the cooking and storage environments. The

lowering the costs of producing them. With

cook-chill-reheat process lets even the most

chilling, even ingredients procured and prepared

fastidious cook prepare a large variety of foods in

well in advance can retain their fresh textures and

advance and later warm them to order without

flavors. Thus, large quantities of food can be held

compromising on quality. Small wonder, then,

in a raw or partly prepared state so more custom-

that cooking sous vide has been embraced in

ers can be served at each mealtime. Chilling also

contemporary temples of gastronomy. It not only

allows restaurateurs to recover unsold food and

improves food quality and the bottom line, but it

sell it another day, a capability that reduces waste

also frees professional cooks to attend to all of the

and expands menu options.

other details of great cooking and service.

Ice water baths are the simplest and most effective tools for
chilling sous vide packages. They're easy to set up in a kitchen
sink, and a quick visual inspection confirms the temperature: if
plenty of ice still floats in the bath, the food is cold enough.

252

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Conventional wisdom has it that

slow resting provides time for
cooked foods to relax and absorb
juices that were sq ueezed towards
the center of the food by the
extreme temperatures of cooking.
That assertion is in correct, however. For a co mpl ete description of
the surprising truth about restingand why faster coo ling leaves food
juicier-see page 384.

Chilling

from 10-50 c

Skilled cooking is in part about controlling how

more time food spends in the danger zone during

heat is delivered to food. Chilling, on the other

cooling, the more likely it is that the few bacteria

hand, is about removing heat, and it's usually given

remaining in it after cooking will multiply and

I 50-122 p (see page 1175). The

short shrift. That's unfortunate: skilled ~hilling is

dangerously repopulate the food . Most of the

just as important to both the safety and the quality

danger arises at the higher end of the range

of food as is skilled heating.

because bacteria multiply faster in a warm envi-

For foods that will be reheated, proper chilling

most often means rapid chilling. Cooked food

ronment than in a cool one (see page 1142).

Second, rapid cooling maintains juiciness and a

should be cooled quickly for two reasons. First,

fresh-cooked flavor better than slow cooling can.

bacteria grow and thrive in the "danger zone"

A quick chill thickens and gels juices before they

THE PHYSICS OF

Why Cold-Shocking Doesn't Halt Cooking

A standard cookbook instruction is "plunge the food into
ice water to stop the cooking." Unfortunately, the cooking
doesn't stop when you do that. If you plunge food into ice
water, the maximum temperature at the core will reach
virtually the same temperature that it would if you plunged
it into water at any temperature lower than the cooking
temperature. Cold shocking doesn't work the way people
think it does.
Suppose you are cooking food in a water bath (or by any
other means), and you then plunge the food into ice water.
The cold ice water draws heat from the hot food, but it takes
time for heatto be transferred by conduction from the core. It
also takes time, however, for heat that was put into the food a
moment before the ice water plunge to conduct into the core.
The conduction of heat inward and outward happen at the
same speed (governed by the thermal diffusivity of the food;
see page 1277). So the temperature at the core reaches its
peak when the last unit of heat from the surface reaches the
core. At some point after that, the heat flow reverses, and heat
starts to flow back out. But by that time, the maximum tern-

53.2

E
~

Coo king bath:

70 "C/ 158 "F

127.5

53.0
52.8

127.0

52.6

52.4

"'
"E

"'
"126.5 E
~

126.0

52.2
1,160

25 4

1,180

1,200
Time(s)

perature has already been reached.

Computer simulations and physical experiments bearthis
out. The graph below shows the results of a computer model
of the cooking of a thick steak in a 70 c I 158 F water bath
(blue line). If we take the steak out after18 minutes, the core
will be at 51 c I 124 F. We could then put the steak in a tepid
water bath at 30 c I 86 F or in an ice water bath at 1 c I 34 F.
In both cases, the core temperature continues to drift upward
as the meat rests, then peaks and declines as the meat cools.
The meat in the tepid resting bath reaches essentially the same
final temperature as does the meat in the ice-water bath .
Cold-shocking makes only a tiny difference to the maximum
temperature: less than 0.5 c I 1 Ffor a thick steak; for a thin
steak, the difference is about 1 c I 2 F.
The ice water certainly cools the meat down faster after the
peak temperature is reached, so it is a much better cooling
option than the warm water bath. But it doesn't "stop the
cooking"-it makes only an insignificant difference in the
maximum core temperature.

We used thermal modeling software to calculate the peak

temperature that the core of a steak reaches when it is plunged
into either an ice bath (blue curve) at 1cI 34 For a tepid bath
(orange curve) at 30 cI 86 F, after cooking in a water bath set to
70 cI 158 F(red line). The difference is negligible: a mere
fraction of a degree. Cold-shocking does not prevent the core
temperature of the steak from continuing to rise after it is
removed from the heat.
The results shown at left reflect calculations made for a steak
2.5 em I 1 in thick, but we also ran the simulation for thin steaks
and found that the difference in core temperature is similarly tiny.

1,220

VOLUM E 2 TE CHNIQU ES AN D EQU I PM ENT

can leak out, and it keeps more of the aromatic

era tor temperature as it takes to cook refrigerated

volatiles that impart flavor where they belong: in

food in the first place. A roast that takes hours to

the food rather than in the air.

cook is also going to take hours to cool. This time

The best way to quickly cool food to refrigera-

requirement is an important food safety consider-

tion temperatures is to dunk your sous vide bags in

ation because pathogens can grow during the cool-

an ice-water bath, which can be as simple as a sink

downcycle.

full of cold water and lots of ice cubes. As long as

Food can be too small, as well as

too large, for cook-chill so us vide.
The juice in small food is never far
from the su rface and can eas ily leak
during cooking. The optimum
portion size is small enough to
cook and cool quickly, but not so
small that juices within the core can
easily escape through the surface.

Safety aside, you may want to avoid cooking

it's stirred occasionally, the ice water pulls heat

and cooling a large, intact cut of meat sous vide

away from the surface of the food evenly and with

simply because it's inconvenient. Better to butcher

remarkable speed. As long as the bath is not

the meat into smaller, serving-size cuts, which will

overcrowded and a reasonable amount of ice is left,

cook and cool faster. If you must chill and reheat a

you know the water remains cold enough.

large intact piece-whether of meat or some other

Whether you use an ice bath or a blast chiller,

kind of food-place it after cooking in a bath set

keep in mind that quick chilling will not com-

to the final core temperature, and hold it for

pletely halt cooking anywhere beneath the surface

slightly longer than you would for immediate

of the food. It's a common practice to "shock"

service. The extra holding time improves pasteuri-

cooked food in ice water, and many cooks seem to

zation and safety. Finally, cool it rapidly to keep

think it works because the frigid temperature of

the food as juicy as possible.

the ice bath stops the heat of cooking in its tracks.

The laws of heat transfer say otherwise. (See Why

Freezing

Cold-Shocking Doesn't Halt Cooking, page 254.)

One of the primary concerns about cooling is

Although freezing food greatly extends its shelf

that it takes time for large pieces of food to cool.

life, it sometimes comes at a steep cost in quality.

Sous vide time and temperature combinations

Frozen food can suffer a variety of insults as it

work for heating as well as cooling, so they can be

languishes at subzero temperatures. The growth of

used to estimate the time. Indeed, a basic rule of

ice crystals can damage its texture and drain it of

thumb is that it takes just about as long to cool a

juices. Flavorful aromatic compounds continue to

piece of food from cooking temperature to refrig-

evaporate and escape food that is frozen. And

chemical reactions with oxygen slowly turn lipids
and other fats in food rancid.
Vacuum packing circumvents many of these
processes and thus makes freezing less problematic. The sealed bag acts like a second skin to halt
evaporation of juices and volatile flavor compounds. By excluding oxygen, the packaging helps
to prevent warmed-over flavors from developing
during storage and reheating.
Ice crystals grow in frozen food regardless of
how it is packaged, unfortunately. The problem

As these infrared images reveal, the worst

way to cool hot food is to place it straight
into a refrigerator (top). Even after an hour
(bottom), the package will remain quite
warm. Meanwhile, this small package has
slightly heated everything else in the
refrigerator (lighter blue background),
thus raising the risk of spoilage. If you
have no other way to cool your cooked
food, leave it on the counter until the heat
dissipates somewhat so that it has a less
dramatic impact on the air temperature
when it goes inside the refrigerator.

256

plagues all frozen foods, whether raw, prepared by

using traditional cooking methods, or cooked sous
vide. Researchers have learned that it isn't the
transition from fresh to frozen that does most of
the damage to food. Rather, it is the slow and
steady growth of ice crystals in the spaces between
cells, a phenomenon that continues during frozen
storage, that harms the texture and taste of frozen
food (see page 1304).

If you take precautions when freezing food and

storing it frozen, however, you can thwart crystal

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

growth and preserve more of the fresh food

allows ice crystals to migrate and grow, which is

quality. Colder is better. Food in your freezer at

what does the real damage.

- 20 c I - 4 p may seem to be frozen solid, but

Special cryogenic freezers used in laboratories,

there is still a surprising amount ofliquid water

which operate at temperatures as low as -80 c

inside the food. This last bit of water won't freeze

- 112 p (or even colder), can almost completely

because its freezing point has been depressed

stop the growth of damaging ice crystals. These

below the temperature of your freezer by the

freezers are ideal for long-term frozen storage.

proteins, sugars, salts, and other small molecules

Temperatures this low supercool the last bit of

that make up food. Over time, this liquid water

unfrozen water within cells to a glassy state,

COOKING SOUS VI DE

just as it's inadvisable to chill hot

food in a refrigerator, it's also a bad
idea to put hot food into a freezer.
The food will freeze too slowly and
will thaw parts of neighboring
foods. Always chill hot food to
refrigerator temperatures or use a
separate freezing strategy before
putting the food in a conventional
freezer.

257

eliminating all traces ofliquid from the food. Few

freezes slowly, however, and expands as it does, so

of us are able to store our frozen food in a laboratory-grade cryogenic freezer, of course. The next

Liquid nitrogen is thus a good choice only for food

best thing is to keep the temperature in whatever

that is small or thin enough that it can freeze

freezer you do have as cold and stable as possible.

inside and out at nearly the same speed.

the surface of the food tends to crack and split.

Chest-style freezers are preferred to door-style

The ultralow temperature and fast rate of

freezers because chests are better at keeping the

freezing with liquid nitrogen causes other prob-

temperature constant.

lems. We don't recommend it for meats and

seafood, because the fast freezing irreversibly
damages the proteins in a way that makes for a less

Remember that each time a freezer door is

opened, the cold air spills out, and the temperature spikes up. Moreover, freezers with automatic

juicy result when the meat is reheated. We also do

not recommend freezing vacuum-packed foods in

defrost cycles should not be used for long-term

storage. After all, by design the defrost cycle
warms the freezer enough to let built-up ice thaw!

brittle and tends to crack, which compromises

Defrosting-or anything else that allows the

both the safety and the quality of the food.

liquid nitrogen. The plastic packaging becomes

temperature of the freezer to fluctuate-allows ice

crystals, especially those near the surface of the
Ice crystals grow on the surface of all
frozen foods that undergo prolonged
storage. Sealing food in a sous vide bag
prevents water vapor in air fro mfreezing
onto the food's cold surface. But the bag
will not stop crystals fromslowly growing
inside the food.

When to Thaw and When to

Cook Directly from Frozen

food, to resume their growth.

Colder is also better when freezing because

It is so easy to warm a sous vide package of

quick freezing creates small crystals of uniform

size. Ice in this form is less likely to damage

previously frozen food that one naturally wonders:

is it better to thaw the food before cooking, or can

surrounding tissue, either initially as it forms or

later, during storage, as the crystals migrate and

you move it straight from the freezer to a water

bath-and thus do the thawing and cooking in

grow. Vacuum-packed foods have an advantage

here as well because they can be frozen in a salt

Ultra low temperature freezers

that keep food at -238 c to -150 c
I - 60 F to -76 F are we ll worth the
cost if you keep expe nsive foods for
long periods of time. They can
ofte n be bo ught second hand from
laboratory equ ipment dealers.

one swift step? The answer is that either approach

brine, a fast and effective method.

works, and each has certain advantages.

The salt in brine lowers the freezing point of

water. Add enough ice to very salty brine, and it

from the freezer and put it into a water bath to

becomes cold enough to freeze most of the water

cook it. Some foods, such as foie gras, are best

in the food-as anyone who has used an old-

when quickly frozen immediately after slaughter,

fashioned ice cream maker knows. Ice floating in

brine at 23% salinity will reach the lowest possible

then stored deeply frozen. These should be

portioned frozen, then taken from frozen to

temperature of -21 c

In most cases, you'll want to take food directly

I - 6 F. Liquid water is a

cooked as quickly as possible. That approach

good thermal conductor, so it sucks the heat from

the food quickly and evenly. Brine freezing works

enzymes that reactivate during thawing. If you

so well that it's unfortunate that the approach is

have taken the trouble to preserve foie gras at the

peak of freshness, you definitely don't want to let it

suitable only for food that has been vacuum-sealed

thaw slowly-and degrade-in the refrigerator

in waterproof packaging.

For more on freezing with liquid nitrogen, see

page 456. For more on frozen foie gras, see
page 3-138.

258

minimizes the destructive potential of natural

Liquid nitrogen, at an amazingly low - 196 c

-320 F (which is a mere 77 c I 139 F above

overnight before you cook it.

absolute zero), freezes food colder and faster than

Cooking straight from frozen obviously takes

longer, often considerably longer, than cooking the

salt brine does. But a cook who overzealously

same food from refrigerator temperature. Melting

plunges food into liquid nitrogen to freeze it as fast

as possible will find that the food suffers as a

much more than it takes to raise the same amount

result. The outside freezes instantly. The inside

of water from 0 c I 32 F to 100 c I 212 F.

ice consumes an enormous amount of energy-

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

9
THE CHEMISTRY OF

Why Frozen Foods Change Flavor

Even after food is frozen, its flavor continues to change, and
rarely for the better. One source of the change is the
oxidation of fats and lipids, a process that eventually makes
food smell rancid and taste warmed-over. The only way to
(almost) halt these oxidative reactions is to evacuate all of
the air from the food's packaging, then keep the food
frozen at cryogenic temperatures. The extreme cold turns
the water in food into a glass, essentially locking the reactive molecules in place, so they cannot join to make unpleasant flavors .
The flavor of food also changes when aromatic compounds
are lost. Many of those compounds are volatile enough that
they continue to evaporate, or sublimate, from the surface of

Flavorful compounds dribble out of a frozen rib eye (at left. above) through what is known as
drip loss. Ice crystals that formed in the steak as it froze now melt. and as their liquids leak
from the meat (at right) they carry off compounds that give the meat some of its taste.

food even while it is frozen. Here again, cryogenic freezing

helps to preserve the fresh flavor of food by slowing these
phenomena, and vacuum packaging contains any evaporating
molecules like a second skin.
Unfortunately, no matter how cold the freezer or how
tightly packaged the food , freezing will always cause some
deterioration in flavor, for two reasons. First, as soon as the
food is thawed, juices will escape and carry away some of the
flavor. Second, freezing gradually but inexorably alters certain
molecules in food, such as proteins. After thawing, they no
longer capture and release taste and aroma compounds in
quite the same way. The end result of that shift is to modify
how we perceive the food's flavor.

Rapid freezing and deep-cold storage can keep ice crystals small and minimize-but not
eliminate-drip loss.

COOKING SOUS VI DE

261

Moreover, thawing and freezing are not sym-

It is also important that cooking directly from

metrical processes. Thawing takes much longer

frozen be done at a bath temperature that is high

because ice conducts heat better than liquid water

enough to prevent bacterial growth-i.e. at or

does. So as fresh food freezes, the ice at the surface

above 54 C / 129 F.

helps pull heat out of the food faster. But as frozen

food thaws, meltwater on the surface insulates the
ice below from the heat outside. Oddly enough,

Reheating

melting ice crystals sometimes even refreeze as

Sous vide cooking was invented as a more conve-

food thaws.
Taken together, these two properties make it
quite difficult to predict cooking times when

For more on why thawing is so much slower

than freezing, see page Bll.

nient and economical way to organize the production of meals. Using sous vide, commercial
kitchens could cook large quantities in advance

cooking food from frozen. So it's imperative to

then reheat individual portions only as needed.

cook in a bath set to the final core temperature,

Large-scale advance preparation and reheating

rather than to use some other cooking strategy. A

were not new to the restaurant business, but the

hotter-than-core approach, for example, will

extended storage time and higher quality reten-

probably either undercook or overcook the food

tion that vacuum-packing and plastic bag technol-

because it's next to impossible to know how long it

ogy delivered represented a breakthrough of sorts.

will take the frozen food to thaw.

It is very important not to crowd a water bath

We feel nevertheless that some chefs are too

fixated on the vacuum-packing step of sous vide,

when you cook directly from frozen. The extra

and they tend to miss the point of it. Most of the

energy it takes to thaw the frozen food will drop

time, vacuum sealing food is a matter of conve-

the temperature of the water bath (or other

nience, not necessity; if the food is being prepared

cooking environment). Within reason, the heating

for immediate service, a restaurant gains order,

element can keep up with the drop, but with too

cleanliness, and simplicity from vacuum packing.

much frozen food in the bath at one time, the

But that's about it.

temperature can dip too low.

Vacuum sealing does become important when

food is cooked in advance and stored for future
use. And in the real world of fine dining, efficient
production and mise en place demand advance
preparation. This arena is where sous vide shines.
Precooking food sous vide is a useful strategy for
synchronizing the cooking times of multicomponent dishes-such as those in volume S-in which
each component needs a different cooking time
and temperature and, typically, further portioning, trimming, and seasoning after the initial
cooking step.
Consider, for example, our pot-aujeu recipe on
page 549. It calls for several different meats,
including a flatiron steak that needs relatively
brief, low-temperature cooking, and a tough oxtail
that needs lengthy cooking at a considerably

Awhole turkey and similarly large foods warm slowly and unevenly,
so they should not be left to thaw at room temperature. The pink
tissue at the surface indicates that the outer part of the bird has
warmed enough to create a hospitable environment for bacterial
growth. even though the center of the turkey is still frozen hard. To
be safe. thaw large food in a refrigerator or an ice bath.

hotter temperature to gelatinize the collagen.

you reheat sous vide food . First, chilled food will

Assorted root vegetables must be cooked separate-

take about the same amount of time to reach the

ly at near-boiling temperatures to transform them

target core temperature when reheated as it did

from raw to cooked while preserving the integrity

when it was cooked from raw. Frozen food will

of their individual flavors.

take considerably more time. Thus, time savings

Performing all these steps with traditional

occur only for foods that need to be held at

cooking techniques during a busy dinner service

temperature for long periods.

would be a challenge of the highest order. It is far

Second, take care not to overcook the food

simpler to cook each vegetable and type of meat

when you reheat it. All of your careful control of

sous vide, in advance, separately, and at just the

time and temperature during the cooking step will

right the temperature and time that suits it best.

have been for naught if the reheating process goes

Sous vide techniques keep oxygen away from the

off track.

food and simplify proper chilling, so each compo-

Pot-au-feu exemplifies the most useful

benefit of sous vide cooking, which is the
flexibility it offers cooks to prepare
ingredients in advance according to their
individual requirements for cooking times
and temperatures, portioning, trimming,
and seasoning. The components can be
stored and reheated simply and
simultaneously for service.

264

The final tip is to rest the reheated food before

nent of the dish retains its quality throughout

serving it. Resting allows the exterior to cool

lengthy and elaborate preparation. Later, the

slightly, and juices leaking at the surface then gel

precooked components of the pot-aujeu can easily

and thicken there. This step will preserve the

be reheated by using synchronized cooking times.

flavor and moistness of the food .

Three details are crucial to keep in mind when

VO LU M E 2 TE CHN I QU ES AN D EQ UIP M ENT

Further Reading

Keller, T. Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide.

Artisan, 2008.

Achatz, G. Alinea. Achatz, 2008.

Alieno, Y. 4 Saisons aLa Table No.5 . Glenat, 2006.

Logsdon,). Cooking So us Vide: A Guide for the

Home Cook. CreateS pace, 2009.

Baldwin, D. Sous Vide for the Home Cook.

Paradox Press, 2010.

Point, F. Ma Gastronomie. Overlook/ Rookery,

2008.

Blumenthal, H . The Big Fat Duck Cookbook.

Bloomsbury USA, 2008.

Pralus, G. Une Histoire d'Amour: La Cuisine Sous

Vide. Georges Pralus, 2000.

Ducasse, A. Grand Livre de Cuisine: Alain Ducasse's

Culinary Encyclopedia. Ducasse Books, 2009.

Roca, J., Brugus, S. Sous Vide Cuisine.

Montagud, 2005.

Fontane,). B., Fontane, S. R. Cocina Al Vacio.

Montagud, 2001.

Stampfer, V. Sous Vide: Cooking in a Vacuum.

Matthaes, 2008.

Kamozawa, A., Talbot, A. H . Ideas in Food:

Great Recipes and Why They Work.
Clarkson Potter, 2010.

Ideas in Food. [Link]

Cooking Issues. [Link]

THE MARKETING OF

Reheat and Ready-to-eat

Precooked so us vide is a phenomenon of sorts well outside the temples of gastronomy. Cuisine Solutions and
other companies have long been supplying airlines and
retailers such as Costco with vacuum-packed meals that
are ready to reheat and eat. The preparation and packaging techniques that Cuisine Solutions uses to make its so us
vide meals would be quite familiar to Modernist cooks;
the company simply deploys these techniques on a mindboggling scale. It's not unusual, for example, for Cuisine
Solutions to process 4.5 metric tons I 5 tons of chicken a
week or to buy a million New Zealand lambs.
Although the meals are generally held to high standards of
quality and safety, there are inevitable trade-offs. Its global
market and the sheer volume of food it buys give Cuisine
Solutions privileged access to certain ingredients-the New
Zealand lamb, for example, and salmon from Argentina-but
preclude the use of artisanal suppliers. Because the company
can't control how its meals are stored or served and because
those meals are likely to be consumed by millions of people,
in the interest of safety, its kitchens tend to cook foods longer
than a gastronome might advise. And even if the food hasn't
overcooked to begin with, many a fine ready-to-eat dish has
undoubtedly been ruined in the end through improper
reheating. You won't find a water bath on most airplanes.
Nevertheless, sous vide-the pedestrian invention that
started in the Swedish hospital system and moved on from
there-is perfectly suited for institutional settings and other
situations in which warm meals need to be served in bulk by
people with no particular expertise in cooking.

Mass-market sous vide dinners extend the legacy of a technique that began as a means of
producing meals in bulk for hospitals. The Cuisine Solutions brand is available at Costco
and other retailers for home use. They also distribute to hotels, restaurants, and other
caterers.

COOKING SOUS VID E

2 65

9
BLANCHING AND SEARING
FOR SOUS VIDE
Cooking food sous vide consistently produces

Using high-temperature steam or water at a

great-tasting food, but the appearance of the food

rolling boil is especially important when blanch-

after it comes out of the bag sometimes leaves a bit

ing fruits and vegetables because high heat is

to be desired. Most people expect their beef steaks

needed to destroy enzymes as quickly as possible.

to be brown on the outside, not pink or gray. Grill

Now, it is true that not all enzymes in plant tissue

marks on a fish steak add an appealing detail. Skin

are bad; some do contribute to desirable flavors.

on a duck breast is better when crispy. All of these

But numerous other enzymes degrade produce as

effects are impossible to achieve by sous vide

it is stored and cooked.

cooking alone.

In green vegetables, for example, chlorophyl-

Fortunately, there is an easy way to get the best

of both worlds: pairing sous vide cooking with the

lase gradually converts green chlorophyll into

olive-brown pheophytin pigments. In many fruits

traditional techniques of blanching and searing.

and vegetables, such as apples, artichokes, and

These techniques are useful for more than merely

potatoes, polyphenol oxidase responds to tissue

improving the look of the food . Both blanching

damage in much the same way that our skin tans

and searing will sanitize the surface of food. Both

in response to sunburn: by catalyzing the produc-

will also firm up soft meats and seafoods so they

tion of protective deep-brown melanoidin

hold their shape better when vacuum-packed.

pigments. Vacuum packing and modified-

Blanching and searing are not always interchange-

atmosphere packing slows these enzymes down,

able, however. Blanching, for example, is always

but blanching long enough can destroy both

done before cooking sous vide, whereas you can

polyphenol oxidase and chlorophyllase outright,

sear ingredients before, after, or both.

thus better preserving the fresh color of fruits and

Either steam or a brief dip into very hot water

blanches food. The best way to avoid overcooking

vegetables.
For most fruits and vegetables, blanching at a

while blanching is to use water that is as hot as

full rolling boil is almost always preferable to

possible. That may seem counterintuitive, but it is

steam blanching or simmering because it raises

true because heat takes time to penetrate food.

the temperature faster.

The higher the temperature, the shorter the

exposure to the water or steam needed to sanitize
the food, and the less penetration of heat into the
food. Water at 70 oc

I 158 op takes about 10

seconds to decontaminate the food surface, for

example, whereas water at 76 oc

I 168 op achieves

the same effect in just one second.

For more on why arolling boil often heats

faster than steam-and on the pros and cons of
these two methods of blanching-see Boiling.
page 63. and Steaming. page 70.

Quickly raising the core temperature to the

boiling point is important because a temperature
of 100 oc

I 212 op destroys 90% of the polyphenol

oxidase enzymes in just two seconds, whereas it

takes about two minutes to achieve that level of
enzyme destruction at the slightly cooler temperature of90 oc

I 194 F.

Quickly searing a steak on a plancha after cooking it in a water

bath creates the mouth-watering aromas of charred meat while
preserving the tenderness and juiciness that are hallmarks
of sous vide cooking.

COOKING SOUS VI DE

267

Searing Before Vacuum Packing

beneath the skin. Searing the meat after cooking

Searing food before vacuum sealing sometimes

does render the fat, but at the cost of overcooking

works better than blanching because the intense

much of the meat. Cryorendering renders as much

heat of searing triggers Maillard reactions that

fat as possible from a near-frozen duck breast

create many of the flavors we like in traditionally

before the food is vacuum packed and cooked.

cooked foods (see page 3-89). Maillard reactions

Here's a trick to get the rich flavors
of searing without having to
presear: save some of the trimmings from the meat or fish and
cook th em until brown and crispy,
then pack the crispy trimmings
around raw ingred ients before you
seal them in the ir bags. The
Maillard flavo rs from the trimmings
will continue to develop during
cooking and wi ll permeate the food
they surroun d.

don't really get started until the temperature

reaches at least 130 c I 266 p, well above that of

Searing After Cooking

a water bath. Once initiated, however, the reac-

Some traditionalists have criticized sous vide

tions will continue even if the temperature

cooking because, by itself, it doesn't always

decreases. Presearing can thus add depth to the

produce all the colors, flavors, and textures that

flavor of sous vide dishes. This step should be

older methods do, especially with meats and

avoided for lamb, other meats from grass-fed

seafoods. Searing ingredients after they have been

animals, and a few other foods in which presearing

cooked sous vide solves this problem. Adding a

can trigger unwanted reactions that cause off-

final searing step to the sous vide process is simple

flavors and warmed-over flavors to form when the

and allows a cook to mimic the external result of

food is later cooked sous vide.

any traditional cooking strategy while retaining

Presearing can be a convenient way to put grill

and vastly improving control over how the interior

marks on fish or chicken before bagging, thus

cooks. Indeed, this hybrid form of cooking can

simplifying the step of reheating for service. When

create even more dramatic contrasts in texture

a crisp crust is important, however, we must either

between a crispy surface and the tender flesh

postpone the searing until after sous vide cooking

beneath.

or sear the food again after the package is opened

Searing also generates Maillard reactions and

because any crust formed during presearing will

other chemical phenomena that occur only at high

soften during sous vide cooking.

temperatures. The tastants and aromatic com-

For fatty meats such as duck breast, a special

pounds produced by these complex reactions give

form of presearing called cryorendering (see page

roast beef, grilled chicken, and panfried salmon

3124) can be especially useful. The temperatures

their unmistakable, irreplaceable flavors. Because

at which we cook duck breasts sous vide typically

sous vide cooking operates at lower temperatures

aren't hot enough to render much of the fat

to prevent meats and seafood from drying out,

many of these flavor-creating reactions never
occur within a sous vide cooker. But usually a
judicious post-sous-vide sear can create the best of
both worlds by browning the surface yet overcooking almost none of the underlying flesh.
There is one notable exception to this rule:
crisping skin. Searing certainly crisps the surface
of a piece of meat at first, but liquids from the juicy
flesh beneath will quickly soak into the skin and
make it soggy again. With duck breasts and a few
other meats, you can leave a thin layer of fat
between the crispy skin and the juicy meat to
shield against moisture migration. Otherwise, we
either try to dry out enough flesh between the dry
surface and the juicy center to create a barrier or
remove the skin altogether and crisp it separately.

268

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

The Pros and Cons of Blanching or Searing Before Cooking

Both the appearance and the flavor of many foods improved

strategies increase the margin offood safety by eliminating bac-

if they are blanched or seared before cooking sous vide. Both

terial contamination at its usual source: the surface of the food.

Bla nching fr uits and vegetab les

Blanchi ng meats and seafood

Pros: helps to prese rve th e co lor and text ure of fres h pro du ce
Cons: an additional step th at may not be need ed befo re cook in g so us vi de

Pros: d econtaminates th e surface and helps to prese rve th e shape of th e

foo d during late r vacuum pac king and cookin g
Cons: an additi onal step that may no t be necessa ry and th at might
ove rcook th e surface

Searing meats and seafood

Pros: deco nta minates the surface, ca n improve Maill ard flavo rs, and helps
to rend er fat fro m meats coo ked at low temp eratures. Sea ring all ows part
of th e fin is hing to be co mplete d in adva nce
Cons: ca n lead to off-fl avo rs in lamb and a few oth er meats. Th e cru st w ill
not be cri sp afte r coo king, so yo u mus t ei th er acce pt that o r res ea r it

Presearing foods such as tuna

steaks before cooking can
sometimes simplify service.

COOK I NG SOUS VIDE

269

SUGGESTED TIMES FOR COOKING MEAT AND SEAFOOD SOUS VIDE

So us vide cooking has many benefits, but it can be
hard to estimate how long it will take. We used
mathematical models, calibrated by experiments in
our research kitchen, to produce the tables below.
They offer estimated cooking times for foods of
various shapes with the water bath set 1 oc I 2 oF

higher than the core temperature you want the food

to achieve (see page 246). The times are calculated for
food having thermal properties typical of most meat
and seafood, but they should be roughly accurate for
most plant foods as well. Note that the times are
approximate-because many variables are involved in

Table 1. Cooking times for cylinder-shaped meats having a diameter oflS em I 6 in

t.T

Thickness (em)

LH

15.0

0.5
5

130

3m25s

8m06s

14m04s

21m20s

29m51s

39m30s

1h01m

1h24m

1h30m

2h19m

3h05m

3h40m

4h07m

4m33s

10m41s

18m29s

27m55s

38m53s

51m10s

1h18m

1h46m

2h10m

2h53m

3h50m

4h34m

5h08m

5m13s

12m15s

21mlls

31m57s

44m23s

58m14s

1h28m

1h59m

2h14m

3h14m

4h18m

5h07m

5h45m

5m 44s

13m 25s

23m 09s

34m 54s

48m 22s

1 h 03m

1 h 35m

2h 09m

2h 03m

3h 30m

4h 38m

5h 31m

6h 11m

6m07s

14m20s

24m42s

37m13s

51m29s

1h07m

1h41m

2h16m

2h07m

3h41m

4h54m

5h50m

6h33m

6m 26s

15m 04s

25m 59s

39m 05s

54m 01 s

1 h 1Om

1 h 46m

2h 22m

2h 1Om

3h 52m

5h 07m

6h 06m

6h 50m

6m 43s

15m 42s

27m 03s

40m 44s

56m 08s

1 h 13m

1 h 49m

2h 28m

3h 13m

4h OOm

5h 17m

6h 18m

7h 05m

6m57s

16m15s

27m57s

42m01s

57m56s

1h16m

1h53m

2h32m

3h16m

4h06m

5h27m

6h31m

7h18m

7m10s

16m46s

28m55s

43m17s

59m53s

1h18m

1h56m

2h36m

3h18m

4h14m

5h36m

6h41m

7h29m

7m22s

17m12s

29m34s

44m22s

1h01m

1h19m

1h59m

2h40m

3h19m

4h20m

5h43m

6h49m

7h39m

7m34s

17m35s

30m12s

45m18s

1h03m

1h21m

2h01m

2h43m

3h21m

4h24m

5h51m

6h57m

7h48m

7m40s

17m51s

30m52s

46m18s

1h04m

1h23m

2h04m

2h46m

3h23m

4h29m

5h55m

7h04m

7h56m

7m45s

18m16s

31m31s

47m07s

1h05m

1h24m

2h05m

2h49m

3h24m

4h32m

6h02m

7hllm

8h03m

7m59s

18m34s

32m02s

48m10s

1h06m

1h25m

2h08m

2h51m

3h25m

4h37m

6h07m

7h18m

8h11m

8m06s

18m54s

32m20s

48m25s

1h07m

1h27m

2h09m

2h53m

3h27m

4h41m

6h12m

7h24m

8h16m

8m15s

19m04s

32m49s

49m10s

1h08m

1h27m

2h11m

2h55m

3h27m

4h44m

6h17m

7h30m

8h29m

8m 17s

19m 23s

33m 24s

49m 46s

1 h 08m

1 h 29m

2h 12m

2h 57m

3h 29m

4h 47m

6h 22m

7h 37m

8h 29m

8m 25s

19m 35s

33m 37s

50m 12s

1 h 09m

1h 29m

2h 14m

3h OOm

3h 29m

4h 52m

6h 28m

7h 39m

8h 35m

8m31s

19m45s 33m57s

50m43s

1h10m

1h31m

2h15m

3h01m

3h31m

4h56m

6h29m

7h44m

8h41m

8m33s

19m56s 34m13s

51m02s

1hllm

1h32m

2h16m

3h04m

3h32m

4h57m

6h30m

7h49m

8h48m

8m41s

20m09s

34m34s

52m05s

1hllm

1h32m

2h18m

3h06m

3h32m

4h59m

6h37m

7h54m

8h52m

8m45s

20m14s

35m11s

52m24s

1h12m

1h33m

2h18m

3h06m

3h33m

5h02m

6h42m

7h58m

8h56m

8m 49s

20m 33s

35m 29s

53m 06s

1 h 12m

1 h 34m

2h 20m

3h 08m

3h 34m

5h 05m

6h 43m

8h 02m

9h 01 m

8m 55s

20m 47s

35m 47s

54m 21 s

1 h 13m

1 h 35m

2h 21m

3h 09m

3h 35m

5h 08m

6h 47m

8h 07m

9h 07m

9m 01 s 20m 56s

35m 52s

53m 43s

1 h 14m

1 h 36m

2h 22m

3h 1Om

4h 36m

5h 09m

6h 52m

8h 1Om

9h 1Om

21m06s

36m09s

54m33s

1h15m

1h36m

2h23m

3h12m

4h36m

5hllm

6h55m

8h14m

9h14m

9m10s

Thickness (in)

276

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

234

These tables were produced using a therma l

diffusivity value of 0.13 mm 2/ s and a heat
transfer coefficient oflOO W/ m' K. For
more on these important thermodynamic
parameters, see page 1279.

the calculations, this is not an exact guide and should

not be relied upon for critical situations. A temp erature probe provides more reliable information on
how close the food is to being done, but the tables
can be helpful in planning. For irregularly shaped
foods, use the dimensions of the thickest part.

Table 2. Cooking times for cylinder-shaped meats having a length oflS em I 6 in

(oc)

t.T

Diameter (em)

LH

15.0

1.0
3m 57s

6m 50s

1Om 18s

14m 24s

19m 07s

30m 23s

44m 04s 59m 53s

1 h 27m

2h 18m

3h 12m

4h 07m

5m10s

8m51s

13m17s

18m29s

24m29s

38m46s

56m00s

1h16m

1h49m

2h52m

3h59m

5h08m

5m54s

10m06s

15m08s 21m03s

27m50s

43m57s

1h03m

1h25m

2h03m

3h13m

4h28m

5h45m

6m 27s

11m 00s

16m 28s

22m 53s

30m 15s

47m 43s

1 h 09m

1 h 32m

2h 13m

3h 28m

4h 49m

6h 11m

6m 52s

11m 43 s 17m 31s

24m 20s

32m 08s

50m 38s

1 h 13m

1h 38m

2h 20m

3h 40m

5h 05m

6h 33m

7m13s

12m17s

18m23s 25m30s

33m40s

53m12s

1h16m

1h43m

2h27m

3h50m

5h19m

6h50m

7m 32s

12m 47s

19m 09s

26m 35s

35m 07s

55m 05s

1 h 19m

1 h 46m

2h 32m

3h 58m

5h 30m

7h 05m

7m46s

13m16s

19m45s

27m24s

36m08s 56m50s

1h21m

1h08m

2h37m

4h06m

5h41m

7h18m

7m58s

13m37s

20m19s

28m10s

37m14s

58m35s

1h24m

1h14m

2h41m

4h13m

5h49m

7h29m

8m13s

13m59s

20m53s

28m57s

38m11s

1h00m

1h26m

1h11m

2h44m

4h17m

5h57m

7h39m

8m26s

14m18s

21m16s

29m30s

38m54s

1h01m

1h27m

1h54m

2h48m

4h23m

6h04m

7h48m

8m 34s

14m 32s

21m 42s

30m 04s

39m 4 7s

1 h 02m

1 h 29m

1 h 47m

2h 50m

4h 28m

6h 11m

7h 56m

8m 43s

14m 47s

22m 06s

30m 33s

40m 07s

1 h 03m

1 h 30m

2h 07m

2h 54m

4h 31m

6h 17m

8h 03m

8m 48s

15m 01 s

22m 25s

30m 59s

40m 44s

1 h 04m

1 h 32m

2h 44m

2h 56m

4h 36m

6h 24m

8h 11m

8m59s

15m13s

22m45s

31m30s

41m32s

1h05m

1h33m

2h32m

2h59m

4h39m

6h28m

8h16m

9m06s

15m28s

23m07s

31m57s

42m11s

1h06m

1h35m

2hllm

3h01m

4h42m

6h35m

8h29m

9m15s

15m42s

23m30s

32m31s

42m43s

1h07m

1h36m

2h43m

3h03m

4h48m

6h39m

8h29m

9m 22s

15m 50s

23m 38s

32m 46s

43m 15s

1 h 07m

1 h 36m

2h 15m

3h 06m

4h 49m

6h 41 m

8h 35m

9m27s

16m05s

23m52s

33m07s

43m53s

1h09m

1h38m

2h53m

3h07m

4h52m

6h45m

8h41m

9m 32s

16m 18s

24m 16s 33m 36s

44m 17s

1 h 09m

1 h 38m

2h 17m

3h 08m

4h 55m

6h 50m

8h 48m

9m42s

16m19s

24m25s

33m47s

44m27s

1h10m

1h39m

2h27m

3h10m

4h58m

6h55m

8h52m

9m 44s

16m 30s

24m 31 s 34m 03s

44m 53s

1 h 10m

1 h 40m

2h 53m

3h 13m

5h OOm

6h 57m

8h 56m

9m49s

16m36s

24m47s

34m06s

45m15s

1h11m

1h41m

2h15m

3h13m

5h03m

7h01m

9h01m

9m 52s

16m 47s

25m 03s

34m 42s

45m 43s

1 h 12m

1 h 43m

2h 43m

3h 15m

5h 07m

7h 04m

9h 07m

10m00s

16m57s

25m20s

35m04s

46m17s

1h12m

1h43m

2h17m

3h18m

5h09m

7h03m

9h10m

130 10m06s 17m06s 25m23s 35m07s 46m27s

1h13m

1h44m

2h27m

3h19m

5h10m

7h11m

9h14m

(of)
9

234

Diameter (in)

COOKING SOUS VIDE

277

SUGGESTED TIMES FOR COOKING MEAT AND SEAFOOD SOUS VIDE

HOW TO Use the Sous Vide Tables

Choose the table that best fits the shape of the food.
For disc- like foods that are roughly circular and about

15 em I 6 in . in diameter, use table 1. For long, cylindrical

Calculate Ill by subtract the starting temperature of the

food from the desired final temperature.

foods (like sausages) that are 15 em I 6 in or longer, use

table 2. For cubes, spheres, or squat cylinders, use tabl e
3. For slabs much longer than they are thick, use table 4.

Table 3. Cooking times for cylinder-shaped meats having thickness roughly equal to their diameter
toT
(c)

0.5

130

toT

Thickness and diameter (em)

15.0

15s

Om 58s

2m 11 s

3m 53s

6m 04s

8m 45s

15m 33s

24m 17s 34m 59s 54m 39s

1 h 37m

2h 32m

3h 39m

18s

1m12s

2m43s

4m50s

7m33s

10m52s

19m19s

30m10s 43m27s

1h08m

2h01m

3h09m

4h32m

20s

1m21s

3m03s

5m24s

8m27s

12m10s

21m38s

33m48s 48m40s

1h16m

2h15m

3h31m

5h04m

22s

1m 28s

3m 17s

5m 50s

9m 07s

13m 07s

23m 19s

36m 26s 52m 28s

1 h 22m

2h 26m

3h 48m

5h 28m

23s

1m 33s

3m 28s

6m 1Os

9m 38s

13m 53s

24m 40s 38m 32s 55m 30s

1 h 27m

2h 34m

4h 01 m

5h 47m

24s

1m 37s

3m 37s

6m 26s

1Om 03s

14m 28s

25m 4 7s 40m 13s 57m 55s

1h 30m

2h 41 m

4h 11m

6h 02m

25s

1m 40s

3m 45s

6m 39s

10m 24s

14m 57s

26m 38s 41 m 37s 59m 56s

1 h 34m

2h 46m

4h 20m

6h 15m

26s

1m43s

3m52s

6m52s

10m43s

15m26s

27m26s

42m52s

1h02m

1h36m

2h51m

4h28m

6h26m

27s

1m46s

3m58s

7m03s

11m00s

15m51s

28m10s 44m02s

1h03m

1h39m

2h56m

4h35m

6h36m

27s

1m48s

4m03s

7m12s

llm14s

16mlls

28m40s

44m47s

1h04m

1h41m

2h59m

4h40m

6h43m

28s

1m 50s

4m 08s

7m 20s

11m 28s

16m 30s

29m 23s

45m 53s

1 h 06m

1 h 43m

3h 04m

4h 47m

6h 53m

28s

1m 52s

4m 12s

7m 28s

11m 40s

16m 47s

29m 48s

46m 39s

1 h 07m

1 h 45m

3h 07m

4h 52m

7h OOm

29s

1m 54s

4m 17s

7m 37s

11m 54s

17m 07s

30m 27s 47m 33s

1 h 08m

1 h 48m

3h 1Om

4h 57m

7h 08m

29s

1m56s

4m21 s

7m43s

12m04s

17m23s 30m51s

48m09s

1h09m

1h48m

3h13m

5h01m

7h14m

29s

1m57s

4m24s

7m50s

12m13s

17m37s

31m21 s 48m57s

1h10m

1h50m

3h16m

5h06m

7h20m

30s

1m59s

4m28s

7m56s

12m24s

17m52s 31m41s

49m35s

1h11m

1h52m

3h18m

5h10m

7h26m

30s

2m 00s

4m 30s

8m 00s

12m 29s

17m 59s

31m 56s

50m 04s

1 h 12m

1 h 53m

3h 20m

5h 12m

7h 29m

30s

2m 02s

4m 32s

8m 06s

12m 39s

18m 14s

32m 24s

50m 39s

1 h 13m

1 h 54m

3h 22m

5h 16m

7h 35m

31s

1m59s

4m36s

8m12s

12m48s

18m27s

32m44s

51m14s

1h14m

1h55m

3h25m

5h20m

7h41m

31s

2m00s

4m39s

8m15s

12m55s

18m36s 33m06s 51m42s

1h15m

1h56m

3h27m

5h23m

7h45m

31s

2m05s

4m44s

8m22s

13m03s

18m51s 33m33 s

52m24s

1h16m

1h58m

3h29m

5h27m

7h51m

32s

2m 07s

4m 45s

8m 26s 13m 11 s 18m 59s

33m 46s

52m 46s

1 h 16m

1 h 59m

3h 31m

5h 29m

7h 55m

32s

2m07s

4m46s

8m27s

13m14s

19m01s 33m50s

52m47s

1h16m

1h59m

3h31m

5h30m

7h55m

32s

2m 08s

4m 48s

8m 32s

13m 19s

19m 09s

34m 03s

53m 05s

1 h 16m

1 h 59m

3h 32m

5h 32m

7h 58m

32s

2m 09s

4m 50s

8m 37s

13m 29s

19m 21s

34m 24s

53m 47s

1 h 17m

2h 01 m

3h 35m

5h 36m

8h 04m

33s

2m 1Os

4m 52s

8m 38s

13m 29s

19m 26s

34m 32s 53m 51s

1 h 17m

2h 01 m

3h 36m

5h 37m

8h 06m

')16

6
Thickness and diameter (in)

278

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPM ENT

( F)

234

Look up the cooking time given for the LHyou

calculated and the relevant dimension ofthe food.

Cook the food in a water bath setto 1 oC / 1.8 F

above the desired final temperature, for the time
given. If you want to pasteurize, you must look up
pasteurization time for the desired final temperature
and add this to the cooking time listed in the table.

Table 4. Cooking times for slabs of meat whose width and length is at least five times the thickness
L'.T

Thickness (em)

LH

15.0

130

40s

2m 38s

5m 56s

1Om 33s

16m 30s

23m 45s

42m 13s

1 h 06m

1 h 45m

2h 28m

4h 24m

6h 52m

9h 54m

51s

3m 26s

7m 42s

13m 42s

21m 24s

30m 49s

54m 47s

1 h 26m

2h 49m

3h 13m

5h 42m

8h 55m

12h 50m

59s

3m55s

8m48s

15m39s

24m26s

35m14s

1h03m

1h38m

2h14m

3h40m

6h31m

10h12m

14h41m

1m04s

4m16s

9m35s

17m03s

26m38s

38m21s

1h08m

1h47m

2h21m

4h00m

7h06m

11h06m

15h59m

1m08s

4m33s

10m13s

18m09s

28m21s

40m49s

1h13m

1h53m

2h49m

4h15m

7h34m

11h49m

17h01m

1m12s

4m46s

10m44s

19m04s

29m48s

43m01s

1h16m

1h59m

2h01m

4h29m

7h58m

12h27m

17h56m

1m14s

4m58s

11m09s

19m49s 31m05s

44m47s

1h20m

2h04m

2h47m

4h40m

8h18m

12h57m

18h39m

1m17s

5m07s

11m32s

20m34s

32m08s

46m15s

1h22m

2h08m

3h15m

4h49m

8h34m

13h23m

19h16m

1m19s

5m16s

11m52s

21m05s

32m56s

47m26s

1h24m

2h12m

3h26m

4h56m

8h47m

13h44m

19h46m

1m 21 s

5m 25s

12m 12s

21m 42s

33m 56s

48m 49s

1 h 27m

2h 16m

3h 49m

5h 05m

9h 03m

14h 08m

20h 21m

1m23s

5m31s

12m27s

22m06s

34m31s

49m45s

1h28m

2h18m

3h45m

5h11m

9h12m

14h23m

20h44m

1m25s

5m38s

12m40s

22m31s

35m10s

50m38s

1h30m

2h21m

3h38m

5h17m

9h23m

14h40m

21h06m

1m26s

5m45s

12m56s

22m58s

35m54s

51m40s

1h32m

2h23m

3h40m

5h23m

9h34m

14h57m

21h31m

1m 28s

5m 49s

13m 11 s

23m 25s

36m 35s

52m 38s

1 h 34m

2h 26m

3h 38m

5h 29m

9h 45m

15h 14m

21 h 56m

1m29s

5m56s

13m21s

23m42s

37m00s

53m15s

1h35m

2h28m

3h15m

5h34m

9h53m

15h27m

22h14m

1m30s

6m01s

13m33s

24m05s

37m37s

54m11s

1h36m

2h31m

3hllm

5h39m

10h03m

15h42m

22h34m

1m 31 s

6m 06s

13m 44s

24m 25s

38m 12s

55m 02s

1 h 38m

2h 33m

3h 02m

5h 44m

1Oh 12m

15h 54m

22h 54m

1m 32s

6m 1Os

13m 53s

24m 39s

38m 34s

55m 29s

1 h 39m

2h 34m

3h 29m

5h 47m

1Oh 16m

16h 05m

23h 08m

1m33s

6m13s

13m58s

24m50s

38m42s

55m41s

1h39m

2h35m

3h41m

5h48m

10h19m

16h08m

23h13m

1m 35s

6m 16s

14m 08s

25m 05s

39m 1Os

56m 25s

1 h 40m

2h 36m

3h 25m

5h 53m

1Oh 26m

16h 20m

23h 29m

1m35s

6m21s

14m18s

25m22s

39m38s

57m06s

1h42m

2h39m

3h06m

5h57m

10h35m

16h31m

23h48m

1m 36s

6m 26s

14m 30s

25m 43s

40m 12s 57m 57s

1 h 43m

2h 41 m

3h 57m

6h 02m

1Oh 43m

16h 45m

24h 07m

1m 37s

6m 28s

14m 28s

25m 42s

40m 14s 57m 56s

1 h 43m

2h 41 m

3h 56m

6h 02m

1Oh 43m

16h 46m

24h 06m

1m38s

6m31s

14m38s

25m57s

40m36s

58m20s

1h44m

2h42m

3h20m

6h05m

10h48m

16h53m

24h19m

1m 39s

6m 34s

14m 48s

26m 14s

41 mOOs

59m 09s

1 h 45m

2h 44m

3h 09m

6h 09m

1 Oh 57m

17h 07m

24h 36m

1m40s

6m37s

14m55s

26m27s

41m23s

59m30s

1h46m

2h45m

3h30m

6h11m

11h02m

17h12m

24h47m

234

Thickness (in)

COOKING SOUS VIDE

279

EXTRACTING
FlAVORS

288

INFUSING
ESSENCES

318

351
CONCENTRATE!

379

CUTTING ' EM
DOWN TO SIZE

398

DRYING

428

CRYOGENIC
FREEZING AND
CARBONATING

456

THE MODERN IS KiTCHEN

10

CD Chamber-style vacuum sealer

0 Rotary evaporator

@ Centrifuge
@ Carbon dioxide gas tank

Circulated heating water bath

@ Lab sieves

@ Diaphragm pump

@ Centrifugal juicer

Circu lated heating-ch illing water bath

@ Standing mixer

Ultrahigh-pressure homogenizer

@ Thermomix brand heated blender

Rotor-stator homogenizer

Handheld ultrasonic homogenizer

@ Anti-Gridd le freezing surface

@ Carpigiani brand ice cream machine

Vacuum pump

@ High-power gas burner

@ Rational brand comb i oven

@ Chamber-style vacuum sealer

@ Uncirculated heati ng water baths

@ Commercia l blender

@ Digital sca le

@ Automatic pasta machine

282

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

10

Most cooking techniques use heat

bling and tremendously exciting. It is humbling

to make food more appetizing. This chapter

because it forces us to acknowledge that all the

explores various other ways to prepare food that

cooks who have ever lived during human history

do not use heat-at least not in a conventional

have really only scratched the surface of possible

manner. From sieving and straining to fining and

culinary experiences. The wonderful range of food

filtering to juicing, drying, and freezing, Modern-

created by the world's cuisines and the innumera-

ist cooks have been pushing beyond what is

ble creative ideas developed by countless cooks

commonly done in kitchens to extract and concen-

over millennia are merely the beginning for the

trate flavor. Inspired in some cases by the techno-

Modernist cook. It is exciting because the new

logical tools and techniques that scientists use,

tools create paths into that vast universe of eating

pioneering cooks have found ways to directly

experiences still to be discovered. As the next

apply equipment such as rotary evaporators,

generation of chefs masters and then improves

centrifuges, and homogenizers to solve culinary

these tools and techniques, they will continue to

problems and to create special effects with food .

take cuisine in novel and revolutionary directions.

Even if you never have the opportunity to use

Modernist cooking does not displace tradi-

some of these relatively high-tech devices, it's

tional methods-it builds on them. In a Modern-

worth understanding how they work because you

ist kitchen, you' ll find the basic food ingredients

can sometimes use less-sophisticated tools to apply

that all cooks use. But you'll also see newer

the same principles these high-end machines

components that offer special effects: concentrat-

exploit. Heston Blumenthal and his research staff

ed flavor extracts, spray-dried food and flavor

at The Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, U.K., for

powders, gelling agents, cryogenic fluids, inert

example, were able to make stocks both faster and

gases, and so on. These less familiar ingredients

better-tasting once they grasped the implications

are nearly all derived from natural sources (see

of Pick's laws of diffusion, which describe how

page 1-257) but were largely unknown to cooks a

flavor compounds move through meat and vegeta-

century ago.

ble tissues. Those fundamental ideas led them to

start making stocks in pressure cookers, which

The Modernist cook still performs many

traditional tasks in preparing, combining, and

greatly speed the notoriously time-consuming

otherwise transforming ingredients into dishes-

process and enrich the flavor to boot.

but does so without all the compromises that

The amazing variety of new tools moving from

the laboratory to the kitchen is both a bit hum-

Fantastic new equipment that

enab les new kinds of food to be
made is one of the joys of Modernist cooking. But you still need skill,
and you sti ll need most traditiona l
kitchen equipment.

cooks have traditionally had to accept. The new

know-how and equipment borrowed from

T HE MOD ERNIS T KITC HEN

283

Must-Have Tools for the Modernist Kitchen

In making this book, we had the opportunity to work with many
different kinds of equipment. Some of the tools we purchased;
others were sent on loan or donated to be cut in half. All that
experience h as left us with some favorite kinds of tools and
techniques that we feel are must-haves for practicing Modernist
cooking. Below is our top-ten list, ranked so that those items

that offer the greatest va lu e for the price appear higher on the li st.
If used properly, these tools will eventually pay for themselves in
convenience and results. Not all available brands are li sted; those
given are the ones used in our research kitchen, arranged from
least to most expensive. In most cases there are other manufacturers who offer simi lar products, which may be as good or better.

Rank

Tool

Kind

Brand

2010 price, new

See
page

water bath

nonstirred

SousVide Supreme, VWR

$500

232

circu lating

PolyScience, Lauda,
other

$1 ,000- $2,000

the best tool for cooking so us vide

or for any cook in g task that requires
precise temperature contro l; it is
useful to have severa l baths for
preparing severa l dishes at different
temperatures simu ltaneous ly

Note

liquid
nitrogen

Dewar flask

Thermo Scientific

$500- $1 ,000

456

useful for myriad prep tasks and for

producing specia l effects

modern oven

comb i

Rational, other

$10,000 and up

162

the kitchen 's most versatile tool

water-vapor

Winston CVap,
Accu-Steam

$5,000

158

effect ive for some combi oven tasks or

for so us vide with or without bags

impulse
(no vacuum)

Hualian

$50

225

edge vacuum

FoodSaver

$100

222

chamber

Henkelman, ARY,
Multivac

$1,500- $3,500

214

vacuum

vacuum sea ling great ly improves the

precision and flexibility of cook ing in
water baths and comb i ovens, and
sea lers are a lso useful for preserving,
compressing, and expanding foods;
chamber sea lers are best

rotor-stator

Omni, IKA

$1,000- $5,000

413

colloid mill

IKA, Chinese brands

$3,500- $30,000

413

high-pressure

Avest in

$10,000- $30,000

414

Pacojet

$3,500

406

th is powerful grinder makes ice cream,

superfine pastes, and purees

faucet asp irator

Na lgene

$20-$100

356

motorized
aspirator

Brinkmann, Oakton

$700

useful for filtering and desiccation;

faucet asp irators save on cost but
wastewater

membrane

Buchi

5500- $2,000

laboratory

Corning, Cimarec, IKA

380

useful for temperature-controlled

heating and stirring tasks, such as
dispersing and hydrating hydrocolloids

sea ler

homogenizer

Pacojet

vacuum

pump

magnetic
stirrer with
hot plate

digital

5300
$500

a tabletop homogenizer produces the

smoot hest and most stab le sauces,
purees, and emu lsions

ce ntrifuge

Beckman Coulter, Sorvall

(now Thermo Scientific)

$10,000- 530,000

360

useful for rapidly and thoroughly

clarifying liquid s and separating fats

10

autoclave

Yamato, Tuttnauer

$3,000- $8,000

239

an in credib ly usefu l automated

pressure cooker; comes in many sizes

284

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Handy Special-Purpose Tools

Although we would s uffer without a good s moke r, a nd we love
our peristaltic pump, th ey don 't get u sed every day a s our
must-have tools do. Not eve ry kitchen need s th e kind s of tool s

liste d b e low, but th ey fulfill th e ir s pec ial rol es with e xce ll e nt

usability a nd performance. Brands liste d a re those w e have used in
our research kitch e n .

Br~uHI or model

2010 price, new

Sel'
pagP

ultrasoni c bath

Branson

$5 00-$1,000

30 2

cl ea ns sma ll ite ms,

e xtracts locked-in fl avors

vacuum tumbl e r

any

$5 00-$2, 000

3166

acce le rates brining, curing, and ma rin ating

o f meats

blast chill e r

any

$1,000 and up

1310

chills large a mounts of food ; useful for

qui ckl y chillin g it e ms coo ke d so us vid e

smoke r

sawdust pu ck smoke r

Bradl ey

$700

146

uses a ho ppe r a nd sawdu st pu cks;

e lectrica lly heated

pe ll e t ho t smo ke r

Traege r,
Cookshac k FEC
100

$5 00-$3,700

uses woo d pe ll ets;

ge ne rates a pa rti cul ar kind of smo ke
and te mpe rature pe rform ance

compute r co ntroll e r fo r
custom smoke r

BBQGuru

$3 00 a nd up

conve rts an ex ist ing smo ke r into on e

with digi ta l co ntro l

digita l smo ke ove n wi th

humidity co ntro l and
cold-smo king ca pa bility

Enviro-Pa k

$3 0 ,000

features full digita l co ntrol o f te mpe rature

and humidity

taxid e rmy o r fl o rist

grade

Freeze Dry Co.

$12,5 00

ph armace uti ca l grade

R<1nk

Item

Kind

1'\otl'

4 44

freeze-dri es fo ods for exte nd ed sto rage

o r to e nha nce fl avo rs in uniqu e ways

$10,000 a nd up

386

makes essen tia l o il s, extracts, and a lco ho ls

Po lyScie nce

$3,000 -$4,000

238

coo ls foods to precise te mpe ratures;

useful wh e n coo kin g so us vid e

vacuum ove n

Fishe r Scie ntifi c

$3,500

4 310

bakes th e li ght est me ringue im agina bl e

mea t ba nd saw

Ho ba rt

$5 00 - $3,000

10

pe ri stalti c pump

Maste rfl ex

$1,200

4139

useful fo r ma king lo ng ge l noodl es

11

spray d rye r

Ya mato

$17, 000

438

makes fin e powd e rs fro m a ny liquid

12

vacuum con centrator

Genevac Rocke t
Evapo rato r

$20,000

381

redu ces sa uce and stock; very low heat

yie lds bright fl avo rs

freeze
d rye r

VirTis

$5 0 ,000 a nd up

ro tary eva po rator

Bu chi, Ya mato

chilling wate r bath

useful for butcherin g whol e a nima ls

and meat cuts fo r stoc kma king

fhe prices listed lwre are typical for new Pquipment in

2010, but 0\'l'r time thl'se surely will change. In ,Hidition,
much of this equipment is available secondhand on

l'llay or from USl'd scientific pquipnwnt dealers at a

substantial discount.

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

285

tories and food processing plants make it possible

iar-but not necessarily good-just because you

for Modernist chefs to realize a larger fraction of

can. The best Modernist chefs temper their

what they can imagine.

enthusiasm for the new with a refined palate and a

This new power over food can be a little addic-

sense of humor about their work. The parts of this

tive. If there is a danger in the Modernist kitchen,

amazing new world that they share with their

it is that all the novel tools and ingredients tempt

guests are not merely novel but also a delight to

you to make something surpFising or unfamil-

see, smell, touch, and eat.

Inexpensive but Invaluable Modernist Tools

Gadgets? Not exact ly. These are items that we have come to re ly
on for efficiency and consistent results. Scales, silicone molds,

siphons, blowtorches, a nd lab sieves; we can't imagin e cooking

without them.

Rank

Tool

Kind

Brand

2010
price, new

digital scale

5 kg maximum, 1 g increments

Ohaus

$150-$250

200 g maximum, 0 .01 g increments

Ohaus

$200-$500

thermometer

pocket digital thermistor

Thermapen

$70-$100

infrared

Fluke

$75-$200

Kuhn Rikon

$200

a must-have; essential for stocks,

tenderizing tough grains and seeds
MAPP gas makes it easier to avoid
tainting food with combustion
products

pressure cooker

blowtorch

Note
a must-have; every recipe in this
book requires accurate weighing
a must-have; precise temperature
control is crucial in Modernist
cooking

MAPP gas or propane

TurboTorch

$50

oxyacetylene

lenox

$200

assorted sizes

Newark

$75

sieves to very fine levels with little

fuss or expense

iSi

$100
$80-$175

professional-grade models with

durable motors are best

lab sieves

foam-whipping siphons

hand blender

stick type

Bamix, Bosch

silicone mats

half-sheet and full-sheet size

Silpat

$20

useful for food that sticks

surgical forceps

any

$10-$30

have several sizes on hand

10

meat tenderizer

handheld

Jaccard

$40

11

dehydrator

with Para-Fiexx sheets

Excalibur

$100-$500

12

vacuum desiccator

Nalgene

any

$100-$200

13

vacuum-filtering
setup

filter flask, Buchnerfunnel, filter

media, and pump

Whatman
(media)

$200-$500

14

vacuum jars

assorted sizes

Food Saver

$15

15

meat slicer

commercial grade

Biro, Berkel

$150-$450

16

silicone molds

assorted sizes

any

$20

a must-have for casting gels and

setting shapes

useful for clarifiying broth or

consomme

17

carbonator

soda siphon

any

$200-$300

for do-it-yourself soda

18

skin-puncturing tool

wire brush

any

$5-$10

useful for quickly perforating pastry

or skin

19

pressure-filtering kit

Buon Vi no

$200-$300

clarifies liquids quickly with minimal

waste or flavor change

20

coffee cold-brewing kit

Toddy

$30

makes full-flavored extracts for use

in cooking

286

VOlUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Not everythin g has to be cutting edge. So me tradi tio nal too ls,
such as a wok burn er a nd a g riddl e, w ill always have a place in o ur
kitche n. In se lecting traditi o na l too ls, we fo cused on pri ce,

qu ality, a nd effi cie ncy. Goo d pri ces ca n ofte n be fo und o n

refurbi shed o r used ite ms. Th e bra nd s liste d a re th ose we used ;
ma ny o th e rs a re ava il a ble.

EXTRACTING FLAVORS
Sauces form the foundation ofWestern cuisine,

Overthrowing the edifice of codified stocks and

and stocks form the foundation of most sauces.

sauces was, in fact, one of the ways that chefs

Making a stock is all about extracting flavors and

innovated during the rise of Nouvelle cuisine in

aromas from meat, seafood, vegetables, or some

the 1960s and 1970s. Rather than rely on stocks,

combination of these ingredients. Despite many

Nouvelle cooks relied on intensely flavored pan

recent high-tech advances in the kitchen, cooks

juices, light herbal infusions, fresh vegetable and

have come up with few truly new methods to mine

fruit juices, and coulis for sauces. Instead of being

flavor from food since the early 20th century,

thickened with a stodgy and flavor-masking

when the iconic French chef Auguste Escoffier

flour-based roux, Nouvelle sauces were thickened

codified a stockmaking process that became the

through evaporative reduction; bulking with a

standard of haute cuisine.

vegetable puree; or whisking in butter, cream, or

In most contemporary kitchens, stocks remain

For more on this history of Escoffier and the

rise of Nouvelle Cuisine, see Evolution and
Revolution, page 1-14.

oil to form a thickened emulsion. Those were

as central to the food as they were in Escoffier's

useful contributions that continue to feature in

own kitchens, including the one at the Ritz Hotel,

kitchens today, but stocks never really went away.

where he laid much of the groundwork for the

Unchanged in preparation, they remain funda-

classic dishes that would make French cuisine

mental to Western cooking.

famous. Escoffier made sure that he appointed

Had he not retired in 1921, Escoffier, a great

only the most talented staffer to be his saucier and

innovator in his day, might have taken interest in

stockmaker.

certain observations of the British biologistJ.B.S.

For a classic Escoffier veal stock, start the

Haldane and perhaps even applied the scientist's

mirepoix-a versatile flavor base for many stocks,

fundamental insights to cooking. In Haldane's

sauces, soups, stews, and the like-by coarsely

1926 essay "On Being the Right Size," he noted

chopping an appropriate amount of onions,

that the ratio of an animal body's surface area to its

carrots, and celery in a ratio o[Link] (by weight) .

volume has profound effects on the way it interacts

Next, select a portion of bones and meat that is

with heat, pressure, and other natural forces.

about five times the volume of the mirepoix and

"You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard

cut the meat into 2.5 em I 1 in cubes. After

mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets

browning the veal bones and meat-often with

a slight shock and walks away, provided that the

tomato paste-place the ingredients into a big

ground is fairly soft," Haldane wrote. "A rat is

pot and add enough water to almost cover the

killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes." Air

mix, then cook at a simmer for a good part of a

resistance to movement, he continued, is directly

day or two. You can use variations on essentially

proportional to an object's surface area. If you

the same procedure to make game stock, chicken

"divide an animal's length, breadth, and height

stock, fish fumet, and vegetable stocks.

each by ten; its weight is reduced to a thou-

With a few good stocks as the foundation,

For more on making stocks, including formulas
and step-by-step instructions, see page 297.

sandth, but its surface only to a hundredth." A

classical French cuisine evolved a huge variety

high ratio of surface area to volume, in other

of sauces, both generic and special-purpose.

words, can save a falling animal's life if air

Building upon the flavor base of a stock by

resistance, which goes in step with surface area,

adding a roux to thicken it, infusing it with

slows its descent enough.

herbs and spices, adding wine or vinegar reductions, and judiciously seasoning it created an

28 8

That ratio has deep implications for the preparation of stocks as well, affecting not only their

elaborate hierarchy of classical sauces from just

cooking time but also how completely flavor is

a few stocks.

extracted from the ingredients.

VOLUM E 2 TE CHNIQUES AND EQU I PM ENT

10
Hibiscus tea extraction
'I

'

Size Matters

mering day and night. The proof is in a bite of what

The fact that surface area and volume scale

remains when you strain the beef, veal, chicken,

differently (as scientists say) explains why we

fish, or vegetables from the stock at the end of the

grind coffee beans. To apply Haldane's reasoning,

simmer. If it still tastes like beef, veal, chicken, fish,

if you were to divide a roasted coffee bean by a

or vegetables, then the traditional process has not

factor of ten in each spatial dimension, you would

fully extracted all of the flavor.

After the first hour of simmering, in fact, most

get a thousand tiny coffee grounds, each having

one-thousandth the volume and one-hundredth

of the flavor that will ever come out of the meat

the area of the intact bean. The total volume of the

and mirepoix already has. Even a two-day simmer

1,000 grounds equals that of a single bean. But if

cannot pull all of these key compounds from the

you add up the surface area of the particles, the

interior regions of the pieces. This limitation

sum is 100 times that of the original bean. Grind-

explains the rationale for double stocks and triple

ing the bean is therefore like installing a hundred

stocks. Doubling a stock involves using the liquid

extra little doors through which flavor can exit

stock from a first round of simmering as the

from the bean's once-inaccessible interior. And the

"water" for a second round, in which the pot has

more finely you grind the bean, the more total

been recharged with fresh batches of mirepoix.

surface area emerges.

Another iteration still yields a further fortified

triple stock. Double and triple stocks need little or

In 1855, the German physiologistAdolfFick

no reduction, so although two or three times the

described Fick's first law of diffusivity, which

For more on how grinding affects coffee, see
page 4374.

more directly connects the science behind Hal-

quantity of ingredients is required, the final cost is

dane's observations to food. We all know from

about the same as that of normal stock that must

experience, for example, that when a bottle of

be reduced to one-half or one-third its starting

perfume is opened, it takes a few minutes for the

volume. Each repetition takes time, however,

odor to reach the far corners of the room. Fick's

which is a precious commodity in any kitchen.

Although Fick's first law points to the problem

first law postulates that matter (aromatic mole-

of extracting flavor, it also suggests a simple

cules) diffuses through a porous medium (air)

from regions of high concentration to areas of

solution: start out with much finer bits of meat and

lower concentration and that it does so at a rate

vegetables. As long as you can strain the pieces out

that is proportional to the difference between the

at the end, the resulting stock can be as rich and

clear as any you have ever made, but it can also be

local concentration levels.

Flavorful molecules diffuse in much the same

ready in a fraction of the typical time.

This approach involves slicing the vegetables

way that heat does; in other words, just as energy

moves more quickly from a flame to an ice cube

thinly rather than leaving them in thicker chunks.

than from a flame to a hot iron, sugar dissolves

You also cut the meat to, say, pea-sized pieces

faster in unsweetened tea than it will in sweetened

instead of thumb-sized cubes. Decrease the sizes

of the ingredients enough, and you can slash the

tea at the same temperature.

Fick's law also says something interesting about

Fick's law is closely related to the

processes of heat transfer and of
diffusion, which govern the flow of
heat and water inside food as it
cooks and dehydrates. Flavor
molecules also leak out of meat or
vegetables by diffusion, which is
where the connection to Fick's law
comes in.

simmer time required by a factor of eight or more,

how extraction processes remove flavorful mole-

from perhaps 16 hours to two. To go even further,

cules from coffee particles, cubes of beef, or a

grind the meat, then sweat or brown it to prevent

mirepoix. The smaller the pieces of food used in a

the pieces from coalescing into large, sausage-like

stock, the faster flavor chemicals migrate out of

aggregations during cooking, which would nullify

the food and into the stock. The difference in the

any gain from grinding. Most ingredients for

speed of extraction depends roughly on the square

savory stocks can be similarly manipulated to

of the smallest dimension of the pieces, so slicing

increase their surface area-to-volume ratios.

Time is not all you stand to save; rather than

food half as thick makes flavor extraction occur

four times as fast.
When it comes to preparing stocks, Fick's law

requiring, say, 10 kg I 22lb of coarsely cut veal,

you can get by with only2.5 kg I 5.5 lb of

explains why the classic technique fails to finish

browned ground veal to achieve the same intensi-

the job: the pieces are just too big for much of the

ty of flavor, and your pocketbook will thank you.

flavor inside to make its way out, even after sim-

290

VO LUM E 2 TE CHNIQU ES AND EQU I PMENT

Pulling the flavor out of vegetables can be

a little tricky. One reason not to grind vegetables

ing the temperature of the cooking stock by

is that pulverizing plant matter releases juice,

20 c I 36 p forces both diffusion and the flavor

which changes the rates of flavor extraction so

reactions to run faster than they would in an

much that the traditional[Link] ratio of vegetables

open pot.

no longer applies. Ground carrots, for instance,

The liquid inside the pressure cooker will not

can leach too much sugar into the liquid. If you

boil, despite the elevated temperature, unless you

use ground vegetables, you must experiment to

let the heat get out of hand. A liquid boils when its

find a new set of proportions that give a balanced

vapor pressure exceeds the ambient pressure

result. In most cases, it's best to simply cut the

aro~nd

veggies into thin slices.

water vaporizes, it raises the ambient pressure,

A common problem with pressure

which in turn increases the boiling point. So long

cookers is using too much heat.

This excess causes boiling in the pot
and evaporation. It also ca n ruin
the steam va lve and the seal around
the lid . Yet it does not make the
te mperature any higher.

it. Inside a sealed pressure cooker, as liquid

as water vapor is not escaping the pressure cooker,

Extracted Under Pressure

the pressure inside will stay high enough to keep

The relentless cycles of evaporation and condensa-

liquid water from boiling. Never reaching a boil is

tion that come with a long, slow simmer in a

important because it keeps the stock clear. Turbu-

covered pan drive a wide range of chemical

lence from boiling emulsifies oils and small food

reactions that build complex flavors . So even

particles from the ingredients into a stock, thereby

though Fick's first law is sure to save ingredients,

making it murky.

money, and time, you must be clever enough to

A telltale sign that the stock is at a rolling boil

apply the law without short-circuiting these

inside a pressure cooker is a jet of steam or fog from

reactions and compromising quality. To this end,

the overextended pressure valve. This jet means

thoughtful cooks have learned to leverage the

that the pressure cooker is overpressurized, and for

effects of both temperature and pressure.

safety's sake the valve is relieving the excess

A good pressure cooker can thus be very handy

pressure. But if the pressure is relieved, the stock

when making stocks. These heavy pots with

itself will quickly come to a boil. Overpressurizing

clamp-on lids and safety valves accelerate

too often will ultimately damage the pot and lid;

cooking because the boiling point of water rises

they won't seal properly, and the pressure cooker

with increasing pressure. When the gauge on

will be rendered useless.

your cooker indicates 1 bar I 15 psi of pressure

above the liquid, the boiling point of the water
inside can be as high as 120 c

I 248 p, Increas-

For more on how to read a pressure gauge, see

page 86.

When canning with pressure cookers, pressure

canners, or autoclaves, it is essential to vent steam
for about ten minutes before sealing the vessel.

THE MODERNIS T KI TC HEN

The boiling point of water decreases with

higher elevation and increases with higher
pressure. For an explanation of these related
phenomena, see page 86.

2 91

This venting purges air from the cooker or canner,

leaving mostly water vapor. This step is necessary
to reach the highest possible temperature for a
given pressure (see chapter 7 on Traditional
Cooking, page 2).
Unfortunately, at least for stockmaking, this
step almost always seems to degrade the quality of
the stock, a phenomenon that chefs Dave Arnold
and Nils Noren have confirmed in experiments
that include professional chefs as judges. The
reasons for the quality decline are unclear, but
most cooks who have tried it both ways generally
prefer stock made in an unvented pressure cooker.
When the pressure-cooking step is done, you
must let the cooker cool before removing the lid.
That is a good safety tip, of course; a still-hot
pressure cooker can spray hot liquid when opened.
But that's not the only reason to do this. Cooling
first means that volatile aromas in the vapor above
the liquid will condense back into the liquid rather
than escape into the kitchen. When you do
remove the lid, you should be able to see all the
way through a thin top layer of oil to the bed of
spent meat and vegetable pieces at the bottom. The
liquid in between should be beautifully clear.
Use flexible tubing to siphon the clear stock
underlying the oil. This step minimizes any
emulsification of fat from the top layer of the
liquid into the stock that might otherwise occur.
Pressure-cooking is not only faster, it is also
better because it creates more intense flavors than
those produced by traditional simmering.
Pressure-cooking isn't how Escoffier made
stock early in the last century, but we think it is
how he would do it now.

We have found that blanching the bones

and meat of chickens and other poultry
before making the stock improves the
flavor of the final product. The reasons
why remain uncertain.

292

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIP M ENT

Best Bets for Stock Aromatics

Aromatic in gredi e nts provide fla vo r a nd aroma not es to co mpl e me nt
the base stocks. The variations be low a re so me typical combinations
that we like.
Stock

Vegetable

(scaling)"

Herb

(scaling)" Spice

vegetable

onion

33%

parsley

0 .75%

black peppercorns

0 .1%

carrot

25%

bay leaf

0 .01 %

coriander seed

0.2 %

star anise

0.2 %

poultry

meat, beef

game, lamb

shellfish

fish

Chinese banquet

leek

8%

thyme

0 .10%

tomato, peeled and seeded

8%

chive

1.00%

celery

5%

mushroom

5%

parsley

0.50 %

onion

6%

carrot

5%

(scaling)"

black peppercorns

0.1 %

garlic

1%

leek

5%

onion

10%

thyme

0.8 %

star anise

carrot

10%

rosemary

0.15%

garlic

0 .05 %
10/
<0

celery

2%

tomato paste (for brown stock)

5%

onion

7%

bay leaf

0.01 %

star anise

1.5%

carrot

7%

thyme

1.00%

garlic

2 0~
.o

celery

2%

sage

0.20 %

black peppercorns

0.2 %

carrot

5%

parsley

0.25%

fennel seed

0 .01 %

onion

5%

thyme

0.10%

saffron

0 .005%

leek

2%

basil

0.20 %

fennel

2%

garlic

2 01

button mushroom

2%

tomato paste (for brown stock)

5%

carrot

33%

onion

26%

coriander seed

0.3 %

star anise

0.2%

ginger

0.-l%

leek

13%

fennel

13%

tomato paste (for brown stock)

5%

scallion

0.2%

n/ a

n/ a

'0

white peppercorns

0 .01 %

cinnamon sticks

0.05 %

Chinese everyday

scallion

1.2%

n/ a

ginger

1%

Japanese

onion

3.5%

n/ a

ginger

0.-l%

carrot

3.5 %

garlic

0.75%

scallion

1%

kombu

0.1 %

bonito flakes

5%

scallion

1%

cilantro stalks

0.20%

ginger

0..+%

cabbage

1%

Thai basil

0.30%

garlic

0.5%

fried shallot

4%

makrud lime leaf

0.40%

Thai

"(set weight of water to TOO%)

298

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

1
THE SCIENCE OF

Determining What Tastes Best

Detecting a difference and measuring a preference are harder
than you might think. Cognitive scientists have shown that
human perception is naturally biased by the order in which
the alternatives are tasted . So unless you follow a tasting
protocol that compensates for these biases, you could easily
fool yourself into thinking that some subtle addition makes
a real difference when it actually doesn't-or even that an
addition was a mistake when actually it was an improvement.
Detecting a real difference requires a triangle tasting test of
three samples; see How to Set Up a Triangle Test, page 4336.
When we were comparing stock recipes and stockmaking
methods, we measured our preferences by using a slightly
more complex procedure with four samples-sometimes
called a ranking test.
It's important to designate some independent person who
does not take part in the ranking to set up the preference test
and record and analyze the results. Let's call that person the
investigator. It's also important to make the dishes or drinks as
similar to one another in appearance as possible.
Each test participant, or taster, always tastes four samples,
but among those four tastes only two or three are actually
distinct. For example, a taster will either receive two samples
of recipe A and two of recipe B, or will taste two As, one B,
and one C. At least one recipe is always presented twice to

each participant. The more tasters, the more statistically

meaningful the results will be.
The test must be blind, meaning participants cannot know
which sample is which; that is why the samples must look
alike (or the participants must be blindfolded). The investigator chooses code names for each sample and keeps secret the
key that explains which code name corresponds to which
sample. Use a meaningless descriptor-like red, green, orange, and blue- rather than numbers or letters that, because
of their inherent order, may elicit a biased reaction.
After the investigator decodes the ran kings of the tasters, a
real preference will be revealed if the sample that was presented twice appears consistently in the top, middle, or bottom of
the ran kings: for example AABC, BAAC, or CBAA. If the duplicated sample is instead split-say, BACA- you must conclude
that none of the recipes is perceptibly better than the others.
Preference testing helps when you must decide whether a
time-consuming or expensive step is worthwhile. For example, we wondered whether we could skip the blanching step
when making white stocks. Side-by-side comparison or a
triangle test may have illustrated the flavor differences, but it
required a preference tasting to show that our cooks agreed
that white stocks made with blanched ingredients are genuinely better than those made without blanching.

1 Prepare and label the samples. An "investigator" who does not take
part in the tasting should divide two or three recipes into four tasting
samples, then label the samples with meaningless code names. Use the
table above to make a secret key, seen only by the investigator, that
records how the recipes correspond to the code names.

2
3
4

Presentthe samples in a different order to each taster. Each taster

should get at least one of the sample presented twice. If it is not
possible to make the recipes visually indistinguishable from one
another, blindfold the tasters before presenting the samples.
Have tasters rank their preferences. Allow participants to taste the
samples as many times as they like.
Decode and analyze the results. If there is a meaningful preference,
the two instances of the sample presented will fall adjacent to one
another somewhere in the ranking.

It is shock ing how easy it is to fool yourse lf if you try to taste things without
a formal preference test. Human perception seems great but, as optical
ill usions show us, we are not as perfect as we think.

THE MODER NI ST KITCHEN

29 9

EXAMP LE REC IPE

BROWN VEAL STOCK

Yields650g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Veal knuckle and neck bones,

sawed into 5 em I 2 in pieces,
if possible

500g

50%

0
0

Cover with water.

Bring to a boil, skimming often .

Drain, discarding water.

Neutral oil

75g

7.5%

@) Coat bones with oil.

Roast in 190 c 1 375 F oven until golden brown, about30 min.
Reserve bon es, and discard excess oil.

Veal trimmings, finely ground

500g

50%

Neutral oil

50g

5%

Roast in 190 c I 375 "F oven until evenly brown, about 20 min.

Unsalted butter

15g

1.5%

@ Melt butter in pressure cooker.

Sweet onions, peeled

and thinly sliced

50g

5%

@ Add vegetables to pressure cooker.

Carrots, peeled and thinly

sliced

25g

2.5%

@ Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, until moi stu re has evapo rated and vegetables
are tender, about 7 min.

Combine on nonstick bak ing sheet.

Strain, and reserve meat.

Leek, thinly sliced

25 g

2.5%

Tomato confit
see page 562

40g

4%

Water

1 kg

100%

@ Add to pressure cooker with bones and meat.

Vodka

20g

2%

@ Pressure-cook mixture at a gauge pressure of 1 bar I 15 psi for 2Y' h.

Parsley leaves

3g

0 .3%

@ Cool.

Black peppercorns, crushed

1g

0.1%

@ Strain .

@ Add to pressure coo ker, and increase heat to high .

@ Saute vegetables and confit uncovered, stirring constantly until brown, about 4 min.

@ Vacuum seal and refrigerate until use.

{2009)

300

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

1
EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PRESSURE-COOKED WHITE CHICKEN STOCK

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Chicken wing meat and bones,

chopped

350g

70%

0 Cover with co ld water.

0 Bring to a boil, then drain chicken imm ed iate ly.

Water

500g

100%

Combine with blanched chicken in pressure cooker.

Chicken thigh meat, finely ground 350 g

70%

Sweet onions, pee led and

thinly sliced

50g

10%

Strain through fine sieve.

Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

25g

5%

Leeks, thinly sliced

25g

5%

Garlic, thinly sliced

5g

1%

Parsley leaves and stems

1g

0.2%

Black peppercorns

0.5g

0.1 %

Yields400 g

Pressure-cook at a gauge pressure of1 bar 1 15 psi for 1'/2 h.

Coo l.
Vacuum seal, and refrigerate until use.

(2008)

EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BROWN BEEF STOCK

Yields 650 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Beef chuck, finely ground

200 g

40%

0
0

Vacuum seal.
Cook so us vid e in 90 oc l 194 F bath until juices are re leased, about 1 h.

Strain, reserving juice; discard meat.

0 Cool beef juice, and rese rve.

Oxtail, thinly sliced
onabandsaw

500g

100%

Roast oxtail with suet in 190 oc I 375 Foven until oxtail is brown, about 30 min.
Discard excess fat.

Rende red beef suet

75 g

15%

Water

500g

100%

Combine in pressure cooker with beef juice and oxtail.

Red wine (full-bodied)

lOOg

10%

Pressure-cook at a gauge pressure ofl bar I 15 psi for 2 1h h.

@ Strain.

Carrots, peeled and

thinly sliced

50g

10%

Yellow onions, peeled

and thinly sliced

50g

10%

Celery, peeled and

thinly sliced

20g

4%

Leeks, whites only,

thinly sliced

20g

4%

Cool, and reserve.

@ Cool.

Red port (dry)

20g

4%

Parsley leaves

lOg

2%

Thyme

1g

0.2%

Bay leaf

0.5g

0.1%

@ Vacuum seal, and refrigerate until use.

(2009)

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

3 01

HOW TO Make Stock Sous Vide

For many vegetab le and seafood stocks, extraction at low temperature
yie lds a better flavor than high-temperatu re pressure-cooking does. In
such cases, prepare the stock so us vide, w hich minimizes turbulence
whil e accu rate ly contro lling the temperature
for hours at a tim e.

If you have an ultrasonic bath (below), we highly recommend combining so us vide cooking with ul trason ic treatment. The high-frequency
vibrations acce lerate extraction and yield a stock with fuller flavor. The
vibrations do un fortu nate ly cloud the stock slightly. Filtering or using a
centrifuge can improve the clarity (see page 351).

1 Prepare ingredients. Grind meat finely, and slice vegetab les thinly.
Use ratios recommended in the table of Best Bets for Stocks on page
296. Roast bones.

Vacuum seal ingredients together.

3 Cooksousvide in 85 "C/ 185 "Fbath for3 h.

5
6

Cavitate in ultrasonic cleaning bath for 30 min (optional). If the

ultraso nic bath has a temperature setting, put it at the highest degree
ava ilable, typically 60 "C / 140 "F.
Refrigeratefor12 h, then strain.
Vacuum seal again, and refrigerate orfreeze until needed.

-.--.

302

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

10
EXAMPLE REC IPE

SOUS VIDE FISH STOCK

INGREDIENT

Yields 1.5 kg

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

0 Panfry bones until go ld e n.

Fish bones, cleaned and rinsed

2 kg

133%

Neutral oil

SOg

3%

Vermouth

350g

23%

0 Deglaze bones.

White wine (dry)

200g

13%

Cool mixture completely, and reserve.

Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

SOOg

33%

@) Prepare vegetables as noted.

Onions, peeled and thinly sliced

400g

27%

Combine, and cook until soft.

Coo l co mpletely.

Fennel, thinly sliced

200g

13%

Leeks, thinly sliced

200g

13%

Garlic cloves, thinly sliced

30g

2%

Neutral oil

20g

1.5%

Water

1.5 kg

100%

Coriander seeds

Sg

0.3%

Vacuum seal.

0.17%

Cook so us vide in 80 oc I 176 F bath forl ',4 h.

Star anise

2.5 g

0 Combine with bones and vegetables.

@ Strain .
@ Cool.
@ Vacuum seal, and refrige rate until use.
(2010)

EXAMPLE RECIPE

SOUS VIDE VEGETABLE STOCK

Yields350 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Water

SOOg

100%

Onions, peeled and

thinly sliced

280g

56%

0 Combine.

Carrots, peeled and

thinly sliced

200g

40%

@) Cook so us vide in 85 oc I 185 F bath for 3 h.

Celery, peeled and

thinly sliced

lOOg

20%

Leeks, whites only,

thinly sliced

lOOg

20%

Transfer to ultrasonic cleaning bath, a nd

cavitate for 30 min to improve extraction . If
unavai labl e, proceed with
remaining steps.

Button mushrooms,
thinly sliced

SOg

10%

0 Strain.

Tomatoes, peeled, seeded,

and chopped

SOg

10%

Chives

lOg

2%

Parsley

lOg

2%

Coriander seeds

l .Sg

0.3%

Black peppercorns

lg

0.2%

Thyme

lg

0.2%

Bay leaf

[Link]

0.1 %

Star anise

[Link]

0.1 %

Prepare vegetables as noted.

Vacuum seal.

Cool, and refrige rate forl2 h.

Vacuum seal, and refrige rate until use.

(2010)

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

303

PARAMETRIC RECIPE

BROTH
traditional dishes without adding greatly to the mass.

Broths-bouillons in French-are fully seasoned soups and are

The classic image of broth cooking is an open kettle or caul-

thus different from unseasoned stocks. People sometimes use the

term broth to connote something frail or paltry, but a broth is

dron, but as with stocks, we prefer the quality of broths cooked

hardly weak. In many ways, broths are the very essence of food,

so us vide or in a pressure cooker.

Broths are usually more strongly flavored than stocks because

nourishment, and flavor, and they are integral components in any

stocks are basic building blocks and thus might be reduced or

gourmet kitchen.

combined with other things to make a final sauce or other dish . In

No soup is made without a broth, and no cuisine is complete

contrast, broths are the final dish, so they need to have full flavor.

without soups. Broth can be quite simple or refined and even

In the table below we have shown broths made from stocks,

fancy. It can be clear or cloudy, rich or light. A good broth will

stand alone, but some broths-especially those made from ham

but, by combining the formulas, you could combine making broth

or game-are more often used to boost the flavor and intrigue of

and stockmaking into a single cooking step.

,,, seasoning broths. see Acidifiers. page
314, and Best Bets for Adding Flavor with Alcohol.
page 317.

MAKING A BROTH

Select a broth from the table.

2 Prepare and scale the liquid, meat,

vegetables, and aromatics. Weights in
the tab le are proportional to th e liquid
sca led to 100'!!. For exa mpl e, to make
das hi , for eve ry 100 g of water use d,
add 5.2 g of bonito nakes and 2.5 g of
kombu.

Best Bets for Broths

Stoc k

(sca lin g) Mea t

white bee f stock*

100%

ox ta il, chop ped

30%

vegeta ble s tock*

50 %

short rib meat, gro und

20%

mad e ira

4%

water
mad eira
fino sherry

100%
25%
19%

prosci utto, thinly sli ce d

ha m, thinly sli ced
I be ri co ha m, thinl y sli ced

62.5%
25%
25%

brown chi c ke n stock* 100%

ve ni so n, g round , roas ted

pi geon wings, roasted
pheasant trimmin gs,
blanched

50%
12%
10

---------

Press ure-cook (set to 1 bar / 15 psi), or

vacuum seal and cook sous vide.
Recommended cooking met hods,
temp eratures, and times are given in

th e tabl e.

----------------

---------

ham broth

game broth

(sca ling)

Broth
pot-au-feu

----

gin

10%

red win e

10%

capon broth

white ch ic ke n stock*
white wine (dry)

100%
25%

capo n meat, gro und

30%

salt cod broth

water

100%

sa lt cod sk ins, soa ke d for

12 h in co ld water

20%

dashi

water

100%

bonito Oakes

5.2%

pho broth

water

100%

beef knuckles, roasted

44%

Chinese ginger
soy fish broth

Chin ese fish sto ck**

Shaoxing wine
lig ht soy sa uce

100%
1. 5%
1.5%

n/ a

n/ a

"Marmite broth"
adap ted from
Hesto n Blumenthal

red wine
water

750 %**
100%

n/ a

n/ a

* (see page 296)

** (reduced to 250%)

______

4 Sieve.

\\'IH'[Link] d,,..,hi, tht bonito tlt~kt...,

.1rt ,~ddtd onlY ,!l((r tiH' kombu h.1...,
IH't'll

ook1d ..,ou-. \idt.

-----------

304

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

EXAMPLE RECIPE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HON DASHI

ADAPTED FROM YOSHIH IRO MURATA

Yields360 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Water

475g

100%

Rishiri kombu, or best quality

seaweed available (brown kelp)

12g

2.5%

CD Vacuum seal together.

0 Cook so us vide at 60 oc l 140 Fforl h.

Bonito flakes (katsuobushi)

25g

Cool, and refrigerate for 2 h.

@) Strain.
5.3%

Heat broth to 85 oc I 185 F.

The kombu flavor can be increased

by extending the refrigerator time
from 2 h to as long as 12 h. The
longer the time, the stronger
the flavor.

Add bonito flakes, and steep forlO s.

(?) Strain .
Cool.
Vacuum seal, and refrigerate until needed.
(original2010, adapted 2010)

EXAMPLE REC IPE

HAM BROTH

Yields535 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Water

SOOg

100%

CD Prepare ingredients as noted.

0 Comb ine in pressure cooker.

Prosciutto e nds, thinly sliced

250 g

50%

Cooked white ham,

thinly sliced

100g

20%

Pressure-cook at a gauge pressure ofl bar I

15 psi forl'/z h.

jam on Ibe ri co, thinly sliced

lOOg

20%

@) Strain.

Madeira

lOOg

20%

Cool comp lete ly.

Shallots, thinly sliced

100g

20%

Measure 500 g.

Fino sherry

75g

15%

Garlic, thinly sliced

SOg

10%

Black peppercorns, crushed

lOg

2%

Ham broth, from above

SOOg

100%

0 Disperse ge latin and gum in cold broth.

160 Bloom gelatin

4g

0.8%

Heat broth just enough to dissolve gelatin .

Xanthangum

0.75g

0 .15%

Salt

to taste

Season, and cool.

Sherry vinegar

to taste

@ Vacuum seal, and refrigerate until needed.

(2010)

306

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Any cured meat can be used here

instead of ham.

10
EXAMP LE REC I P E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

OXTAIL PHO BROTH

Yie lds 4.75 kg

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Black pe ppe rcorns

2g

0.04%

G) Combine.

Cinnamon stick

1g

0.02%

Star anise, ground

1g

0.02%

Place in sachet made of cheesecloth.

Toast spi ce mix.

Allspice

0.5g

0.01 %

Water

5 kg

100%

Beef knuckles, blanched

2.2 kg

44%

Add sachet.

White onions, whole, unpeeled,

and charred

1.2 kg

24%

@ Pressure-cook broth at a gauge pressure of

1 bar I 15 psi fo r 3 h.

Oxtail, jointed a nd sea re d

900g

18%

Ginger, ha lved and cha rred

250g

5%

@) Combine in pressure cooker.

Discard sachet.

Fish sauce

to taste

Season, and cool.

Salt

to taste

Vacuum seal, and refrige rate until needed.

Sugar

to taste

The sachet is a pouch made of

cheeseclot h that keeps the spice
mixture together in much the same
way that a tea bag holds tea leaves.
The broth can be made without the
sachet, but then yo u will have to
fi lter out the loose spice mix to get a
perfect ly clear broth .

(original2003, adapted 2010)

EXAMP LE REC IPE

LAKSA BROTH

Yields500 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Onions, pee le d and chopped

100 g

28%

Le mongrass, finely mince d

40g

11%

CD Prepare ingredients as noted.

0 Blend together in foo d processo r.

Candl e nuts, roasted a nd grated

30g

8.3%

Measure 28 g of paste, rese rving the rest.

Shrimp paste

20g

5.5%

Dried chili

5g

1.4%

Galangal, peeled and chopped

5g

1.4%

Turmeric (fresh), peeled

and chopped

0.7g

0.2%
@) Saute until gold e n a nd ve ry fragrant,
about 3 min .

Laksa paste, from above

28g

7.8%

Neutral oil

20g

5.5%

White fish stock

360g

100%

Transfe r paste to large pot, a nd whisk

in stock and cream.

100 g

28%

@ Simmer broth for 5 min.

see page303

Caramelized coconut cream

Laksa is o ne of the great d ishes

of the Peranakan culture that
me rges Chinese a nd Ma lay
traditions. Many fee l that the best
laksa is fo und in the foo d-hawking
ce nters of Singapore.

see page 450

Fish sauce

to taste

lime juice

to taste

Vacuum sea l, and refrigerate until needed.

Season, and coo l.

(2010)

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

307

EXAMP LE REC IPE

BOUILLABAISSE BROTH

Yields750 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

Tomatoes, peeled, seeded,

and diced

120g

13%

PROCEDURE

CD Prepare vegetables as noted.

0 Combine.

White onions, thinly sliced

115g

13%

Fennel, thinly sliced

100g

11%

Cook over low heat until tender and golden,

about 25 min.

Shallots, thinly sliced

85 g

9.5%

Leeks, thinly sliced

BOg

9%

Carrots, thinly sliced

75g

8%

Olive oil

50g

5.5%

Garlic, thinly sliced

25g

3%

Tomato confit, pureed

(or tomato paste)
see page 562

60g

7%

Fish bones and head

800g

89%

Coat bones in oil.

Neutral oil

75g

8%

0 Bake in 180 c I 325 "F oven until golden,

about45 min.

Water

900g

100%

White wine (dry)

200g

22%

Boui llabaisse is the class ic fishe rman's stew ha iling from Marsei lles
and the surrounding region.
Origina lly pre pared as an ail-in-one
stew, we think it is much better to
cook the broth and the fish
compo nents separate ly; otherwise
t he fis h w ill be overcooked. The
broth can also be served alone.

@) Add, and increase heat to medium high.

Saute until browned, about 5 min, and
reserve.

Coo l.
Comb in e with vegetab le mixture and fish
parts.

Pastis

50g

5.5%

@ Vacuum sea l.

Thyme

3g

0 .33%

@ Cooksous vide in 80 "C / 175 "F bath

Black peppercorns, crushed

1g

0 .1%

for 11,4 h.
@ Strain.

Bay leaf

0.6g

0 .06%

Saffron threads

0.3g

0.003%

Blood orange juice

17 g

2%

@ Season .

Red miso paste

13g

1.4%

@ Cool.

Blood orange zest, finely grated

1g

0 .1%

@ Vacuum sea l, and refrigerate until needed.

Salt

to taste

@ Cool.
@ Skim fat from surface.

(2010)

Bouillabaisse is a classic examp le of

a regional food that has developed
a cu lt fo llowing. Whenever this
happens, one sees simi lar phenomena: fierce arguments about wh ich
versions are most authentic or best,
and equally heated controversy as
to where the dish originated.
Peop le often ins ist on keeping the ir
recipes secret. Cassou let (see page
581) is another cu lt food from a
different region ofFrance . Chili has
a similar fo llowing in Texas and
other parts of the American
Southwest.

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BACON

DASHI INSPIRED BY DAVID CHANG

Yields800 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Water

1 kg

100%

CD Vacuum seal together.

Kombu

25g

2.5%

0 Cook sous vid e in 60 "C/ 140 "Fbath for1 h.

Bacon, thinly sliced

250g

25%

@) Vacuum seal with kombu-infused water.

Sake (dry), flamed off

30g

3%

Cook so us vid e in 85 "C / 185 "Fbath for1Y2 h.

Mirin

lOg

1%

0 Comb ine.

Soy sauce

lOg

1%

Adjust seasoning as needed .

Sake

6g

0.6%

Sugar

1.4g

0.14%

Strain out kombu.

Strain out bacon.

(2 010)

308

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

The qua lity of the bacon used

determines the quality of the final
dashi.

1
EXA MPlE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TOM YUM BROTH

Yields 750 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Shallots, chopped

160g

32%

Lemongrass, bruised and

sliced thinly

78g

15.6%
12%

CD Prepare ingredients as noted.

0 Combine in blender.
0 Puree.
0 Measure 100 g of paste.

Palm sugar

60g

Tamarind paste

60g

12%

Garlic, chopped

50g

10%

Ginger, peeled and cut

into coin shapes

45g

9%

Cilantro stems, washed

and chopped

40g

8%

Galangal, peeled and chopped

40g

8%

Belacan shrimp paste

10 g

2%

Makrud (kaffir) lime leaf, bruised

8g

1.6%

Bird's Thai chili, chopped

5g

1%

Neutral oil

as needed

Shrimp stock (or vegetable stock)

500 g

Like ma ny Asian brot hs, the taste of

Tom Yum derives largely from a
flavorfu l paste.

Saute paste until dry and very fragrant,

about5 min.
100%

Whisk into sauteed paste in large pot, and

bring to a simmer.
0 Season.

see page296

Palm sugar

20g

4%

Fish sauce

7g

1.4%

Cool.

Salt

2g

0.4%

Vacuum seal, and refrigerate until needed.

Lime juice

to taste

(2 010)

EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BAKED POTATO BROTH

Yields300 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Russet potato skins

100g

100%

Frying oil

20g

20%

CD Coat skins with oil.

0 Bake in 95 oc I 200 Foven for 7 h, until golden
and completely desiccated .
@ Cool.

Russet potatoes, peeled and

thinly sliced

75g

75%

Clarified unsalted butter

15g

15%

Cool.

Potato juice, decanted from

starch residue

300g
(from 700 g
of potatoes)

300%

Vacuum seal with cooked potato skins

and slices.

Water

300g

300%

Salt

to taste

Panfry over medium-high heat until deep

golden, about 15 min on each side.

As it does fo r vegetab le stocks,

putt ing a broth in an ultrasonic bath
for 30 minutes improves flavor
extraction. This shou ld be do ne
afte r the so us vide cook ing step.

0 Cook so us vide in 80 oc / 176 F bath for1 Y2 h.

Strain.
Season, and cool.
@ Vacuum seal, and refrigerate until needed.

(2009)

THE MO DERN IS T KITCHEN

309

10

Seasoning with Salt and Other Flavor Enhancers

When cooks judge the flavor balance and seasoning of

b e sides sprinkling salt crystals over your food: anchovies,

a dish , salt is typically checked first. G e t the salt level wrong,

dried scallops, and shrimp paste all layer on tastes of the sea

and diners will quickly be distracted from their enjoyment

and the shore. Ingredients such as bacons, hams, and

of the food . Table salt enhances our perception of flavor,

che e ses carry hints of the country, barnyard, and sometimes

and so do nucleotides and monosodium glutamate (MSG),

smoke. Soy sauce, fish sauce, miso, and natto are all

which are savory salts that trigger different taste receptors

fermented seasoning agents, and each has a c e rtain

than salt does. You can enhance flavor in many ways

tanginess a nd vegetal quality.

Salts

Taste

Aroma

(scaling)*

Note

salt

defines salty

none

0.5%-2.0%

most useful flavor enhancer in the kitchen; most

people find 0.75-1 % best for savory foods

monosodium
glutamate

defines umami
(also called savory)

none

0.1 %-2.0%

found naturally in all high-protein foods; some

people find >1% harsh and metallic-tasting

5'
ribonucleotides

savory

none

0.02%

found naturally in most foods; boosts existing

savory flavors

aged cheese

salty, sharp, acidic,

strongly savory

varies greatly

3%-10%

hard cheeses like Parmesan contain both salt and

glutamate

anchovy

salty and oily

fishy; roasted scent when

cooked

0.2%-0.8%

used as a seasoning since the time of Imperial Rome

bacon

salty

smoky, fried , meaty

3%-15%

can quickly overwhelm a dish

capers
(salt-packed)

salty, slightly bitter

and astringent

mustard oil, hint of thyme

2%

add at the last moment; high heat degrades aromas

cured meats

salty, strongly savory,

slightly sweet

varies greatly; often nutty,

fruity, and floral

5%-15%

use with moderation; combination of salt, sugar, fat,

and Maillard flavors with smoke aromas is powerful

dried scallops

slightly sweet

pungent, slightly fishy, cured

3%-5%

used primarily in Asian cooking

fish sauce

salty, strongly savory,

slightly sweet

pungent, slightly fishy

2%-10 %

adds depth and savory flavor; tastes better

than it smells; a favorite in ancient Rome

garlic

pungent, slightly
sweet, enhances
savory

sulfurous

1%-7%

when garlic is crushed and raw or lightly cooked,

its allicin compounds trigger pain and temperature
receptors in the mouth, thereby enhancing flavors

Marmite or
Vegemite

salty, strongly savory

yeasty, meaty, malted

0.3%-1.5%

adds meat-like flavors to vegetarian dishes

miso, red

slightly sweet, savory

strong, roasted, hint of cocoa

1%-8%

mild, caramel, toasty

1%-8%

includes all three primary salts listed above;

pungency varies with degree of fermentation

Seasonings

miso, white
natto

salty, savory

pungent, fermented, roasted,

cheesy

1%

shallots

pungent, slightly
sweet, enhances
savory

sulfurous

5%-30 %

similar to garlic but does not cause onion breath

because sulfurous compounds do not enter
bloodstream

shrimp paste

salty, slightly sweet,

savory

pungent, slightly fishy, cured

1%-3%

used primarily in Southeast Asian cooking

soy, dark

salty, slightly sweet,

mildly astringent

strong, fermented, roasted,

molasses

2%-5%

tastes and aromas vary greatly among styles and

brands

mellow, slightly sweet, floral

2%-5%

tomato

sweet, acidic, savory

fruity, musky, sometimes

floral

5%-9%

rich source of sugars, acids, and salts when ripe;

enhances roasted aromas when browned with
meats

Worcestershire
sauce

salty, sweet, savory,

acidic, slightly spicy

fermented , roasted,
molasses, spicy, vinegary

2%-5%

has many applications; underused as a seasoning;

a distant relative of Roman fish sauce (garum)

soy, white

*(set weight offood being seasoned to 700%)

312

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNIQUES AN D EQUIP MENT

1
THE TECHNOLOGY OF

Measuring Salinity
Seasoning with salt "to taste" is an unavoidable
directive, but one with some surprising pitfalls. Not
only do individual tastes differ, but the same person
can perceive saltiness differently in different situations, depending on factors as varied as the sugar
content of the food or the taster's level of hydration .
Salinometers allow cooks to quantify the level of
salt in that momentary taste and thus help to make
recipes more consistent and reproducible. Salinameters are also convenient tools for gauging whether
brines are reusable.

There are several kinds of salinometers. The most

accurate is based on electrical conductance. Others
use a weighted floatto measure refraction or the
density of the liquid, but these can confuse salt and
sugar concentrations.
Even after quantifying the salinity of a dish with
this tool, resist the urge to remove saltshakers from
the table. Remember, the diner may not taste even
consistent concentrations of salt in the same way the
chef does.

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

sous VIDE PONZU

ADAPTED FROM KYLE CONNAUG HTON

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Yuzu

120g
(about
four whole)

17%

Sudachi (optional)

35g

5%

Mirin

700g

100%

Yields 1.95 kg

Grate zest, and juice flesh.

@ Combine in pan, and simmer until reduced to

about 80% of original volume.

Sake

65g

9.5%

Kombu (Rishiri if available)

15 g

2%

Toast over open flame on all sides.

@) Combine with citrus zest and juice, kombu, and
reduced mirin - sake mixture.

Tamari soy sauce

550g

79%

Red rice vinegar (yusen)

525g

Shoyu soy sauce (usu-kuchi

shoyu)

110g

75%
16%

Bonito flakes (katsuobushi)

lOg

1.4%

Japanese flavor comb inations ofte n

include multiple variations on the
umami flavor theme. In t his recipe,
d ifferent soy sauces an d ko mbu
provide umam i notes, w hich are
ba lanced by the bright yuzu citrus
flavors.

Vacuum seal.

Refrigerate for 3 wk.

0 Strain .
Use immediately, or vacuum seal and
refrigerate until needed.

(o riginal2008)

THE MODERNIST KI TCHEN

313

PARAMETRIC RECIPE

ACIDIFIERS
Sourness is one of the basic tastes and is as essential as saltiness

specific flavor, a pure edible acid may be a good option. For more

for balancing the seasoning of a dish. But it is too often under-

control over the results, dilute the acid by adding 10 parts water

used. Including an acidifier among your ingredients won't neces-

for every one part acid. Citric acid adds the tang oflemon and

sarily make the food sour-it can instead add brightness. An acid

lime without their distinctive flavors, whereas malic acid subtly

also can activate the salivary glands at the sides of the diner's

introduces the fresh, fruit y zip of green apples.

mouth, helping to distribute flavors more throughout the palate.

The end result is a dish with greater depth and intrigue.

The table Typical Acid Concentrations on the next page offers

starting points for determing the right amount of an acidifier to

The table Best Bets for Lowering pH below can help in choos-

use for various applications. Some of the ranges are quite wide

ing an acidifier that will complement the flavor and origins of the

because foods vary greatly both in their natural pH and in their

recipe. Fruits and fruit juices make excellent acidifiers but may

natural ability to resist a change in pH. This so-called buffering

add too distinctive a flavor in certain dishes. Vinegars are good

capacity explains why you can add one spoonful of vinegar after

for salads and for earthy, savory dishes. Try squeezing a lime into

another to a soup and taste no noticeable change until some

a spicy curry or adding balsamic vinegar to a rich meat sauce.

If your aim is to increase overall tartness but not to add a

threshold amount, beyond which the soup suddenly tastes sour.

A well calibrated pH meter will help ensure consistency.

Best Bets for Lowering pH

Typical
pH

Flavor profile

cider vinegar

2.4

s ha rp, a ppl e

sa lad dress in g, ma rin ad e, coagul ation

malt vinegar

2.4

bitte rswee t, hop s, ca ra me l

sa uce, ma rin a d e

red wine vinegar

2 .4

curra nt, ta nni c

dress ing

Ingredient

Example uses

Vinegar (pH 2.4-3.4)

ric~~ ill_egar _______ ___ 3~ sherry vinegar

3.4

__ s_vv_e_e!._~~~~._~o~s~ y__ _ _ _

sa lad dress in g, ma rin ad e, co ag ul ation

- ----------

------

swee t, oa k, che rry, ea rth y

sa lad dress in g, fini shin g mea t sa uce

2 .8

clea n, bri ght , g ree n g ra pe

sa lad d ress in g, fi sh broth, butte r sa uce

grapefruit juice

3.7

fl o ra l, li ght citrus, coffee

fini shin g sa uces, seaso ning seafood di shes

lemon juice

2.3

brig ht, pe rfum e d

dress in g, sa uce, ba la ncin g oil

lime juice

1. 8 -2

sharp, co conut, pin e

sour broth, fini shin g fruit a nd vegeta ble wate r

orange juice

3.9

swee t, ne roli

me llows o th e r ac ids

white wine vinegar

Citrus (pH 1.3-3.9)

Pure acids (diluted 1:10 with water; pH 2.4-2.9)

acetic acid (vinegar)

2.9

punge nt

ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

2.9

c ri sp

color prese rva tive

citric acid (citrus)

2 .4

sha rp, citrus

fruit y sa uce fo r fi sh

lactic acid (dairy)

2.6

butte rmilk, so ur crea m

d a iry a pplica tion s, e nh a ncin g fer me nte d fl avors

for qui c k kim c hi a nd sa ue rkra ut

2.4

ta ngy with li ght fruit not es

fini shing glaze, sa uce, raw fruit sa uce, a nd wa te r

2.4

heavy ac idit y, li ght fl avo r

re du c ti o n, win e sa uce, fruit sa uce

g laze or sa uce for re d mea t, ga me

malic acid (apple, cherry)

-

tartaric acid (grape)

----------------------

win e sa uce, d ress in g

---- - - - - - - - - -

Tart fruit (pH 2.5--1.2)

red currant

3.1

ta nni c, bitte r, be rry

rhubarb juice

3.4

ast ringe nt, he rba l, me llows wh e n cooke d sa uce o r broth for fi sh, fo ie gras

tamarind paste

3.7

sour, ca ra me l, pun ge nt

sa u ce ,_s ~vee~ ,

tomato juice

4 .2

ea rthy, compl ex, vegeta bl e

vege ta ble bro th , dress in g

verjus

2.7

tanni c, gra pe mu st

finishin g sa uce (bes t used raw)

gooseberry juice

2.6

bitter, sour, flora l

dress in g for s he llfish a nd oyste rs

31-t

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

dress ing,_broth

THE TECHNOLOGY OF

Measuring pH
Consistency is often a virtue in the kitchen, particularly with basic
building blocks like stocks and sauces. A pH meter that inexpensively and quickly measures the acid content of liquids is a convenient
way to ensure that acidity is consistent from one batch to the next.
Instructions vary from model to model, but the basics involve
dipping the probe in the liquid you wantto measure and waiting for the
reading to stabilize, which can take up to a minute. The meters must
be recalibrated regularly (ideally daily in a busy kitchen) by using
solutions available from the manufacturer. To avoid cross-contamination, clean the probe as recommended after every use.
You can buy solutions formulated to pH values of exactly four,
seven, and 10 to use in calibrating your pH meter. Refer to the manufacturer's instructions to calibrate your meter. Most devices have a
special calibration mode. To use it, you typically dip the probe into
one of the calibration solutions, wait for the reading to stabilize
(indicated by a beep or flash), then rinse the meter quickly in tap
water. Repeat with the other preformulated solutions, then reset the
meter to measuring mode for use.

You can buy solutions formulated to exactly to pH values of exactly four,

seven, and 10 (above and below) to use in calibrating you pH meter. Refer to
the manufacturer's instructions to calibrate your meter, but most devices
have a special calibration mode.

The color of red cabbage juice (below) varies with pH.

pH 2: acidic

316

-.....------

pH 7: neutral

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUE S AND EQUIPM ENT

pH 13: alkaline

10
SEASONING WITH WINE, BEER, AND SPIRITS
To cooks, wine and other beverages containing alcohol can be
a type of seasoning. They use them to awaken the palate or to
help liberate aromatic compounds. The addition of just a tiny
shot can add depth and character to dishes. Because of the tremendous variety of bitter, sour, and sweet profiles availab le in
wines, beers, and liquors, they serve an important role as multidimensional flavoring agents.
How to choose the perfect alcoholic beverage to match a
particularfood is a subject complex enough to fill its own book.
Go with your own personal preferences, or follow the lead of
geography or history as well as flavor. The right Scotch whiskey
adds mossy flavors of the field to wild game stock, for example. Dry sherry complements garlicky tapas and braised Span-

ish octopus. A splash ofShaoxing enlivens even simple stir-fries.

And sake is a must in japanese stews and hot pots.
Pay attention to the proof of any spirit you add, and remember the high volatility of ethanol. Will the peppery, raw zip of
a strong liquor enhance the flavors and aromas of your dish at
presentation? Then add it shortly before service. Would your
dish be better served with the acidity, sweetness, fruitiness, or
herbal or woody undertones of a reduced elixir? Then let the liquor merge with the other ingredients as it cooks. Remember
that alcohol cannot escape from a sealed so us vide bag.
Chefs flame the contents of their saute pans to burn off raw
alcohol and adjust the flavor. We rather like that raw taste and
do not take that step. Choose the approach that suits you .

Best Bets for Adding Flavor with Alcohol

Ingredient

Broth

Sauce

(scaling)*

(scaling)*

Characteristic aromas

Alcohol content

Example uses

high

finishing raw, cold items

See page

aquavit

2%-7%

10%-30%

caraway, fennel

Armagnac

1%-5%

10%-30%

smoke, oak

high

glaze, sauce, adding body

and subtle flavors

517

beer orale

10%-20%

15%-40%

malt, barley, bitter

low

meat sauce, glaze, adding gra in

flavors and bitterness

374

Cognac

2%-6%

10%-30%

smoke, oak, tobacco

high

glaze, sauce, add ing body

and subtle flavors

5128

gin

1%-5%

10%-30%

juniper, pine, cassia

high

marinade and game sauce, adding 535

spice

Madeira

5%-10%

20%

pepper, plum

low to moderate

sauce with dairy or mushrooms,

adding
sweetness and fruit flavors

pastis

1%-5%

1%-5%

anise, li corice, sugar

moderate

seafood broth, soup

port, red

10%-20%

15%-40%

cherry, berry, oak

low to moderate

broth and sauce

453

broth, sauce, adding sweetness

5110

fish broth, adding sweetness and a 5197

little sp ice
5167
pork, fish sauce, adding
acidity and sweetness

port, white

15%-40%

15%-100%

pear, sour grape

low to moderate

sake

5%-16%

25%-75%

light pepper, honeydew

low

Shaoxing

3%-15%

10%-30%

sweet rice, floral

low to moderate

sherry, dry

3%-8%

15%-40%

almond, hazelnut

low to moderate

shellfish broth, adding body and

tannins

5%-20%

cherry, currant

moderate

glaze broth, adding sweetness and

complexity

sherry, sweet 5%-10%

531

vermouth

5%-20%

15%-40%

chamomile, cardamom

moderate to high

fish broth, sauce, enhancing flavors 5233

vin jaune

2%-20%

25%-74%

walnut, almond, melon

low to moderate

broth, sauce, adding acidity and

body

5113

whiskey

7%-10%

20%-60%

smoke, leather, vanilla,

char, peat

high

glaze, adding sweet

and smoky flavors

566

wine, red

7%-15%

25%-100%

tannin, berry, oak

low to moderate

glaze, meat sauce, adding

complexity and fruit flavors

344

wine, white

7%-15%

25%-100%

apple, pear, floral

low to moderate

broth and sauce, adding acidity

and complexity

5170

*(set weight ofbroth or sauce to 700%)

T HE MOD ERNIST KI TC HEN

3 17

INFUSING ESSENCES
When you catch a whiff of ginger root or orange
peel, almonds or cinnamon bark, your nose is
sensing numerous volatile chemicals and integrat-

structions. A food 's aroma comprises a hierarchy

offragrances that includes long-lasting, foundational olfactory notes (known as base notes); less

ing those myriad sensations into a perceived scent.

Sometimes, a few of the fragrant components are

enduring middle notes that add structure and

so dominant that you can identify the source from

those odors alone. Distill, extract, or press out

fleeting components of a food 's smell but are often

the elements that provide the key olfactory cues

these telltale aromatic chemicals, and you get the

that differentiate one dish from all others.

complexity; and top notes, which are the most

plant's essence.
Vendors sell essential oils and related extracts
for use in making perfume, scented candles, soap,

Getting at the Essence

cosmetics, household cleansers, incense, and

You can buy commercially processed essences

of many kinds, but you may want to make them

aromatherapy products. Indeed, the fragrances

added to such items are often the most distinguishing feature of a brand.

yourself. Over the centuries, cooks have developed numerous ways to extract the aromatic

These concentrated olfactory essences can be

especially useful in the kitchen because it is the

essences of a plant, including pressing the oil out,

dissolving it in fat, and distilling it.

aroma that gives a food most of its characteristic

sensory signature; any response our tongues have

rich in volatile oils will give them up when

to the sweet, salty, savory, or bitter taste of the

food only contributes to the overall flavor. What
we smell in our nose is as important or more so

Citrus peels and other plant tissues that are

pressed while cold. Steam distillation is more
common for spices and works with a wider range

than what the mouth tastes to the flavor of food.

of fragrance materials to yield essential oils from

botanical sources. The distilling apparatus sends a

Aromatic essences offer limitless ways to enhance

flow of steam through a tube and into a vessel

the overall flavor. Add a few drops of the essential

containing the target plant tissue, which may

include roots, stems, leaves, seeds, petals, or other

oil of coriander to the vinaigrette in a crabmeat

salad, or dribble a bit of spearmint oil into a
mojito, and you can inject surprise and intrigue
into the resulting gustatory experience. The
aromas of ylang ylang or orris root can imbue a
dish with an exotic flavor that is haunting.
To fully embrace the aromatic possibilities of
essences and to leverage their potential to sculpt

components. The steam vaporizes any volatile

chemicals that boil at a temperature lower than
that of the steam. The hot water vapor then
carries the liberated volatiles into a water-chilled
coil, where they condense from vapor back to
liquid form. Finally, the liquid condensate drips
into a collection container.

flavor, the Modernist cook needs to think the way

This condensate is a mixture of two parts,

perfume designers do. Like an exquisite perfume,

which gradually separate from one another. An

many deeply satisfying flavors are layered con-

aromatic hydrosol contains some of the more

Essential oils. extracts, resins. concretes. and absolutes are the

domain of perfumers and flavorists, but they offer limitless
possibilities for creativity in the kitchen. Each kind of essence
conveys a different aspect of a botanical's fragrance.

3 18

VO LUME 2 TECHN I QUES AND EQUIPMENT

water-soluble volatiles and settles to the bottom.

some of the water-soluble tastants that nonpolar

Rose water is an example of this part. At the

solvents don't capture. This extract is another

same time, the second part, consisting of the

example of a tincture. In the context of mixed

actual essential oil that is much richer in those

drinks, such tinctures are often called bitters.

aromatic compounds that don't dissolve in water,

rises to the top. You can use a pipette, dropper,

For more on how a rotary evaporator (or

rotavap) and a Genevac Rocket Evaporator
work, see page 384.

siphon, or laboratory separatory funnel to isolate

Going Supercritical

these two fluids from the mixture. Industrial-

A still more challenging approach to extraction

scale steam-distillation systems often have valves

avoids both heat and the need to use (and later

at the top and bottom of the collection vessel to

remove) a petroleum-derived solvent such as

allow for easier separation.

hexane, which is mildly toxic. The method is called

Steam distillation works well in many circum-

supercritical fluid extraction-"super-

stances, but it does have a drawback: the high heat

critical" referring to the special state of matter in

involved can alter or even destroy some of the

which a substance behaves like both a gas and a

more fragile aroma molecules. Technological

liquid at the same time.

When carbon dioxide is pushed into a supercrit-

solutions to this problem, such as a rotary evaporaIn a polar molecule like water, the
electric charge is distributed less
uniformly than it is in a nonpolar
molecule like hexane, which
contains electrons shared equally
among two atoms. For more on
polarity and solubility, see chapter
6 on The Physics of Food and Water,
page 1294.

tor or a vacuum condenser, are now available,

ical state by the right combination of temperature

albeit expensive.

and pressure, it infiltrates food deeply. Once

Solvent extraction offers a way to extract a

inside, the carbon dioxide functions like a liquid

botanical essence without heat. This method uses

solvent and extracts organic flavor compounds as

solvents, such as ether or hexane, that are non-

concretes. The supercritical solvent can then easily

polar and usually hydrophobic ("water-hating")

exit the food, gas-like, carrying the extracted

and thus reject contact with water. Most of the

aromatic compounds with it.

Then just by dropping the pressure, you can

organic volatile compounds in plant oils also are

relatively nonpolar, and they typically dissolve

harvest an absolute from the mixture, while

readily in a nonpolar solvent.

simultaneously separating it from the waxes and

When you mix a nonpolar solvent with a food, a

semisolid or pastelike substance forms. Called

Supercritical carbon dioxide is

used industrially for many purposes, including extracting caffeine to
make decaffeinated coffee. For
more on the sup ercriti cal state of
matter, see page 1326.

resins. The carbon dioxide flashes away instantly

as a gas. This process yields an extract from, say,

concretes or oleoresins, these substances contain

rose petals, that has a different (but not necessari-

some of the waxes and resins that were in the food

ly better) character than that obtained via steam

as well as extracted aromatic oils. Once extraction

distillation. Each method delivers a distinct set of

is complete, the nonpolar solvent must be re-

aromas for the enthusiast to investigate.

Because so many desirable aromatic volatiles in

moved, usually through distillation or evaporation. To use the concretes or oleoresins, you

foods dissolve in fats and oils, many cooks often

usually make what specialists call an absolute by

inadvertently remove these substances when they

washing the material with alcohol and then

skim fat off stocks. Fat washing can work well in

filtering. The result is a solution of flavor in

these circumstances.
The general idea of fat washing is to mix the

alcohol, which is known as a tincture.

Other nonpolar solvents include fats that are
themselves hydrophobic can be used to extract

mixture to emulsify the two temporarily (see How

flavors-a property that perfumers have exploited

to Wash Citrus Oil, next page). While the alcohol

for centuries in a classic fragrance-harvesting

and oil are in intimate contact, some of the flavor

procedure called enfleurage (see page 323).

Ethanol (pure grain alcohol) can also make a

320

flavor-rich oil with alcohol and then shake the

compounds migrate from the oil into the alcohol.

After a resting period of several hours or longer, the

useful solvent-many cooks have ethanol solu-

two phases naturally separate again, just as oil and

tions sitting in their pantries in the form of vanilla

vinegar do, but now many of the flavor compounds

extract. Because ethanol lies somewhere between

have been dissolved in the ethanol. You can add the

water and ether on the polarity scale, it may not

flavored alcohol to your dish and just apply a little

extract as many of the organic compounds as

heat to drive off enough of the ethanol to ensure

hexane does, but it has the benefit of extracting

that the result doesn't taste of booze.

VOLUME 2 TE CHNI QUE S AND EQUIPMENT

Working with Essences

Sometimes they may ask servers to add such oils in

Essences are to flavor what Klaxon sirens are to

sparing quantities to dishes right at the table.

sound. Skilled flavorists know that essences can be

Chef Dan iel Patterson has written

an entire cookbook called Aroma:
The Magic ofEssential Oils in Foods
and Fragrance. It has many ideas for

using essential oils in the kitchen.

ish flavors lost to heat during reduction. The more

must be wielded with finesse. Essences can be

ambitious cooks use them to propel dishes into

deceptive because in such a concentrated form,

culinary terra incognita. Adding a single drop of

many substances smell nothing like they do when

the essential oil of ginger to a chilled carrot soup

they are highly diluted in food or drink. The

can give the dish flavor dimensions entirely

essential oil of black pepper, for example, does not

different than freshly grated ginger alone could. A

smell like black pepper. In fact, it doesn't even

touch of tarragon essence can do the same for

smell particularly spicy. Similarly, the odors of

white chocolate. Pioneering cooks who experi-

essential oils that are derived from coffee and

ment with essential oils think like perfumers,

chocolate are so potent that, when these oils are

mixing and matching flavor components to

undiluted, they can be nauseating. You need

construct novel flavors. Learning to control the

experience with proper dilution to use them well.

diner's flavor experience by using these intense

Chefs who often cook with essences usually

predilute the essences in alcohol or oil and then

These vials show an essential oil diluted at various ratios.

Serial dilutions make it easier to measure out the small
quantities needed.

322

One common use for essential oils it to replen-

powerful tools for intensifying flavor, but they

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQU I PMENT

essences takes patience and a considerable

amount of trial and error.

10
THE TECHNIQUE OF

Enfleurage
One of the oldest (and most laborious)
techniques for extracting fragrances from
botanical tissues is enfleurage. Smear a
framed glass plate with a thin layer of a few
millimeters of solid fat such coconut fat or
lard, then press the botanical material into
the fat, and let it sit for several days.
The fat absorbs organic volatiles from the
plant matter in a process similar to the way oil
in a stock latches onto fat-soluble flavor
compounds. You can swap out the plant
tissue for new material to add additional
layers of flavor in several cycles of
absorption.
The fat is melted and strained . The oil is
then washed with alcohol (see How to Wash
Citrus Oil, page 321) or steam distilled to
retrieve the aroma compounds from the fat,
leaving behind a fragrant fatty residue that
makes a fine starting material for soap.
Collect the distillate or evaporate the alcohol
from the extract to obtain the essential oil.
A culinary variation on this basic technique
infuses oil rather than solid fat. You place
macerated botanical material directly into
hot oil (for example, in a so us vide bag). You
can use a strainer to swap in fresh plant
material, followed by a final fat wash with
ethanol and a reduction to retrieve the
essence and make it water-soluble.

---.,.

T HE MOD ERNIST KI TC HEN

3 23

PARAMETRIC RECIPE

EXTRACTING FLAVOR WITH ALCOHOL

Many flavor components dissolve in alcohol but not in water. In the
flavoring industry, alcohol infusions are called tinctures. Such
extracts have many culinary uses, such as adding aroma to a sauce

EXTRACTING FLAVOR WITH ALCOHOL

1 Select and prepare ingredient. The tabl e Best Bets fo r Ex trac ts below
suggests a number of good optio ns.

or broth. A tincture made from browned butter can supply a nutty,

buttery intensity without adding any fat.
A few tinctures, such as vanilla or almond extracts, are readily
available. But in most cases you need to make your own tincture by
vacuum sealing aromatic ingredients with alcohol in a sous vide
bag. If available, use pure ethanol (such as Everclear); otherwise use
a good-quality, neutral spirit such as vodka. Taste the infusion from
time to time to judge the development of the flavor. When the flavor
is intense enough, strain out the solids, and store the tincture sealed
and refrigerated.
The table below suggests typical concentration ranges to use for
preparing and working with tinctures. Add the extract just before
serving for the maximum flavor impact.

Vacuum sea l ingredient with neutral vodka. Quantities indi cated in the
table are proportional to the weight of th e vodka. For examp le, use 25 g
of chi li for every 100 g of alcohol.

3 Infuse. Recommended infusing temperatures and tim es are li sted in the

table. So me preparations benefi t from cook in g; for oth ers, infusion at
refr igerato r temperatures does a better job of ca ptu ring th e ir deli ca te
navo rs.

4 Sieve. Reseal, and refrigerate unt il needed.

5 Add recommended concentration of alcohol extract to broth or sauce.
For exa mple add 4 g of brown bu tter extract for every 100 g of broth or
sauce. Add ing more than 5% will make th e alco hol navor perceptible.

Best Bets for Extracts

Infuse
(h)

Exa mple
conce ntration** Example use

140

5%

fish sa uce, broth

376

149

4%

vegetab le broth

374, 5158

149

4%

popcorn broth
Sichuan-style broth

Ingre dient

(scaling)*

( "C)

(' F)

bay leaf, fresh

1%

60

brown butter, melted

100%

65

butter, melted

100%

65

refrige rate

chili (dry), crushed

25%

24

2%

cinnamon stick, crushed

5%

60

140

3-4%

meat sa uce

citrus zest, finely grated

27%

50

122

3%

fi sh sa uce, broth

coffee bean, ground

20%

12

3%

meat sa uce, re d eye g ravy

seafood sa uce

re frigerate

coriander seed, crushed

20%

60

140

5%

fennel seed

5%

37

24

3-4%

pork broth, Pa rm esa n jus

ginger, thinly sliced

25%

60

140

3%

Chinese broth

65

149

roasted hazelnut oil

100%

8%

root vege ta ble brot h

nutmeg, grated

7%

re fri ge rate

24

2- 3%

g uin ea fowl co nso mm e

rosemary

10%

refrigerate

24

1.5- 2.5%

la mb broth, la mb jus

re fri gerate

saffron threads

1%

24

0 .6%

cream sa uce

star anise, crushed

5%

60

140

4%

ox tail co nso mm e

thyme leaf

10%

60

140

3- 4%

beurre bla nc

vanilla bean, split

5%

24

3%

sa uce or broth of foi e g ras

or lea n fi sh

refrige rate

*(set weight of vodka to TOO%)

326

** (set weight ofbroth or sauce to TOO%)

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

See page

304

5101

376

1
EXAMPlE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

HOUSE BITTERS

Yields500g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Vodka

500g

100%

Kumquat, thinly sliced

40g

8%

0
0

Combine .
Sea l in glass bottle with airtight lid.

Burdock root

12g

2.4%

Shake bottle twice a week for4wk.

Vanilla beans, halved

12g

2.4%

@) Pour mixture through fine sieve into sterili zed bottle.

Orange zest

lOg

2%

Gentian flowers

6g

1.2%

Cinnamon

5g

1%

Cloves

3g

0.6%

Heather tips

2g

0.4%

Anise seeds

1.5g

0.3%

(2010)

EXAMPlE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FINES HERBS EXTRACT

Yields100g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Vodka

100g

100%

Chervil, thinly sliced

33g

33%

0
0

Chives

33 g

33%

Strain through fine filter.

@) Add 2%-5% of extract to season broth
or sauce, or reseal and refrigerate until use.

Parsley leaves, whole

33 g

33%

Tarragon, crushed

15g

15%

Combine and vacuum seal.

Refrigerate for 24 h to steep.

(2010)

THE M ODERNI ST KITC HE N

327

PARAMETRIC RECIPE

FLAVOR INFUSION INTO FATS

In Chinese cooking, one of the hallmarks of a skilled cook is his

INFUSING FLAVOR INTO A FAT

ability to flavor the cooking oil in a hot wok with aromatics so each
taste of the finished dish carries their perfume. Oils are so mobile
that they offer an effective way to disperse the aromas evenly. An
infused fat allows you to add the essence without adding the
ingredient, which simplifies the preparation of a dish.

1
2

Use neutral fats for dean-flavored infusions; use more flavorful

fats, such as olive oil or butter, to complement the flavors of the
aromatic. Some pairings-butter with molasses, for example-are
even more multilayered and complex when married in an infusion.

Wash and dry all produce thoroughly to prevent contamination of

the fat.
Vacuum seal ingredient with fat. The table Best Bets for Infused Fats,
on the next page, lists many good combinations. Quantities are
proportional to the weight of th e fat . When making coffee butter,
for example, add 55 g of coffee beans for everylOO g of butter.

3 Cook so us vide to infuse the fat. Recommended temperatures and

times are given in the table.

We recommend cooking fat infusions sous vide because the sealed

packaging prevents oxidation and evaporation. In general, sieve the
oil after infusing, then repackage and chill the oil. Keep it
refrigerated until use.

There has bee n public co ncern about the anaerobic environment of sea led,
flavored oils as a risk for botulism. If the food in the packaging is moist
enough, then this ca n be a problem . The best practice is to keep the
infusion refrigerated. Sous vide times and temperatures have been gauged
to pasteurize, not to fully sterilize, the infusion so it can be sto red without
refrigeration, which requires ca nning times and temperatures. Ensure that
herbs are was hed and dried thoroughly for safe so us vide infusion.

food in bag into an ultrasonic bath for15 min to 1 h (optional).

4 Place
Ultrasonic treatment enhances extraction and should be done while
the food is still hot. Use the same bath temperature used for infusion or
the highest setting possible. Or use a so us vide bath that has ultrasonic
capability to do the infusion.

Sieve, then refrigerate. Do not sieve truffle or other infusions in which

the flavorful flecks are desirable.

10
Best Bets for Infused Fats
Cook so us vide,
or infuse cold
See page

Example use

Ingredient

(sca lin g)*

Fat

cured ham, thinly sliced

40%

pea nut o il

70

158

dried chili, crushed

3%

sunfl ower o il

70

158

24

poach fi sh, seaso n sauteed broccoli

add to XO sa uce, season fres h me lo n

cocoa nib, crushed

40%

sunflowe r o il

65

149

ga rni sh sas himi

coffee bea ns, whole

55%

un salted
butter

70

158

12

ga rni sh sea urc hin, she llfish, le mo n ri sotto

garlic, thinly sliced

50%

o li ve o il

90

194

ga rni sh pizza, roaste d potato es

fresh ginger, thinly sliced

45%

sunfl owe r o il

puree until smooth

nex t page
4371

ga rni sh stea me d fi sh

70

158

3
20 min se rve wa rm, bl e nd into ha m b roth, ga rni sh
grill e d peaches or wate rm e lon
poac h she llfis h, ble nd into she llfish sa uces
5

Iberica ham fat, thinly

sliced

75%

o live o il

90

194

langoustine (or other

shellfish) shell, crushed to
a fine paste and roasted

125%

un sa lted
bu tter

88

154

thyme leaves

20 %

gra peseed o il

55

131

45 min seaso n coo ke d fi sh a nd she llfish, fini sh le mon

risotto

lemon zest, finely grated

45%

gra peseed o il

60

140

ga rni sh sa lad s a nd fi sh

makrud (kaffir) lime leaf,

sliced

15%

g ra peseed o il

37

24

dri zzle ove r grill e d fi sh, brush on po rk c utl ets

fresh mint, thinly sliced

16%

o li ve o il

80

176

mi x into vin a ig rette

molasses
adapted from Mi chel Bras

50 %

un sa lted
butter

80

176

20min fr y sweetbread s or foi e g ras

be low

next page

331

refrige rate for 4 d

afte r co o king

dry porcini

50 %

sunflowe r oil

70

158

ble nd into ga me broth

rosemary

10%

o li ve o il

80

176

d rizzle ove r roas t la mb

rose petal, untreated

80%

sweet ap ri cot
oil

55

131

1'/1

ma ke sa lad dress ing, be urre bla nc fo r fi sh

truffle, minced

30 %

un sa lte d
butte r

55

131

ga rni sh poac he d sca ll o ps o r a rti cho kes

ultras onic
bat h

15 min

*(set weight offat to 700%)

EXAMP LE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SHEllFISH BUTTER
INGREDIENT

Yields400g
QUANTITY

Crustacean heads, bodies, and 500 g

shells, finel y crushed or ground
400 g
Clarified unsalted butter

SCALING

PROCEDURE

100%

CD Vacuum seal together.

80%

0 Coo k sous vide in 88 c I 190 F bath fo r 5 h.

Remove from bag, and coo l at room
temperature.
@) Refri ge rate for 12 h.

This recipe wo rks with crab,

crawfish, shrimp, prawn, and
lobster of all va rieties. It is a
culinary class ic that dates to
traditional French cuisine.

Heat mixture to melt.

Strain; disca rd heads.
0 Decant butte r.
Vacuum seal, and refri ge rate until use.
(2009)

THE MODERNI ST KITCHEN

329

EXAMP LE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SOUS VIDE LEMON HERB OIL

Yie lds400g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Grapeseed oil

400g

100%

CD Combine .
0 Vacuum seal.
0 Cook so us vide in 60 oc I 140 F bath for 1Y, h.

Lemongrass, thinly sliced

80g

20%

Lemon thyme leaves

50g

12.5%

Lemon balm leaves

20g

5%

@) Chill and refrigerate for12 h.

Makrud (kaffir) lime leaves

20g

5%

Strain.

Refrigerate until use.

(2010)

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SPICED CHILl OIL

ADAPTED FROM JEAN-GEORGES VONGER ICHTEN

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Grapeseed oil or other

neutral oil

1 kg

100%

Chipotle chilies, thinly

sliced

180g

18%

CD Vacuum seal together.

0 Cook so us vide in 70 oc I 158 F bath for 24 h.
0 Cool and refrigerate for12 h.

Coriander seeds,
toasted and crushed

30g

3%

Mace, crushed

30g

3%

Dry red chilies, crushed

30g

3%

Star anise, crushed

30g

3%

Cinnamon sticks,
toasted and crushed

20g

2%

Fennel seeds,
toasted and crushed

12g

1.2%

@) Strain.
Vacuum seal and refrigerate until use.

(o riginal1997, adapted 2010)

3 30

VO LU ME 2 TE CHN I QU ES AND EQUIPM ENT

Yields1 kg

10
EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

MOLASSES BUTTER
INGREDIENT

ADAPTED FROM M ICHEL BRAS

QUANTITY

SCALING

Yields200g

PROCEDURE

Unsalted butter, me lted

200g

200%

CD Blend together.

Molasses

100g

100%

Transfer mixture to Mason jar, and seal.

Place sea led Mason jar in 85 oc / 185 F bath for 30 min.

@) Remove jar from bath, and take off lid.
Rest in jar at room temperature for 30 min to allow butter and molasses to separate.
Pour butter into sealable co ntain er, and discard molasses.

Seal, and refrigerate infused butter for 4 d.

Decant butter, and refrigerate for use.

(p ublished 2002)

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CURRY OIL

A DAPTED FROM T HOMAS KELLER

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

Coriander seeds,
toasted and crushed

90g

9%

CD Toast separate ly in small pans until just fragrant.

Cinnamon stick, crushed 35g

3.5%

Canolaoil
or other neutral oil

1 kg

100%

Chaat masala

140g

14%

Cayenne pepper

30g

3%

Mace

15g

1.5%

Yields 1 kg

PROCEDURE
Remove from heat.

Blend fully with toasted spices.

@) Vacuum seal.

see page 5281

Cook so us vide in 90 oc I 194 F bath for 1 h.

Refrigerate for 12 h.

Strain.

Repackage, and refrigerate until use.

(published 1999, ada pted 2010)

THE MODERNIS T KITC HEN

33 1

JUICING
A centrifugal-style juicer can do better with

Nothing is more fundamental to classic cuisine

than making stocks. Chefs use the flavorful

some foods. Designed more like a blender or a food

extracts of meats, fruits, and vegetables for every-

processor, a centrifugal machine pulverizes food

thing from soups to sauces. But despite all the

that enters the juicing chamber with a flat cutting

slicing, chopping, and simmering involved,

plate that sits at the bottom of a rapidly spinning

stockmaking is a relatively gentle way to retrieve

mesh basket. The plate also flings the mashed pulp

the flavor that plant and animal tissues have to

onto the perforated basket walls, where strong

offer. If you want the richest flavors, you need to

centrifugal forces drive the liquid out of the pulp

do real violence to the biological building blocks

and through the mesh. The juice finds its way out

of food in order to unlock the liquid essence

through a spigot into a waiting container.

Some centrifugal juicers are designed so that

within. That means rupturing cells-in other

words, juicing.

accumulating pulp is automatically pushed off the

mesh basket and into a refuse bin. This handy

The juice of a fruit, vegetable, or meat is water

that is impure in the best of ways. This "dirty" water

feature lets you process more food before you must

is loaded with sugars, soluble proteins, emulsified

stop to clear caked pulp from the basket's sides.

Some cook use an even rougher option for

lipids and fat compounds, volatile aroma molecules,

and other components that constitute a food

juicing, one with roots that go back millennia: a

source's portfolio of flavor and nutrients.

food press. Cider makers and vintners know all

about presses. A simple screw mechanism typical-

Cooks employ both brutish and more elegant

ways to remove the juice from foods. In most

ly provides the mechanical leverage for squeezing

commercial kitchens you can find a Champion-

food between flat plates. The plates themselves are

style juicer, based on a well-known product made

designed so that they draw the extracted juice into

Green Star is another brand of

maceratingjuicer that is comparab le with the Champion. Centrifugal juicers are made by many
manufacturers of kitchen app li-

by the Plastaket Manufacturing Company ofLodi

a collection chamber that is positioned beneath

California. You push food down a chute onto a

the press assembly.

ances.

the blade rip into, be it cantaloupes or carrots,

the most familiar example of this class of machine.

they shred the tissues to the very core. As cell

Even though presses can apply tremendous

walls rupture, the contents leak out and collect in

crushing forces, they tend to produce juice

serrated blade that is mounted on a horizontally

The citrus press, which has curved pressing

rotating spindle. Whatever the spinning teeth of

surfaces to accommodate fruit halves, is perhaps

a bowl. The specially designed contours of the

containing fewer particles than other kinds of

spindle assembly meanwhile shunt the solid pulp

juicers do because they compress food rather than

into a receptacle.

tearing it.
But pressing can be tricky when you juice a food

This type of juicer processes food fast, but at

some cost to the yield because a significant fraction

that simultaneously expels both desirable flavor

of the juice remains in the pulp that is discarded. It

components and chemical compounds that break

has the advantage that it can juice things like wheat

down those same flavorants, a phenomenon that

grass, which other juicers find difficult.

occurs most commonly with citrus fruits . Acids

Getting the juice out of food requires breaking open cellular

structures. In doing so. numerous compounds mix together to
create the fresh -squeezed flavor of the juice. But the flavor can be
fleeting. Consider an orange: sugars. acids. and peel oils combine
to create the unmistakable flavor of orange juice, but the acidity
of the juice itself ultimately ruins the fresh flavor by destroying the
aromatic peel oils over time.

332

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNI QUE S AN D EQUIP M ENT

that emerge during the process instantly begin to

side until the two solutions are equally salty. It is

decompose the molecules in the fruit's essential

as if there were a pressure pushing on the solu-

oil that impart that characteristic citrus flavor. You

tion with the higher concentration of water

should thus serve orange juice as soon after you

molecules (and thus the lower concentration of

squeeze it as possible, before these flavor-killing

salt)-and in fact scientists do talk about the

extracts can do too much damage.

osmotic pressure created by a difference in

Enzymes are catalysts, chem icals

that speed reactions (often by huge
factors) without themselves being
used up in the process. When the
precursor molecules in a flavor
reaction run out, there are still
plenty of enzymes left.

concentrations between adjacent solutions.

Osmosis works for any liquid medium and any

Gentler juicing Through

Chemistry

dissolved compound, not just water and salt.

Juicing by osmosis can be as straightforward as

Brawn and blades are not the only foundations for

sprinkling sugar on a cut lemon or scattering salt

effective juicing. Chemistry works as well. You

onto slices of cabbage or eggplant. Before long,

can add pectinase enzymes to fruit, for example,

some of the juice inside the cells migrates across

to break down the tough polysaccharides in the

the cell walls and starts to accumulate around the

plant cell walls. Treating even hard-textured

fruit or vegetable, and it can easily be collected.

fruits such as apples, pears, or pineapple with

This juicing method is most useful when you are

pectinase will make them go soft, thus boosting

preparing very salty dishes, such as sauerkraut (see

the juice yield.

page 3351), or very sweet juices for a sorbet or

Enzyme treatments also work on meats. Apply

Small, tasty molecules such as sugar

and salt work best at drawing juices
out of food. Larger molecules such
as starch do not have the same
osmotic effect.

fruit coulis.

the proteolytic enzyme bromolain (a naturally

occurring component of pineapple juice) to the
meat before you press it to double the yield of

Squeezing by Ice and Fire

natural juices extracted.

When a fruit freezes, minuscule dagger-like ice

Another gentle juicing tactic suggested by

crystals form inside, puncturing the cell walls. As

chemistry works by drawing the juices out of the

the ice crystals grow, they force sugars, flavor

food by exploiting a phenomenon known as

compounds, and other juice components into the

osmo sis. Think of osmosis as the chemical

remaining liquid juice, which lowers the freezing

version of water seeking its own level. If very

point of the sweetened juice. So if you freeze the

salty water is adjacent to less salty water and a

fruit, then thaw it, highly concentrated juice

permeable barrier of some kind prevents the salt

emerges first; less concentrated juice follows as the

molecules from moving freely, the water mole -

crystals of ice melt. This approach is very well

cules try to even things up by diffusing through

suited for juicing sweet fruits, such as raspberries

the barrier from the less salty side to the saltier

and blueberries.

Freezing is one of our favorite methods for

concentrating flavors. For more details, see
Freezing Out the Good Stuff. page 396.

JUICING STRATEGIES
HOW TO Extract juice From Plants with Pectinase
Enzymes ca n cleave the co mpo unds that glu e together the wa lls of plant cells, softe ning fruits
an d vegetables a nd thus free ing th em to ex press their juices. It may be tim e-cons uming to
macerate fruits o r vegetables in a so luti o n of naturally occurring e nzymes such as pectinase,
butthis a pproach avo ids so me of the problems that occu r w hen foods are juiced mechanically,
suc h as browning, cloudiness, and bitterness. The assistance of pectinase is particularly helpful
for re moving juice from tougher plant foods, such as a pples, pears, and carrots. Th e enzymatic
treatment dra mati call y improves juice yie lds.

1
2

Peel the fruit and vegetable.

Puncture the skin with needles (optional). Th e perforation will
acce lerate the infusion of th e so lution and thus speed extractio n.

5 Refrigerate until the juice has been expressed. Several hours to

3 Add pectinase enzymes to water atthe concentration recommended

seve ral days of chilling may be required, depending on the size and the
durability of the fruits or vegetab les. For faster results, wa rm the bag in
a water bath at a temperature below 50 c I 122 f for up to 4 h.

by the manufacturer.

Vacuum seal the food with the enzymatic solution. Use as littl e wate r
as poss ibl e to avoid diluting the juice.

Strain, pressing lightly on the solids to yield more juices.

HOW TO Extract juice by Osmosis

Dissolving suga r in the small amo unt of water o n the surface of a fruit o r
vegetab le will c reate a so luti on conce ntrated enough to pull the
abu nd a nt, flavor-laden liqu id from inside its cell s to the o utsid e .

Wash and dry fruit or vegetable pieces.

Salt has the same effect and may be more appetizi ng for ce rtai n vegetabl es. A good way to accelerate the osmos is process is to cut the food
into sm all e r pi eces.

Coat in sugar or sa lt. Use glu cose instead of

sucrose for a final product that is less sweet.

Optionally, vacuum-sea l a nd place in warm

water bath . Higher temperatures, up to
60 c I 140 "F, wi ll speed the process.

An ultrasonic bath (see page 415} is helpful for increasing yield when either pectinase or osmosis is used.

336

3 Warm for a few hours to extract the juice.

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Decant the juice through a sieve (not

shown}.

10
HOW TO Extract juice By Freezing
Freezing may seem like a passive approach compared with pressing
or pulverizing the food , but it can actually yield more juice and more
intensely flavored , deeply colored liquid, than mechanical

approaches alone . The process exploits the power of ice crysta ls

to rupture cells. After thawing, the ce ll s g ive up their juices with
little effort.

1 Seal food in freezer bag. This approach

works particularly well for berries, such as
blueberries or raspberries.

Freeze for as long as possible. It's

ideal to store summer berries into
the winter. Long-term frozen storage
with periodic freeze-thaw cycles
produces the largest ice crystals.

T HE MODERN I ST KIT CH EN

Thaw(notshown).

juice.

5 Strain.

337

Juicing Strategies

leftover strawberry juice that's been sitting in the

It's one thing to extract an intensely flavored juice,

fridge.

but it's quite another to keep that juice fresh and

Another challenge that comes with juicing is

appetizing until it reaches the table. The cellular

the reality that many juices brown fast. Just as a

destruction that occurs during juicing both helps

hard punch in the eye soon produces a black and

and hinders freshness. Many of the flavors we like

blue shiner, trauma to plant tissues can turn them

in fresh juice form only as the cells fall apart,

brown. Being run through a juicer counts as a

flavor-creating enzymes that previously had been

highly traumatic event.

Browning is actually a defense mechanism. If a

locked inside cells. But the tissue damage also

sometimes releases destructive enzymes that

plant gets scratched, smacked, or otherwise

wreak havoc on flavor, aroma, and pigment

injured, it becomes vulnerable to infection. To

compounds.

defend against germs, it raises antimicrobial

The distinctive aroma of onions, garlic, and

cabbage, for example, come into being only as a

defenses. In particular, the tissue releases the

enzyme polyphenol oxidase, or PPO, which leads

result of enzymatic transformations that occur

to the production of protective compounds such

when the cell walls are ruptured. The same is true

as tannins and to brown color.

To prevent discoloration, therefore, one strate-

of the characteristic flavors of fruits like strawberries and tomatoes. Because enzymatic reactions

gy is to restrain the activity ofPPO. You can

occur over time, the flavor of some foods, say, a

destroy PPO with heat, but even at a boil this can

ripe strawberry, is the result of rapidly changing

take minutes and is enough to wreck some of the

concentrations of various enzymatically created

fresh aromas. Chilling the juice, in contrast, slows

the browning almost immediately because

aromas.
The sometimes dramatic evolution of flavors
over short periods oftime helps explain why no

enzymatic reactions slow down drastically as the

temperature drops.

one has yet found a way to artificially replicate

You also need to worry about the pulp, where

true strawberry flavor and capture it in a bottle.

the concentrations of oxidizing enzymes and their

For many foods, the flavor of an essence is akin to

molecular targets are much higher. The pulp

playing its entire symphony of flavor notes all at

usually browns long before the juice changes color.

once, rather than releasing the sequence of

Pigments derived from PPO are soluble in water, so

individually orchestrated molecular interactions

they slip right into the juice. Straining out the pulp

that underpin the food 's real flavor profile.

as completely as possible before it has a chance to

The moment that the supply of precursor

molecules runs dry, however, the enzymatic

discolor the juice will preserve the fresh color of

the juice.
The practical implications of all this are pretty

flavor-making chemistry shuts down. And all too

soon, the less stable flavor compounds start to

Although sulfites are widely used as

preservatives in the food industry,
some people are unab le to tolerate
even small quantities of them (see
page 1238).

338

straightforward: keep the food you are juicing as

break down. True freshness is fleeting indeed.

cold as is practical, and strain the pulp out prompt-

One simple way to extend the freshness

ly. To further slow browning and the formation of

window of some juices is to add a little freshly

unwanted pigments, add antioxidants such as

squeezed juice. This strategy provides fresh

vitamin C (ascorbic acid) if the acidic taste will

material for the enzymes, inducing them to

not be too disruptive. Or add more neutral-tasting

unlock a new wave of flavor. A few just-juiced

and potent preservatives such as sulfites (used

strawberries will, for example, renew a bowl of

widely in winemaking) or sodium benzoate.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

MEYER LEMONADE

Yields 325 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

Meyer lemo n juice

300g

100%

PROCEDURE

CD Centrifuge at27,500g for1

0
Fructose

30g

10%

h.

Decant juice and stra in through fine sieve.

Citric acid

1.5g

0.5%

Whisk into clarified juice until dissolved and

reserve .

Gum arabic

5g

1.7%

@) Blend together until fu lly emu lsifi ed.

Water

2g

1%

Add 1.5 g of emu lsion to sweetened juice.

Lemon essential oil

0.12g
(seve n drops}

0.04%

Hand-bl end until smooth.

Strain through fine sieve.

Always add the essentia l oi l just

before serving. The acidity of the
juice wi ll destroy the essence. This
is why the best quality citrus oils are
made by removing the peel before
cold pressing so there is no chance
for the acidic fruit juice to damage
the peel oil.

Chill before serving.

(2010}

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SOUS VIDE BERRY JUICE

Yields50g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Blackberries (fresh}

lOOg

100%

CD Combine.

Sugar

7g

7%

lsoma lt

5g

5%

Cook so us vide in 65 c I 149 F bath for 1 h.

Vacuum seal sweetened berry mixture.

@) Remove from bag, and coo l at room

temperature.

This process works equa lly we ll for

blueberries, raspberries, and
strawberries.

Strain through fine sieve; discard pulp.

Chill before serving.
(2010}

EXAMPLE RECIPE

MELON WATER

Yields100g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

Melon juice

lOOg
(from 200 g of
melon}

100%

Fructose

5g

5%

PROCEDURE

CD Whisk together an d season to taste.

Lim e juice

2.5g

2.5%

Tartaric acid

[Link]

0.5%

Sa lt

to taste

Centrifuge at 27,500g for1 h.

Decant on ly clear juice.

@) Vacuum sea l, and refrigerate until use.

(2009}

340

VOLUME 2 TECHN IQUES AND EQUIPMENT

The flavor of melon is created by

enzymatic reactions during juicing.
The fresh flavor can be reinvigorated by adding a small amount of
fresh melon juice to the batch just
before to serving.

10
EXAMPlE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

GREEN ASPARAGUS AND MORELS WITH ASPARAGUS JUS

Yields 650 g (fo ur portions)

ADAPTED FROM JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Pencil green asparagus,

unpee led

200g

80%

CD juice with Champion-style juicer.

0 Measure 50 gfor recipe.

Asparagus juice,
from above

50g

20%

Ascorbic acid

0.4g

0.16%
(0. 8%)*

jumbo green asparagus,

sta lks peeled

250g
(eight stalks)

100%

Clarified unsa lted butter

25g

10%

jumbo green asparagus,

stalks peeled

250g
(eight stalks)

100%

Clarified unsalted butter

25g

10%

Morels,
thoroughly washed

120g

48%

Unsalted butter

50g

20%

Shallot, finely minced

30g

12%

Vin jaune (or Fino she rry) 25g

10%

Heavy cream

15g

6%

Instant hollandaise

BOg

32%

Whisk ascorbic acid immediately into fresh juice to prevent browning.

@) Vacuum seal.

Refrigerate.
Saute for 3 min on all sid es until ju st tender and go ld en.

Remove from heat, and reserve.

see page 4213

Vacuum seal.
Cook so us vide in 85 "C I 185 "F bath for 12 min, imm ediately remove from bag, and reserve.

see page 4228

@ Meanwhile, sweat together for 5 min until tender and just cooked through.

@ Add to morels, and cook for 3 min.

@ Warm to 65 "C/ 149 "F.
@ Dispense from siphon, and fold into morels.
@ Set aside, and keep warm.

Asparagus puree

50 g

20%

see page 424

@ Warm prepared asparagus juice over medium heat.

@ Whisk in puree.

Unsalted butter

lOg

Lim e juice

to taste

Salt

to taste

Flaky sea salt

to taste

4%

@ Whisk into warm thickened ju s until fully emu lsified.

@ Season jus.
@ Reheat reserved asparagus sta lks.
@ Season.
@ Place two so us vide cooked sta lks and two pan fried stalks in center of each plate.

Chive blossoms
(or finely minced chives)

10 g

(original1997, adapted 2010)

4%

@ Garnish w ith warm morels and blossoms.

Pour jus around plates at table.

*(%oftotal weight ofasparagus juice)

THE MODERNI ST KITCHEN

341

10
Jus, not Stock
Despite their central role in commercial kitchens,
meat stocks are in reality something of a cheat.
Stocks were developed as substitutes for an even
more fundamental and desirable essence of
cooked meat: its juice, or jus.
Cooking meat causes collagen to shrink, which
makes the meat squeeze itself to the point that
juice leaks from it. To make jus, you want to create
flavors within the roasting meat, then extract
them. Meat jus is the liquid component of the
cooked flesh that has been separated from the
solid parts. When you roast a chicken, steak, or leg
oflamb, you can usually coax out a few tablespoons of jus just by pressing on the cooked meat.
But that's just too little jus to be practical for the
saucing needs of a busy kitchen.
The main advantage of a stock in which flavor is
pulled from meat and vegetables using slow heat
and water, is that it secures a substantial portion of
the flavor that jus provides without the need to
roast lots of animals. Stocks simply cost less to

tant nonenzymatic browning process that is largely

responsible for the meaty aromas of roasting.
Small changes in the temperature or moisture
content at the meat's surface can dramatically
favor one or another of the many reaction pathways that are possible during cooking. This fact
helps explain why boiled meat, roasted meat, and
fried meat all taste different. As the meats cook,
each method of cooking causes different sets of
chemical reactions to prevail. These reaction
generate many of the volatile compounds that
distinguish the flavor of boiled beef from that of a
roasted lamb or a fried chicken.
Unlike boiled meat in a stock, roasting meat
browns on its surface. The jus forms primarily in
the hotter and drier regions, which are reaction
zones where watery liquids emerge from inside
and then evaporate, leaving a concentrated residue
of oily and intensely flavored jus to drip into the
pan below.
Water wicks from the interior of the meat to its
surface, carrying with it new raw materials that

make than jus does, and they yield much larger

feed the ongoing flavor-generating reactions. But

quantities.

because ofFick's law-the rules governing

diffusion of flavor compounds described previous-

A stock does not taste like a jus, however, because the two contain different molecular ingredients. Analyze the composition of a jus, and you' ll
find countless cellular constituents that saturate the
water in meat, among them large protein molecules,
savory peptides, and amino acids, sugars, salts, and
myriad oily compounds, including lipids and fatty
acids.
You'll also find a rich ensemble of flavor compounds in jus that form by a complex sequence of
heat-driven chemical reactions called Maillard
reactions. These chemical transformations, first
described by the French chemist Louis Camille
Maillard in 1912, occur when you heat at high
temperature a mixture of certain sugars and amino
acids. The Maillard reactions constitute an impor-

ly in Extracting Flavors-no more than 20% or so

of the water in a roast migrates to the surface to
supply compounds for these reactions. So you
never get a whole lot of jus, but the little you do get
is almost ethereal in nature.
In everyday home cooking, you can typically
harvest enough jus from a roast chicken or leg of

For more on Maillard reactions, see page 3-89.

lamb-some of it as classic, superconcentrated

fond, otherwise known as pan scrapings-to
prepare enough gravy or soup for the dinner table.
But busy commercial kitchens must settle for an
approximation of jus; stocks represent the only
practical and affordable means to produce rich
cooking bases in sufficient volume to meet the
desires of the diners and the needs of the market.

Squeezing in cheesecloth is a traditional way to

wring juice from food.

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

343

PARAMETRIC RECIPE

JUS

Jus (pronounced "zhew" in French) means juice. It refers to a

cooking valuable meat just for its jus. Reducing a stock to yield a

simple sauce made from the natural juices that escape from

more concentrated, seasoned liquid creates something that

foods-usually meats-as they cook. To make a jus, you collect

mimics jus but isn't the same.

those juices and skim off the fat. An unadulterated jus makes a

Modernist tools such as sous vide equipment and pressure

highly flavorful accompaniment for roasted meats.

cookers-as well as ingredients such as proteolytic enzymes-

Unfortunately, natural jus is a precious commodity because

makes it easy to make good, natural jus with less fuss and
waste. The table below lists several ways to create a thicker

you sacrifice the quality of the source food to make it. But you
can sometimes collect jus by pressing and sieving trimmed

mouth-feel and viscosity; effects on the flavor and yield vary

portions that are not meant to be served and thereby avoid

by strategy.

Best Bets for jus

Recipe

(scaling)

Liquid

beef juice
n/ a
--------------------beefjus
brown beef stock
red win e
chicken juice

Prote in

(scaling) Aromatic

gro und beef

100%

(sca ling)
n/ a

100%

ground beef

35%

carrot, thinly sliced

12%

30%

oxtail, jointed

15%

onion, thinly sliced

10%

n/ a
brown chicken stock 100%
chicken juice (from
40%
above)

ground chicken

100%

ground chicken wing

15%

shallot, thinl y sliced

20%

chicken foot

8%

dri e d morel

5.0%

thyme

0 .1%

n/ a

--------------------~--------~~--------------------------------~-------------

brown chicken jus

mushroom jus

mussel jus

fino sherry

20%

mushroom stock

100%

fino sherry

20%

shallot, thinl y sliced

white port

10%

whit e miso

7.0%

tamari

1%

thyme

0 .1%

white wine

10%

shallot

10%

bay leaf

0 .01 %

--

pork and Banyuls

roasting jus

crimini mushroom, thinly 75%

sliced

n/ a

brown pork stock

Banyuls win e

mussels
-

100%
------

-----

100%

ground pork shoulder

75 %

25%

ground pork trotter skin

and meat

10%

I
I

swe et onion, thinly sliced

8%

carrot, thinly sliced

7%

rare beef jus

water

5%

beef, cubed

100%

n/ a

rare salmon jus

water

5%

salmon fillet, cubed

100%

n/ a

shellfish jus

shellfish stock

40%

shellfish heads

100%

white wine

38%

vermouth

13%

onion juice, clarified

100%

carrot juice, clarified

80%

vegetable jus

----

---------

344

--

tarragon ex tract

1.5%

white pe pper

to taste

I
n/ a

celery juice, clarified 55%

leek juice, clarified

20%

30%

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

n/ a

THICKENING STRATEGIES FOR SAUCES, JUS, AND GLAZES

Strategy

He at

Speed

Yield

Note

Uses

See page

reduce on stove to p

high

fast

low

high heat strips away volati les

red eye gravy

brown beef jus
garlic jus in a jar

5101
348

reduce by vacuum
evaporation

low

moderate

low

more vibrant flavor

after reduction

pork Banyuls jus

osso buco glaze
app le and cabbage
juice

519
560
389

concentrate w ith agar

high

fast

low

the amount of liquid that

weeps from the gel
determines the intensity

fruit juices

372

co ncentrate by f reezing

low

slow

low

best bet for many liquids;

yie lds an intense, vibrant flavor

mushroom jus
shellfish jus
mandarin juice

348
below
3356

thicken w ith fat

(e mulsification)

n/ a

fast

high

rich mouthfeel and a flavor

that varies with the kind of fat
used; diminishes the intensity
of flavors

sauce americaine
constructed veal cream
jus gras
prawn jus
smoked salmon jus

5184
5 31
5113
347

thicken with fluid gel

varies

moderate

high

vibrant flavor; suitab le only for

liquids that tolerate cooking;
good for th icker sauces

tajine glaze
pot-au-feu jus

5-49

thicken with gum

usually not
required

fast

high

best bet for raw juices

and thin sauces

salmis sauce
rare beef jus
jus de roti
rare sa lm on jus
truffle jus

5 125
349
454
5161
453

thicken with
pregelatinized starch

n/ a

fast

high

good strategy for raw juices

and thin sauces; diminishes
the intensity of flavors

garum jus
rare salmon jus
so us vide vegetable jus

5107

EXAMPlE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SOUS VIDE MUSSEL JUICE

YieldslOO g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Mussels, rinsed thoroughly

with beards removed

lkg

100%

CD Vacuum seal in one even layer.

0 Steam for4 min.
Shock in ice-water bath.

Shuck, and reserve meat for another use.

Strain rendered mussel juices from bag and

shel ls.
Vacuum sea l and refrigerate until use.
(2010)

346

VO lUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

Musse l ju ice is class ically used to

acce ntuate the flavor of seafood
broths a nd sauces. This sous vide
method ex tracts the juices from the
mussels without overcooking them
so the meat can be used as a
ga rnish for cooked fish (see page
5151). Inspect mussels carefu ll y and
discard any dead or sa ndy she llfish.
These ca n spoil the juice.

1
EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

JUS DE LA PRESSE

INSPIRED BY ALAIN DUCASSE

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

Lobste r heads

600g
100%
(about four heads)

SCALING

Yields350 g

PROCEDURE

Q Saute until she ll s are golden and very aromatic, about 10 min.

Baste co nstantly with butter to cook through.

Clarifi ed unsalted butter

60g

10%

White wine (dry)

200g

33%

Combine with extracted lobste r juices.

Lobster stock

120g

20%

Reduce lobster juice by half.

Place heads in basket of wine press.

@) Extract juices by crush ing she ll s comp lete ly w ith wine press.

see page296

Cognac

30g

5%

Lobster roe

BOg

13%

Unsalted butter

BOg

13%

6%

Olive oil

35g

Lemon juice

to taste

Salt

to taste

0 Blend with warm reduction until fu lly em ul sified .

Season .

(published 2001, adapted 2010)

EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SOUS VIDE VEGETABLE JUS

INGREDIENT

Yields 750 g

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Yellow onions, thinly sli ced 400 g

100%

Q Prepare vegetab les as noted.

Carrot, peeled and

thinly sliced

270g

67.5%

Water

160g

40%

Celery, peeled and

thinly sliced

120g

30%

Leek, white only,

thinly sli ced

120g
(from 275 g pee led leeks)

30%

Unsalted butter, cubed

45g

11%

Lemo n juice

to taste

Salt

to taste

Comb in e, and vacuum seal.

Cook so us vide in B5 C/ 1B5 OF bath for 3 h.

@) Stra in through fine sieve, and coo l.

To serve, heat stock to B5 C/ 1B5 F.

Blend in butter until fu lly emu lsified.
0 Season .

(2010)

EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SOUS VIDE PRAWN JUS

INGREDIENT

Yields250 g

QUANTITY

SCALING

Prawn heads

400g

100%

(!) Comb ine.

Shellfish stock

160g

40%

see page 296

PROCEDURE

Grin d coa rse ly in food processor.

Vacuum sea l.

Vermouth (d ry)

BOg

20%

@) Cook so us vide in BB oc I 190 F bath for1Y2 h.

Tarragon extract

6g

1.5%

@ Wh iskin.

Stra in thro ugh fine sieve.

see page310

Salt

to taste

W hite pepper

to taste

Shel lfish butter (see page 329) is the

product of a very different approach to extracting flavor than the
one used here. Try both approaches to see what each one offers.

0 Season.

(2010)

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

347

EXAMPLE REC IPE

LAMB GARLIC JUS IN AJAR

Yields300g

IN GREDI ENT

Q UANTITY

SCA LI NG

PRO CEDURE

<IJ Pan fry ground lamb until golden.

0 Reserve meat and 10 g of rendered fat.

l a mb trim, gro und

1 kg

100%

Frying o il

90g

9%

Carrots, peeled a nd thinly

sliced

300g

30%

Prepare vegetab les as noted.

@) Saute together in saucepan with reserved lamb fat, until tender.

Shallots, thinly sliced

200g

20%

Sweet o ni ons, thinly sliced

150g

15%

Fe nn e l, thinly sliced

125g

12.5%

Ga rlic, pee led and thinly sli ced 50 g

5%

Re d bell pe ppe r, thinly sli ced

SOg

5%

To mato paste

25g

2.5%

Add to vegetab les, and increase heat to high.

Star anise, crushed

3g

0.3%

St ir mixture continuously unti l go lden brown and fragrant, about3 min.

Water

500g

50%

0 Deglaze pot, and stir in browned meat.

W hite wine

200g

20%

Remove from heat.

Thyme

5g

0 .5%

Bay leaf

2g

0 .2%

Divide mixture equa lly between two Mason jars.

@ Seal jars, and place on rack in pressure cooker.
@ Fi ll cooker with water to cover bottom 2.5 em I 1 in of jars.
@ Pressure-cook at a gauge pressure of 1 bar I 15 psi for 1Y2 h.
@ Remove jars from cooker, remove lids, and coo l jus to room temperat ure.

l e mo n juice

to taste

@ Stra in stock.

Salt

to taste

@ Reduce stra ined stock until thi ckened, about 12 min, and season.

(2009)

EXAMPLE REC IPE

MUSHROOM JUS

Yields270g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCA LING

PRO CED URE

Crimini mushroo ms,

thinl y sliced

150g

60%

<Il Sa ute mus hrooms and sha ll ots toget her in

Shallots, th inly sliced

40g

16%

Cla rified unsalted butte r

25g

10%

Mushroo m stock

200g

80%

Fin o sherry

40g

16%

White po rt (dry)

20g

8%

Pressure-cook at a gauge press ure of1 bar I

15 ps i for 25 min.

b utte r until deep go lden brown, abo ut 12 mi n.

see page296

To make canned juice, use a

pressure canner and ventfor10 min.

Comb ine with cooked mushroom mixture in

pressure cooker.
For juicing methods, see page 338.

@) Strain through fine sieve, and discard solids.

Measure 250 g of mushroom jus.
Mushroom jus, fro m a bove

250g

100%

Blend together unti l disso lved.

W hite miso

14g

5.6%

0 Stra in .

Tama ri soy sauce

2g

0.8%

Thyme

2g

0.8%

Ko njacgum

0.75g

0.3%

Salt

to taste

She rry vinegar

to taste

Season.

(2 010)

348

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

This mushroom jus is richer and

more fu ll-flavored than a simple
mushroom stock. It is impo rtant to
stir the konjac gum continuously
for a few minutes to ensure that it
is fu lly hydrated and that no
clumps form .

1
EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SOUS VIDE RARE BEEF JUS

Yields350 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Beef (preferably a tough cut)

1 kg

100%

Bromelain powder(optional,
NOW brand)

2g

0.2%

CD Cut into 1 em I Y2 in cubes .

0 Combine meat and bromelain (optional)
Cook sous vide in 53 oc 1 128 F bath for4 h.
@) Strain rendered juices through fine sieve, and
measure 300 g of juice.

Water

SOg

Salt

to taste

Season.

Sherry vinegar

to taste

5%

Rare beef jus created this way ca n

be used for many purposes.
Tougher meats may require more
time to release their juice.

Comb ine w ith juice.

Vacuum sea l, and refrigerate. Do not reheat

above 53 oc I 127 F, or jus will coagu late.

(2010)

4a

EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SOUS VIDE BEEF JUICE

Yields300 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Ground lea n beef

1 kg

100%

CD Vacuum seal.
0 Cook so us vide in 90 oc I 194 F bath for 1Y, h.
Strain juice, and discard meat.
@) Cool juice comp letely.
Vacuum seal, and refrigerate until use.

This process ca n be applied to all

types of meats. Using the resulting
juice, although mo re costly than
water, is a more flavor ful alternative
than using water to make broths
and sa uces.

(2010)

THE MODERNI ST KITCHEN

349

10
FILTERING
Much of what goes on in a kitchen revolves around
separating the components of mixtures. When a

be made into constructed creams that have a

consistency similar to that of dairy cream but with

cook pours a pot of pasta into a colander, the water

runs out through the holes as the colander retains

dramatically different flavors. Once you have used

a centrifuge in your kitchen, it's hard to imagine

the steaming pasta. When a winemaker removes

yeast particles from wine, the segregation process

going without one.

is more involved, requiring a filtration system that

pumps the wine through a series of cellulose pads

for a centrifuge. More conventional separation

techniques can be faster and easier to use. So we

that trap the solids.

begin by looking at the simplest and most widely

Cooks use separation techniques to make food

But not every cook has the room or the budget

used filtering technique: the basic sieve.

smoother, clearer, cleaner, less gritty, and otherwise finer in some way. Often they want to eliminate certain components in the mix to refine a
dish 's flavor or to adjust its texture and mouthfeel.
In the case of soup, straining out solid particles
that are larger than the tongue can discriminateabout 7 microns, a mere 0.0003 inch, in sizesmooths out the broth. And cooks regularly
remove selected elements from a dish to improve

Straining and Sieving

Any home kitchen has a colander and a wiremesh strainer. These common implements are
handy for separating large, solid pieces of food
from a pot of water or a newly prepared stock.
But they represent the coarser end of a range of
separation methods. At the other extreme are

its appearance-recognizing, for example, that

tools for extracting "fines," which are consider-

diners prefer a clear broth to a turbid one.

ably smaller particles.

All methods of filtering segregate solid parti-

One step down the separation spectrum from

cles from the liquids in which they are suspended. Filters fall along a spectrum defined by the

the standard strainer sits the cone-shaped chinois,

whose supposed resemblance to a Chinese peas-

size of the particles they can remove. The smaller

the pore size of the filter, the more pressure you

ant's hat earned it that name. The mesh of the

chinois is finer than that of a household strainer.

must apply to force the liquid through the porous

media. There is a whole toolbox full of filtering

Cooks seeking even smoother, clearer liquids can

methods available to Modernist chefs. Some

line the conical bed of the chino is with cheesecloth or muslin sheets, which catch even tinier

options separate mechanically; others rely on

gravitational, centrifugal, chemical, or other

particles in their cotton-fiber meshes.

Even better are laboratory sieves, which special-

phenomena.

ists in the mineral, chemical, and other industries

use to segregate minute particles by size. The

For example, a centrifuge, although costly, can

spin foodstuffs at tens of thousands of revolutions
per minute, which can lead to unexpected culinary possibilities. Using such a machine can allow

finest laboratory sieves feature mesh apertures

that range down to about 20 microns-that is less
than a thousandth of an inch and about one-third

you, for instance, to easily separate the pulp from

any puree to create a clear, flavorful consomme in

the diameter of a human hair!

mere minutes.

can yield purees with a rich, velvety texture or

that can be used to strain a soup and give it a silky

A centrifuge can spin fat out of all kinds of

foods. Fats extracted from vegetables and nuts can

These sieves are relatively inexpensive tools that

smooth texture. Some cooks deploy laboratory

Sieves are the most common separation tools in any kitchen.

At the extreme, sieving becomes filtration. an essential technique
of refinement.

THE MO DE RNI ST KITC HE N

351

STRATEGIES FOR FILTERING LIQUIDS AND CLARIFYING CONSOMMES

Filtering a liquid can remove murkiness caused by droplets
of fat, bits of sediment, or other kinds of particles. The process
can be as simple as pouring a stock or fruit juice through a
laboratory sieve or stirring in a fining agent such as bentonite
or methylcellulose. Agar and freeze clarification work
by trapping fines and crystals in a web of gel, allowing

only clear liquid to escape. The centrifuge is often the most

efficient clarification tool because it rapidly separates solids,
liquids, and oils all at once.
Select a strategy that best matches the heat tolerance and
the degree of clarification, desired yield, and convenience
you need .
Applications

Strategy

Fruit a nd
vegetable
juice or broth

Heat

Clarity

Speed

Yield

agar filtration

cold

very good

fast

moderate

centrifuge

n/ a

good to
excellent

fast

high

enzyme clarification

cold to
warm

good

slow

high

fine lab sieve

n/ a

adequate
to poor

very fast

high

bentonite or polyclar
fining

varies

varies
widely

slow

high

protein or
methylcellulose fining

hot

good to
excellent

moderate

moderate

gelatin ice filtration

cold

good to
excellent

very slow

low

vacuum filtration

n/ a

good to
excellent

varies
widely

varies
widely

pressure filtration

n/ a

good to
excellent

varies
widely

varies
widely

Unfiltered meat
stock

352

Buchner funnel
with coffee filter

Centrifuge

"

"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"

Methocel raft

at27,500g

VO LUME 2 TECHN I QU ES AND EQUIP M ENT

Meat or
seafood
broth

High-fat
liquid

sometimes
sometimes

Agar filtration

See
page

351

"
"
"
"
"
"

Puree

"
"
"
"
"

"

360

"

351

359
370

"

356
358

Gelatin ice
filtration

10

Kitchens everywhere have colanders and

basic sieves. But laboratory sieves come
in a much broader array of aperture sizes,
ranging from 20 microns to several
centimeters. We recommend having
a 70 micron sieve, a 120 micron sieve,
and a 250 micron sieve for versatility.

sieves to improve their control over the strength

of the spices they add to dishes. Grinding pep-

precisely. The size of the breading particles on a

cutlet determines how well the particles adhere to

percorns, for example, produces particles in a

the meat and how much oil they soak up. These

wide range of sizes, which, in turn, impart

properties help govern just how crispy and

crunchy the resulting cutlet becomes as it cooks.

varying degrees of spiciness to food. Smaller

pieces pack more punch than larger ones, and the
tiniest bits can cause overs pieing if they are not
meted out judiciously. Sieving out the finer

Filtering by Push and Pull

pepper fragments that yields a milder, crunchy

Sieving and straining rely on the relatively weak

force of gravity to coax the liquid through a porous

seasoning on, say, a steak.

barrier. A pair of somewhat more forceful tech-

powder leaves behind a coarser collection of

Cooks can also use sieves to manage the

properties of breaded and fried dishes more

niques, vacuum filtration and pressure filtration,

comes straight out of Chemistry 101.

Tomato juice (below) or meat stock

(previous page) attains a range of clarities
when filtered by various means. In general.
the higher the clarity, slower the filtration
or the lower the yield. Each of the
examples below started with 500 ml I
Y, qt of source liquid.

Unfiltered
tomato juice

Buchner funnel
with coffee filter

Centrifuge
at27,500g

Methocel raft

TH E MOD ERNIST KITCHEN

Agar filtration

Gelatin ice
filtration

353

At the heart of vacuum filtration is the ceramic

Buchner funnel, an 1885 invention of the
German chemist Ernst Buchner. It is a large
funnel topped with a cup that has a flat, perforated bottom called the frit. The frit provides
support for filter paper that sieves solids from

fineness, in styles that are less prone to clogging,

and in sizes just right for the Buchner funnel being
used. A good choice of filter paper is one that
retains medium to fine particles from 4-7 microns

liquids as they pass into the funnel, and go

through a downspout and into a collection flask

and that is still rated as having a medium to fast

(see Filters That Suck, page 356).

The key to vacuum filtration is the removal of

flow rate (such as Whatman 597 filter paper).

Coarse-spun glass or quartz-fiber prefilters can be

air from the flask by the suction pump (see page

356). The higher atmospheric pressure above the

layered on top of the filter paper to catch the

funnel pushes down on any liquid it contains-or,

looked at another way, the vacuum below sucks

biggest particles.
This apparatus works well for quickly filtering
plant juices to sparkling clarity, but it doesn't do

the liquid through the filter.

The setup looks a bit like a chemist's version of a

a very good job on stocks and broths. Fat and oil

tend to flow through the filter paper and may

drip coffee maker, and it is about as simple to

operate. The first step is to place filter paper in the

even be broken into finer droplets that make the

stock more cloudy and turbid than before filtering! If the stock is cool enough that the fat

funnel. It must completely cover the bottom plate

and the holes. Wet the paper with some water,
then turn on the vacuum pump. The filter paper
A standard laboratory BUchner funnel,
combined with an Erlenmeyer side-arm
flask and a vacuum pump, offers a simple
and robust way to quickly filter many
juices for sparkling clarity.

A paper coffee filter will work, but laboratory

filter paper is a better choice. Standard laboratory
cellulose filter papers come in many grades of

should be sucked flat against the frit. Then pour in

the liquid to be filtered, and wait for it to drip into
the flask.

droplets are solid particles, then filtering can

remove them. Unfortunately, at temperatures
cold enough to solidify the fat, the gelatin in
meat juices often can become a problem. Cold
stocks and broths are thick or even gelled,
resistant to flowing through a filter.
If the job is small and cost is not a huge concern,
then it is possible to filter a stock or broth to
prepare a consomme with the clarity of, say,
Scotch whiskey in a bottle. Special membrane
filter media have pores rated at 0.22 microns or
finer, which is so fine that filtering the stock (while
warm) will break up the oil droplets into a microemulsion that is crystal clear. A consomme
prepared this way has a remarkably rich flavor
(because it contains all of the flavorful oils) that is
unmatched by consommes produced by other
means of clarification.
Unfortunately, fine membrane filters are
expensive and tend to clog quickly, and the filtered
consomme will become cloudy again if you chill it
because the extremely small oil droplets will
aggregate into bigger fat droplets that scatter light.
So this approach to filtering a broth is best done to
order. For convenience, it's possible to buy selfcontained disposable filter cups that have suitably
fine membranes. Each cup will typically filter a
couple of portions before it fouls and must be
discarded.
For any kind of filtering, filters with larger
surface areas will clarify more liquid before

354

VOlUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

10
HOW TO Clarify Juice With A Buon Vi no Pressure Filter
Thi s pressure fi ltration system was developed to clarify wi nes. But why
stop there? It also provides an efficient and compact way to fi lter oth er
cloudy liquid s. The Buon Vi no e lectri c pump pushes juices through
side-by-side plates and then through paper filters with 1-2 mi cro n po res.
Th e filtered juice is then co ll ected through a hose. The o nly caveat whe n
using the syste m is that it does not work we ll w ith ge latinous liqu ids such
as meat stocks, which quickly clog the filte r pads.

1
2

mL 0--500 ml

s'

~ m..

iEX~

Wet and insertthefilterpads.

Pump hot water through the filter. Stop when the water co ming off the
pads no lo nge r has a pape ry taste. Slightly acidic water works best.

!5%

100 - - 400
200--300
300--200

Filter the liquid byfollowingthe manufacturer's instructions. If flow

slows dramatically, stop, and change th e filter pads. Typically, you ca n
filter seve ral gallons before this is necessa ry.

400-- 100

Filter pads sandwiched

between metal frames
and plastic plates

Filtered liquid

Collection vessel for

liquid that leaks

Drip tray

THE MODERNIST KI TCHEN

Electric pump

Unfiltered liquid

355

fouling. Bigger funnels have more surface area

extremely clear fluids. For clarifying plant juices,

and will filter more liquid faster. Ultimately,

we find the Buon Vino Super Jet models both

however, vacuum filtration systems can muster

simple and effective.

only so much suck. The vacuum strength can

never exceed atmospheric pressure (1 bar I

Fining

15 psi) and in practice won't even reach that level.

To filter larger quantities at a faster rate, you

The word "fining" suggests a kind of precise

need a more elaborate piece of equipment, one

elegance. Unlike sieving and filtration, which

that uses positive pressure rather than a simple

separate solids from liquids by strictly physical

vacuum. A pressure filter encloses the filter in

means, fining exploits any one of a range of

between sturdy metal plates. Liquid flows through

chemical techniques to improve the clarity or

channels in the frames to and from the filter pads.

adjust the flavor or aroma of broths, wines, juices,

An electric pump then boosts the pressure above

and other liquids.

the filter to 7 bar I 100 psi. Specialized pumps

used in indust ry filter at pressures many times
higher than that.

Fining is a versatile technique for

clarifying liquids. Fining agents range from
the common (egg wh ites) to the exotic
(silica), but all work to improve clarity
while minimizing the loss of flavor.

358

Fining agents work by modifying smallmolecule compounds, usually organic chemicals,

in ways that make them easier to sieve, filter,

One of the more practical pressure-filtration

centrifuge, or simply settle out of the liquid. These

systems for the contemporary kitchen, the Buon

specialized additives range from proteins such as

Vino Jet brand of filter, is well known to home

gelatin and albumin (egg white) to bentonite (a

vintners. In such units, a pump forces liquid

clay-like mineral of volcanic origin) to more exotic

through a tight, multistage assembly of alternat-

agents like silicon dioxide powder and synthetic

ing frames and cellulose filter pads. Although the

polymers. Even specialized enzymes are used as

pump produces only around 2 bar I 30 psi of

fining agents.

pressure, the rigorous filtration process yields

VOLUME 2 TECHN I QU ES AND EQUIPMENT

Many fining agents work by electrostatic

attraction. The fining agents carry a positive or

Putting a Spin on It

negative charge that attracts the opposite

Most people have a centrifuge-a machine for

charge on the target particles. Examples of this

spinning things fast-in their homes. It usually

type include proteins such as casein and

sits in the basement and goes by the name of

albumin, as well as minerals such as bentonite

"washing machine." Its spin cycle forces water

and a silica gel (sometimes known by the trade

from the clothes by spinning the drum. A salad

name kieselsol).

spinner dries lettuce in much the same way.

Other fining agents include charcoal and

The same principle can be used in the kitchen to

synthetic polymers such as polyvinylpolypyr-

separate things by density. The laboratory centri-

rolidone, or PVPP (brand named Polyclar).

fuge is an exciting new tool for chefs, although it

These agents are electrically neutral and work by

has been used in science labs for more than a

sticking to unwanted components of mixtures,

century. Often the size of a dishwasher, this

most notably phenolic compounds and other

machine imposes gravity-like forces on the

chemicals that create astringent flavors or that

cup-size vials of liquid it spins around-but it

discolor wine and juice products. They are

exerts forces tens of thousands oftimes stronger

popular with brewers and vintners because they

than Earth's gravity.

tend not to strip flavorful aromatics from the

A centrifuge opens the door to a universe of

liquid being fined.

unusual concoctions. And each new centrifuge-

Most fining agents must be filtered out after

born creation can, in turn, serve as the base for

they've done their job. But egg whites are a handy

myriad other preparations in the kitchen.

exception to that rule If you whip egg whites into a

The centrifuge gets its name from the centrifu-

stock, then simmer the mix until the whites form a

gal force it generates when it spins a liquid mixture

foamy, coagulated raft on top, the albumin pro-

at high speed. A centrifugal force is the same sort

teins in the egg whites entrap both food particles

of sideways push you feel while driving a car

and globules of fat that cloud the liquid. Ladle the

around a sharp turn at high speed or when sitting

floating raft out, or just poke a siphon tube

in a fast-spinning carnival ride.

through it to retrieve the clear fluid below.

The most powerful centrifuges can whirl a vial

Note that fining always strips out desirable

of fluid around 60,000 times a minute (rpm),

aromas to the same degree it removes particles. In

creating up to 250,000 times that of Earth's

the case of a traditional consomme, fining re-

gravity, which is lg. Just as normal gravity causes a

moves the flavorful fat to achieve clarity, which is

rock to sink in water and less dense wood to float,

why it has a weaker flavor than the stock from

this artificial form of gravity forces denser compo-

which it was prepared.

nents of a mixture, like particles of solids, to sink

Plant-derived methylcellulose powder works

to the bottom of the vial (toward the periphery).

much like egg whites, but it diminishes less of the

Meanwhile, lighter components, like oils and fats,

water-soluble, meaty flavor of a stock. Polyclar

float to the top (near the central axis). Watery

also avoids stripping out aromatics, but the

solutions settle somewhere in between. Gravity

polymer has its own drawbacks: it is less effective

could achieve similar separation, but inside the

at removing large quantities of emulsified oils,

centrifuge, the process happens tremendously fast.

and its very fine particles tend to remain sus-

If you spin just-prepared carrot juice in a

pended in the liquid, so you must filter out the

Polyclar after it has done its job.
Pureed raw meat offers still another alternative

centrifuge, the sharp-tasting pulp will travel to the

bottom of the bottle and form a puck of sediment.
You may even notice that the solid matter contains

as a fining agent. Whisked into a stock or broth

a whitish fraction of bitter-tasting minerals. Above

and then heated, the protein in the meat first

the puck, however, will be a very sweet juice

coagulates in the liquid, then settles to the bottom,

unlike any carrot juice you have ever tasted.

sopping up solid particles and fat as it sinks. This is

Despite its brawny character, a centrifuge

a trick that Chinese cooks having been using to

cannot defeat the physical chemistry that keeps

clarify broths for centuries.

some common emulsions well mixed. In homogenized cream, for example, casein proteins lock

36 0

VO LUM E 2 TECHN I QUES AND EQUIPM ENT

Centrifugation affects different mixtures

in different ways. Some need an added
liquid that is intermediate in density
between the lightest liquids and the
densest solids in the mixture. Some need
more time or centrifugal acceleration.
Experiment to get the best separations.

away fat globules in suspension by enveloping

Adding glycerol to an herb puree, for instance,

them in molecular blankets. Electrostatic charges

makes the watery fraction less dense so that it

on the casein molecules attract fats to the inside

separates more readily from the solids in the mix.

surface while opposite charges on the other ends

Adding sucrose, on the other hand, makes a

of the protein molecules bond with the milk's

watery matrix denser. A sugary additive can thus

watery matrix.

improve the separation of oils and fats from

liquids, like milks, that contain water and fat.

In homogenized cream, you can disrupt these

for more on how to use a centrifuge to
separate cream, see page 366.

suspended colloidal particles by adding some

locust bean gum. A spin cycle in a centrifuge will
then pull the fatty cream right out of the denser

Clarity by Ice or Gel

milk. Perform the cycle under refrigeration, and

Centrifuges, Buchner funnels, and Buon Vi no

the cream at the top hardens, allowing you to

pressure filtration systems are wonderful tools,

decant the underlying liquid easily by simply

but even if you have nothing more than a freezer,

poking a hole in the crust. Et voila! Concentrated,

a refrigerator, and a gelling agent such as gelatin

fresh cream.

or agar, you can still clarify strained stocks,

And not just cream, but lactose-free cream,

sauces, purees, and almost any flavorful liquid to

because the lactose sugar remains dissolved in the

a gratifying extent. The secret is to exploit the

milk after centrifugation. Also absent from the

concentrating effect of freezing, and the net-like

homemade cream are water-soluble compounds

molecular structure of a gel, which can behave

such as diacetyl, which forms the foundation of

much like a filter with truly microscopic-even

butter flavor. The dairy cream that comes out of a

nanoscale-pore sizes.

centrifuge therefore offers cooks a unique, flavor-

One way to make a filter from fro zen gel is to

neutral dairy fat that has myriad uses in the

add gelatin to the liquid you want to filter and to

kitchen.

freeze the mixture. Once it is frozen, transfer the

Additives of several kinds can intensify the

mixture into a strainer placed over a bowl, and

extent of the separation that occurs during

thaw it slowly in a refrigerator for a day or two (see

spinning, yielding liquids that are even clearer and

How to Filter with Gelatin Ice, page 370).

more colorful. These agents alter the density of the

liquid mixtures that go into the centrifuge bottles.

368

The temperature in the refrigerator is cold

enough to keep the net of gelatin molecules intact

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

but warm enough that the ice crystals slowly thaw.

considered and later applied successfully in the

As the freed water trickles down through the

kitchens of The Fat Duck. Concentrated, gelati-

gelatin network and into the bowl (in a process

nous broths are first frozen, then strained in the

scientists call syneresis), it washes out soluble

refrigerator over a period of days. The particulates

sugars and flavor molecules that have become

are trapped in the fine mesh of protein strands.

trapped in the gel-including food particles, fat,

and other impurities that can cloud liquids. Meat

The technique of gelatin filtration travelled

across the Atlantic to wd-50 in 2005, after the

stocks often contain enough gelatin naturally to

New York City chefWylie Dufresne visited

gel as they cool, but cooks need to add small

Blumenthal at The Fat Duck in England, where he

amounts of gelatin directly to fruit and vegetable

saw a gelatin-clarified venison stock. Dufresne

juices to clarify them in this way.

A wonderful aspect of the free ze filtration

realized that the same process could work for any

liquid, including plant juices. All that needed to be

process is the fact that the liquid that leeches out

done, he reasoned, is to add the appropriate

of the mix first contains a far higher concentration

amount of gelatin (typically l %-2%)to any liquid

of soluble flavor compounds and pigments com-

that doesn't already have it naturally.

pared with that which weeps out later. If you don't

The process soon spread widely. Aki Kamozawa

mind throwing away some of the overall yield, this

and Alex Talbot, the authors of the blog Ideas in

approach thus affords a simple way to select the

Food, learned about the process while spending

intensity of a juice's flavor: just use the fraction

time in the kitchen at wd-50 and then adapted it

with the strength you want.

to work with agar for vegetarian preparations, thus

Gel filtration has an interesting history. The

Syneresis refers to the tendency of

ge ls to weep liq uid (see page 372). It
is usua lly a p roblem in the kitchen,
but the gel fi ltration technique
exp loits it.

bringing it full circle to Glock's original approach.

German scientist Gerd Klock discovered a way to

They reasoned that mechanically breaking up the

use agar, a gelling agent derived from seaweed, to

gel would increase syneresis and accelerate the

filter liquids with remarkably clear results. Glock

filtering process by eliminating the slow freeze-

presented this approach at an INICON confer-

thaw step. Influenced by Ideas in Food, David

ence where Chefs Heston Blumenthal and Albert

Arnold and Nils Noren of the French Culinary

Adria were both in attendance. In discussions

Institute in New York City refined the idea to

between Klock and Blumenthal, the possibility of

boost its speed and yield. Both techniques are now

applying the technique to gelatinous stocks was

used widely in Modernist kitchens worldwide.

THE MODERN I ST KITC HE N

369

EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

OXTAIL CONSOMME

INSPIRED BY DAVID BOULEY

Yields 2.5 kg

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Spanish onions, peeled and halved

500g
(two large
o ni ons)

25%

CD Sear cut side down until light go lden, abo ut 8 min.

50g

2.5%

Water

0 Coo l.
Vacuum sea l w ith seared o ni ons.
@) Cook so us vide in 85 oc I 185 Fbath for 7 h.
Transfer mixture from bag to bowl, and coo l.
Strain, discarding onion so lid s.

0
Oxtail, jointed

1.5 kg

Neutral oil

30g

1.5%

Brown beef stock

2 kg

100%

75%

Measure 250 g of onion jus, and reserve.

Brown oxtail over high heat on all sides until go lden, about 15 min.

see page 301

Comb in e with browned oxta il in pressure cooker.

@ Pressure-cook at a gauge pressure of 1 bar I 15 ps i for 2 h.

Onion jus, from above

250g

12.5%

Gin

250g

12.5%

Veal marrow

250g

12.5%

Button mu shrooms, thinly sliced

150g

7.5%

Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

100g

5%

@ Strain, discarding so lids.

@ Measure 2 kg of oxta il broth.

Celery stalk, peeled and thinly sli ced

30g

1.5%

Oxtail broth, from above

2 kg

100%

@ M ix 200 g of broth with super methylcellulose.

Ground beef

300g

15%

@ Whisk into ground beef to make paste.

Super methylcellulose SGA 150

(Dow brand)

2g

0.1%

Bay leaf extract

to taste

@ Mix paste into remaining oxtail broth for consomme.

@ Simmer consomme on low unt il clarified, about 45 min.
@ Strain.
@ Season .

see page326

Lovage leaves, fin e juli enne

For photos of the steps involving methylcellulose, see page 359.

to taste

Salt

to taste

Star anise extract

to taste

see page326

(2010)

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PISTACHIO CONSOMME

Yields80 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Raw pistachios, shelled

100 g

100%

CD Combine.

Sugar

15 g

0 Roast in 190 oc l 375 F oven until very dark and sugar

has caramelized, about 20 min.

Grapeseed oil

10 g

15%
10%

Water

300g

100%

Puree with roasted pistach ios until smooth.

Pistachio oil

20g

20%

@) Vacuum seal.
Refrigerate for 12 h.
Ce ntri fuge at 27,500g for 1 h.

0
Salt

to t aste

Decant clear li q uid through fine sieve, and discard

remaining so lids.

Season.
Vacuum sea l, and refrigerate until needed.

(2009)

376

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIPMENT

The remaining nut solids in the

centrifuge bottles are not used for
anything in this recipe or these
volumes, but they're a delicious
snack for the chef.

10
CONCENTRATE!
Skilled cooks strive to intensify the flavors in their

technique does a great job of concentrating

dishes by concentrating the essences of certain

nonvolatile flavor components of the original

ingredients as much as possible without signifi-

solution such as sugars, salts, and flavor-enhancing

cantly altering them. Concentrating is usually

molecules like savory-tasting glutamates and

about removing excess solvent from a food. The

nucleotides.

most common solvent in the kitchen is water (but

occasionally alcohol); removing it makes tastes

The classic reduction method also tends to

thicken the liquid by increasing the concentration

and aromas stronger. There are other times when,

of gelatin, emulsified oils, and any dissolved or

rather than discarding it, collecting the solvent

suspended solids such as sugars or particles in a

and any flavors it contains is the goal.

puree. Reducing a liquid thus usually changes its

Chefs traditionally strengthen the flavor of a

stock, juice, or sauce by subjecting it to a long

mouthfeel as well as its flavor.

Unfortunately, these changes are not always for

simmer to reduce its volume. This process is

the better. The same heat that boils the water also

concentration by evaporation. It works because we

breaks down or alters some of the most desirable

can evaporate water by using heat. This trusted

aroma compounds in the mix. Even worse, higher

STRATEGIES FOR CONCENTRATING

A cook has many options for intensifying the flavor of liquids that come from food . The alternatives range from the traditional
boiling pot on the stove to the more exotic and expensive, such as Genevac's Rocket Evaporator, which is part centrifuge and
part distillery. You can use any of these strategies to concentrate a juice, jus, or broth .
Description

Pros

Cons

stove-top
reduction

boils off water to increase concentration

of those flavor compounds that remain

inexpensive, easy

slow, many desirable volatile

aromatics evaporate away
or are altered by heat

vacuum reduction

lowers pressure of air above liquid,

increasing rate of evaporation

inexpensive, straightforward
to set up

volatile compounds still escape

rotary evaporation
(rotavap)

distills and captures volatile components captures evaporated volatile

selectively at a controlled temperature
aromatics, reduces without heat,
and pressure
processes large batches

expensive, complicated

vacuum
concentration
(with vacuum
concentrator)

spins liquids at low speed, distills under

vacuum, and condenses evaporated
components

simple automated process

handles up to six liquids at once,
precise temperature control,
low-speed centrifugation

expensive, complicated

freeze
concentrating

forms crystals of pure ice that force

particles and dissolved substances to
concentrate in remaining liquid

very inexpensive and simple,

requires no special equipment,
no volatiles escape or change

slow, limited degree of

concentration

reverse osmosis

forces liquid through a semipermeable

membrane through which water, but not
flavor compounds, can pass

energy-efficient, commonly used

in water purification and wine
making

complicated, not yet adapted

for culinary use

Strategy

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

379

temperatures evaporate many of the prized

increases the evaporation rate at temperatures

volatile aromatic compounds in the solution. Food

below the boiling point. With low enough pres-

fragrances filling your kitchen may smell great, but

sure, you can vacuum reduce at room temperature

they are signs of a deficiency in the reduction

or less. The limiting factor in vacuum reduction is

process: if you can smell the aroma compounds,

usually the vacuum pump; it must be able to

less of them remain in your food.

provide enough suction to keep the pressure in the

flask low. This task is not easy because evaporation

Innovative cooks have developed alternative

methods of intensifying flavor that don't pose all

tends to provide plenty of water vapor (and other

the drawbacks of the traditional long simmer.

volatile gases) to remove. The more powerful the

One trick is to vaporize the liquid in such a way

vacuum pump, the lower the temperature at which

that the pot stays cool enough that the remaining

the vacuum reduction operates.

You can bring precision to the heating process

aroma compounds don't degrade. Vacuum

evaporation can do this, either with a relatively

by using a digitally controlled hot plate, preferably

simple setup (see page 382) or with much more

one that can be stirred magnetically. A magnetic

elaborate gear, such as a rotary evaporator (see

stirring bar placed in the flask will create a vortex,

Distilling the Essence, page 386) or a vacuum

which accelerates evaporation by increasing the

concentrator (see How to Reduce Juice in a

surface area of!iquid.

Mixing the liquid while it boils also helps you

Vacuum, next page). These versatile tools allow

avoid dangerous "bumping," in which large bubbles

you to make stocks, broths, and other liquids boil

cooler than they normally would-even below

of vapor form then violently collapse, tossing the

room temperature.

flask about the hot plate. These bumps sometimes

are violent enough to crack the thick flask.

Although vacuum evaporation avoids the flavor

Reducing sauces the old-fashioned way,
with an hours-long simmer, spews some of
the most aromatic components into the air
and causes chemical reactions that change
many of the aromas that remain. Newer
approaches minimize or avoid these
problems.

alterations that high heat causes, it shares with

A vacuum pump for vacuum reduction must be

simmering the problem that many of the desirable

capable of handling copious amounts of water

volatile components are stripped away. The reason

vapor. The simplest solution is to use a faucet

is simple: boiling in a vacuum is still boiling, and

aspirator. If water consumption becomes an issue,

anything in the container that 's more volatile than

a motorized aspirator is a good solution.

water will leave first. Concentrating by vacuum

Aspirator-style pumps are designed to withstand

distillation, on the other hand, makes it possible to

continuous exposure to water vapor and condensa-

capture the vaporized aromatics and add them

tion. Other types of vacuum pumps will also work,

back to the concentrated liquid.

but make sure that they can resist contact with

water vapor. Membrane-type pumps that are
intended for use with rotary evaporators or other

Low-Cost Vacuum Reduction

water-tolerant vacuum pumps are good choices.

Used correctly, vacuum reduction can achieve

The curious cook can experiment with vacuum

A motorized asp irator vac uum

pump used fo r vac uum red uction

wi ll usually work better if you put
plenty of ice in the water ta nk.
That's because the water absorbs
heat from the recondensing wate r
fro m the flask . This enables the
pump to pull a stronger vacuum.

38 0

reduction techniques at low cost by using a simple

the effects of classic reduction with liquid solutions

aspiration vacuum system. This setup requires

whose flavor would change if they were subjected

only a hot plate, a heavy-walled Erlenmeyer filter

to a higher evaporation temperature. Say that you

flask with a high-mounted sidearm port for

are making a fruit coulis (a thick sauce) from

connecting the flask to a rubber tube, and a faucet

strawberry or raspberry juice. Conventional

aspirator, motorized aspirator, or other vacuum

reduction methods will give the results a cooked

pump that attaches to the other end of the tube

flavor, whereas vacuum reduction preserves more

(see Reduction in a Vacuum, page 382).

of the delicious raw taste. But, also as in classic

Vacuum reduction works by lowering the

stove-top reduction, the most flavorful volatile

pressure inside the flask. This decrease lowers the

compounds in the food will evaporate away when a

boiling point of water (see page 1294) . 1t also

liquid is reduced under vacuum in this way.

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPM ENT

The Rotary Evaporator

In the U.S., anyone who distills to
create a higher concentration of
alcohol must obtain federal and
state licenses because the process
falls under regulations that cover
the production of alcohol. The
difficulty of getting these licenses
varies from state to state. Some
states, such as Oregon, sponsor
programs that promote and
encourage craft and artisanal
distillation, for example. In other
parts of the world, you must check
with the appropriate local authorities to ensure that your use of
distillation equipment is legal.

water will evaporate. For example, a 10% solution

A more capable but also more complex and

of ethanol in water has a boiling point at standard

expensive refinement of aspiration-type vacuum

atmospheric pressure of 93 c I 199 p. The vapor

reduction technology is a rotary evaporator. It is

that it gives off at that boiling point will be about

a laboratory version of a distillation setup that is

55% ethanol and 45% water. So if we were to run a

able to work at low pressure and temperature.

rotary evaporator with a 10% ethanol mixture at a

A rotary evaporator lets you hang on to volatile

temperature of93 c I 199 p, we could concen-

aromatics that escape during conventional

trate the alcohol from 10% to 55% in a single pass

vacuum reduction. The sophisticated device

through the machine. If we want a higher concen-

evaporates liquid in a spinning flask by gently

tration, then we need to send the batch through

heating it with a water bath and by lowering the air

the machine several times.

pressure above the liquid (using a vacuum pump).

Note that we use the ethanol example because it

Unlike simple vacuum reduction, it also condens-

is familiar. Distilling 10% alcohol to 55% is similar

es and collects the distilled vapor, including the

to what happens when brandy is distilled from

most aromatic elements .o f fruits, vegetables, and

wine or whiskey from fermented mash. Making

pretty much anything that has an aroma.

your own spirts is not easy to do with a rotary

A rotary evaporator has just a few primary parts

evaporator, however. First, there are legal issues

(see Distilling the Essence, page 386). A spherical

(see note, above left). Second, the process is very

evaporation flask is cinched into a motorized yoke

complex because fermented products contain

A rotary evaporator is often called

that spins to increase the surface area and thus

many alcohols and compounds besides ethanol.

a "rotavap" in labs, but that term is

short for Rotavapor, a trademark
ofBuchi, one of the teading
manufacturers. Yamato, Heidolph,
IKA, PolyScience, and other
manufacturers also produce rotary
evaporators.

speeds evaporation of the liquid by spreading it over

For more on safe handling of essential oils, see

page 324.

Methanol, for example, is usually present in low

the inside surface of the flask. The flask itself sits in

concentrations as a by-product of fermentation. It

a temperature-controlled water bath that provides

has a boiling point of 65 c I 148 p, and thus it

heat to drive evaporation. Its neck connects

becomes concentrated mostly in the foreshots-

through a vacuum seal to a condenser assembly,

the term for the liquid that first boils off and forms

which chills the vapor, thereby causing some of it to

a condensate at the start of a distillation batch. In

condense into a liquid. The condensates drip down

addition to methanol, foreshots may contain

into a collection flask. Situated nearby is a vacuum

acetone and other volatile organic substances that

pump capable of reducing the pressure inside the

have a lower boiling point than ethanol. The

apparatus by a factor of 100 or so, or from standard

foreshots must be discarded because they can be

atmospheric pressure of 1,013 mbar I 14.7 psi to as

toxic; they can cause headaches in small quantities

low as 10 mbar I 0.15 psi.

The fundamental task of a rotary evaporator is

and more serious illness, including blindness, at

higher doses.
After the foreshots come the so-called heads,

to separate liquids that have different boiling

The rotary evaporator was invented
by Lyman Craig and colleagues and
first described in the journal
Analytical Chemistry in 1950. It was
first sold as a commercial product
by Buchi in 1957.

points. Some examples are ethanol, which has a

boiling point of78 c

I 172 p when pure, and

tails often contain alcohols having a higher boiling

when pure. In a mixture of ethanol and water that

point. These alcohols include propyl alcohol, butyl

is held below 100 c I 212 p, more ethanol than

alcohol, amyl alcohol, and furfuryl alcohol and are

Note that it is incorrect to say that the ethanol

384

has a different ratio of volatile components. The

water, which has a boiling point of 100 c I 212 p

water will evaporate.

The term "fuse I oil" is a bit of a

misnomer. It is used because the
resulting mixture of organic
compounds is hydrophobic. But it
is not a simple oil like a vegetable
oil-it is a complicated mixture of
flavor compounds.

the middle run, and finally the tails. Each of these

often called fuse! alcohols or fuse! "oils," which is

a misnomer (see note at left). In vodka, fuse!

"boils before the water does," as is sometimes

alcohols are considered undesirable, and the tails

stated. A mixture of ethanol and water has a single

are discarded. In whiskey, the inclusion of some

boiling point, which is a complicated function of

fusels contributes to the characteristic taste.

The art of producing high-quality spirits comes

the proportions and the pressure. It is not the case

that the ethanol boils and the water doesn't; both

from proper management of the distillation run

water and ethanol evaporate from the mixture.

and optimization of the proportion of heads and

If you are at a temperature below the boiling

point of pure water and above the boiling point of

blended or discarded. Each of these components

pure ethanol, however, then more ethanol than

has a different composition and thus imbues the

tails, which may be separately collected then

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Distillation was invented

2,500 years ago in ancient Persia

to distill rose water.

final product with its own flavors and qualities.

boiling point, and they very likely can be concen-

Making spirits is not as simple as running a

trated with a rotary evaporator. Foods are almost

distillation setup, any more than turning on an

always complex mixtures of compounds that

oven means you have mastered baking. This is a

typically have different boiling points. Finding

multifaceted topic that is beyond the scope of this

the right combination of settings (based on an

book; we mention it here just to illustrate the

understanding of what happens at the start,

complexity of distillation.

middle, and end of distillation) requires some

The ethanol example was used only to describe

experimentation.

separation by distillation. More generally, if you

have a mixture of multiple liquids, and each liquid

Reducing the pressure by drawing a partial

vacuum shifts the boiling point of a liquid

has a different boiling point in its pure form, then

(whether pure or a mixture) but does not change

the mixture will preferentially evaporate the

the relative order of the boiling points. As you

components with a low boiling point if the tem-

decrease the pressure to below atmospheric

perature is near their boiling points. The trick to

pressure, pure ethanol will boil below 78 c

using a rotary evaporator is to adjust the pressure,

172 p, water will boil below 100 c

I
I 212 p, and

the bath temperature, and the condenser chilling

a 10% mixture of ethanol in water will boil

temperature to preferentially evaporate and

below 93 c

condense some components and leave others

however, the boiling point of pure ethanol will

behind. The details depend on the mixture you are

always be below the boiling point of water at the

dealing with.

I 199 p. At any ambient pressure,

same pressure. The boiling point of an ethanol-

Aroma compounds can be smelled precisely

water mixture will also decrease as pressure

because they are volatile and evaporate into the

decreases. The key fact to keep in mind when

air. This fact means that they have a relatively low

using a rotary evaporator is that, regardless of

the pressure, when an ethanol-water mixture is
at its boiling point, ethanol will always evaporate more rapidly than water. Similarly, when a
mixture of multiple liquids is at or near its
boiling point, the liquids that, in their pure state,
have the lowest boiling points will tend to
evaporate more rapidly.
Using the vacuum pump, we can lower the
boiling point of a mixture of liquids within a wide
range- in principle, all the way down to 0 c

32 p_The main reason to lower the boiling point is

to preserve the quality ofheat-sensitive flavor
compounds that would be cooked or altered at
higher temperatures.
The condenser portion of the rotary evaporator condenses out the vapors. Sometimes this is
the desired product; we keep the condensate and
throw out the remnants in the evaporation flask.
That is typically what is done in making spirits
where the final product is the condensate. In
other cases, we want to remove a solvent, so we

Fresh watermelon juice. before and halfway through vacuum

concentration in a Genevac Rocket. The delicate flavor of
watermelon juice is retained even as water is removed.
This concentration could also be done in a rotary evaporator
(see page 384) or by vacuum reduction (see page 380).

3 90

VO LU M E 2 TE CHNIQU ES AND EQUI PM ENT

10
throw away the condensate and keep what is left

Care needs to be used because distilling the

in the evaporation flask. Vacuum reduction can

essences of some things can create a toxic result.

be done in a rotary evaporator; in that case, you

Distilling the essence ofleather may seem compel-

are mostly evaporating then condensing water. A

ling, but the product will include toxic chemicals

more complicated case is one in which you run

used to tan the leather. Even fully edible products

the rotary evaporator with a fruit or floral juice

can yield a dangerous result because extreme

first at low temperature (below the boiling point

concentration makes their essential oils harmful.

Users should also know the laws and regulations

of water) to condense and save volatile flavor

compounds. Once these are saved, the tempera-

in their local, state, and national jurisdictions that

ture can be increased to evaporate water and

pertain to the ownership and operation of distilla-

concentrate the liquid. Then the saved volatile

tion equipment, particularly if the result is a liquid

compounds from the first step can be mixed

with a higher alcohol concentration than the one

back in.

you started with.

A leading maker of rotary evaporation equipment, Biichi Labortechnik of Switzerland, recommends that you first choose a temperature for the

Genevac's Rocket

boiling point of the solvent or material you want to

The rotavap may strike many as rather high-tech

distill. The bath temperature should be set at least

for a kitchen, but there is another precision

20 c

I 36 p higher than the boiling point. The

instrument that is even further out on the bleed-

temperature in the condensing column should be

set at least 20 c

I 36 p lower than the boiling

ing edge of culinary technology. Genevac, Ltd., of

Ipswich, England, has made an elegant alternative

point. These values are a good rule of thumb;

to fill some uses of the rotary evaporator. This

specific cases may need different values.

device is called the Rocket Evaporator. The Rocket

is especially adept at concentrating highly aromat-

As an example, if you are distilling to recover

ethanol, then you can set the vacuum to 167 mbar

ic and heat sensitive solutions so gently that the

I 125 torr to place the bo"iling point at 40 c I

flavor remains pristine even after massive

104 p or higher (see table below). The bath

concentration.

temperature would be 60 c

I 140 p, and the

I 68 p

condenser chilling temperature set to 20 c

The research team at The Fat Duck restaurant

has pioneered the culinary uses of this sophisticat-

or lower. You could place the boiling point higher,

ed device, which combines variable vacuum

or lower, by adjusting the vacuum accordingly.

pressure, steam-based temperature control, and

low-speed centrifugation. At the lowest pressures

The condenser is kept cold by chilled liquid

that the Genevac Rocket can attain (6 mbar I

pumped through it. The typical source is a

4.5 torr in the 2010 model), water boils even at

chilling water bath (see page 238). A chilling

water bath can supply the condenser with 1 c

34 p water. If brine or antifreeze is used in the

chilling bath, the temperature can be decreased
to below 1 c I 34 p. Additional cooling enlarges

Boiling Point vs Vacuum Pressure

bath and the condenser tube, which enables the

To set your rotary evaporator, choose a temperature

appropriate for the boiling point of the solvent or
material you want to distill, and then adjust vacuum

system to recapture more of the volatile aromat-

pressure accord ingly.

the temperature difference between the water

ics. If a larger temperature difference is required,

a cold-trap-style condenser can be used with a

<c>

(. F)

20

effective separation. Depending on the situation,

Ethanol

Water

Boi l i ng po in t

(mbar)

(torr)

(mbar)

(torr)

68

23

17

58

44

30

86

42

32

102

77

you may want to keep all of the volatiles and use

40

104

72

54

167

125

the coldest possible condenser temperature, or

so

122

120

90

289

217

60

140

194

145

463

347

slurry of dry ice and acetone or with liquid

nitrogen as the chilling agent for even more

you may find that a higher condenser temperature works better.

THE MO DE RNIST KI TCHEN

3 91

temperatures below its freezing point. That's the

includes a low-speed centrifuge that can handle

kind of high performance that research scientists

many culinary spin jobs.

The designers of the machine cleverly ensured

might need to protect fragile biological compounds, but it also empowers the Modernist cook

that centrifugal forces would prevent the solution

to attempt new flavoring possibilities.

from "bumping" and boiling over in the contain-

The source solution goes into a half dozen

ers, a usually common problem when liquids are

pint-sized bottles of solution that fit into a rotor

subjected to a vacuum. Unlike a rotary evapora-

that the Rocket spins at high speed. A condenser

tor, this machine can distill up to six different

collects the vaporized solvent and leaves the

liquids simultaneously, although the volume of

flavorful and often intensely colored concentrate

each one produced is quite small. Also very

behind.

useful is the device's ability to store and replace

What is perhaps most remarkable about the

For more on the freeze concentration

process used in the recipe below. see
page 396.

programmed operations. Once you work out the

Rocket is the way that it merges, in one unit, the

process conditions that give you the results you

virtues of several appliances often found in

want, you can just hit a button to recall them for

Modernist kitchens. In addition to having a

a new batch and walk away.

All that performance comes at a steep cost: tens

distillation-condensation system similar to a

of thousands of dollars as of this writing, although

rotary evaporator, the Rocket vacuum concentrates with a low-temperature, steam-based heater

Genevac reportedly has more affordable designs

under precise temperature control-and it

under development for kitchens.

EXAMPLE REC IPE

MOCK TURTLE SOUP

ADAPTED FROM HESTON BLUMENTHAL

Yields 4 kg (about 90 servings)

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Brown beef stock

1 kg

200%

0 Gently warm stock until no longer gelled but sti ll coo l.

Cherry tomatoes, quartered

120g

24%

Mushroom jus

290g

58%

Combine, and mix with infused stock. Vacuum seal, and freeze .
@) When frozen , remove from bag, and place on perforated tray lined with double layer
of cheesecloth.

see page301

see page344

Fino sherry

165g

32%

White soy sauce

133g

26%

Add cherry tomatoes, and infuse at room tempe rature for 20 min. Strain, and reserve
infused stock.

Refrigerate, wh il e freeze -filtering fo r 72 h (see page 370).

Vacuum seal filtered stock, and freeze.

Transfer frozen stock to food processor; pulse until coarsely crushed .

Drain crushed, frozen stock over fine sieve lined with double layer of cheesecloth.
Collect thawed, concentrated stock, and discard remaining ice .
@ Transfer concentrated stock to Genevac Rocket bottles, and reduce by half at 8 mbar I 6
torr, heating temperature of 50 c I 122 F, and condenser at 1 c 1 34 F.
@ Reserve 500 g of reduced stock.
Freeze-concentrated stock,
from above

SOOg

100%

@ Combine, and vacuum seal.

Gelatin, 160 Bloom

60g

12%

@ Transfer to depositing funn e l, and dispense 6 g into each pocketwatch si li cone mold .

Gold leaf sheets

as needed

@ Cook in 60 c

I 140 F bath until a ll ge latin dissolves, about 5 min.

@ Refrigerate, and allow to set completely, about 4 h.

@ Remove gelled stock from molds, and place flat sid e down on corner of go ld leaf sheet.
Use tweezers to gently fold gold leaf overtop of each ge ll ed stock portion; use fine
brush to tuck go ld leaf under bottom edges.
@ Refrigerate until needed .
@ To serve, place each stock portion in bottom of teacup; pour 40 g of hot water over
stock. Stir until gelled stock dissolves.
(original2009, adapted 2010)

394

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

lOb

lOa

14
,,..,... /
~

(
(

-,

-~~
-;;_.-"">-;.

-,_

.______./

)
.... .-;;:::;

-----------

18

~er'.

395

Freezing outthe Good Stuff

the ice or trapped by ice crystals, and the separa-

Just as some liquids have different boiling points,

tion does not work perfectly. But it does have the

they also have different freezing points, and that

advantage of retaining even very volatile substan-

difference can be used to preferentially concen-

ces because it does not include evaporation.

trate them. One traditional method of making

Freeze concentration works best when ice

crystals can grow slowly because that favors the

applejack-a form of apple brandy-is to freezeThe slower and larger the ice
crystals grow in the freezing
solution, the greater the co ncentration of the remaining liquid. That's
just the opposite of what is needed
to make go od ice cream, in which
rapid freez ing fo rms smaller ice
crystals and thus a much smoother
product.

concentrate hard apple cider. The process of freeze

growth oflarge crystals that are mostly water.

concentration was known as jacking. The process,

Slow freezing can be accomplished in a freezer or

which is also called fractional freezing or freeze

by using an ice brine (see How to Freeze Food in a

Salty Brine, page 260). Once the ice crystals have

distillation, has been used in many other contexts.

Freeze concentration exploits a phenomenon

formed, they can be removed with a filter, a fine

called freezing-point depression (see page 1-304).

sieve, or a separatory funnel.

Pure water freezes at 0 c I 32 p, but dissolved

solutes, including salt, sugar, alcohol, and flavor

Freeze co ncentration to make ice

wi ne was known to the ancient
Romans and was mentioned by
Pliny the Elder.

compounds, lower the freezing point. When a

Reverse Osmosis

solution freezes, relatively pure ice crystals grow.

Perhaps the most exotic technique for concen-

Their growth takes water out of solution and leaves

trating flavors is one that has gained wide use in

the solutes behind, thereby increasing their

commercial winemaking. Known as reverse

concentration in the remaining liquid.

osmosis, the process relies on forcing a solution

One of the earliest uses of freeze concentration

that contains dissolved components, such as

was in making ice wine (or eiswein in German)-

proteins, salts, and sugars, through a semi-

wine pressed from grapes that are partially frozen

permeable polymer membrane. The membrane is

during pressing. The freezing helps concentrate

engineered to have uniform pores through

sugars in the grapes, thereby leading to extra sweet

which only the water molecules can pass. It takes

juice and very sweet wine.

high pressures, from 2-69 bar I 30-1,000 psi , to

Natural ice wines are produced only in years

push the liquid through the membrane. The

when weather during harvest is cold enough to

most common use of reverse osmosis is in

freeze the grapes. These wines tend to be made

purifying water. In that case, you keep the pure

mainly in northerly or high-altitude wine-growing

water that passes through the membrane (see

regions such as Germany, Austria, and Canada,

page 1-335).

which has recently become the world 's largest

Vintners use reverse osmosis to remove water

producer of ice wines. In most wine-making

from grape juice; they discard the pure water that

countries, only natural ice wines can be labeled

passes through the membrane and keep the

"ice wine ."

"dirty" part-the intensely flavored, concentrated

Winemakers quickly realized that they didn't

juice-which they then transfer to the fermenters .

need to wait for winter and could freeze the grapes

This pressure-driven filtering technique has

themselves. This process is called cryoextraction

great potential for restaurant kitchens as well,

and may be used in making any type of wine to

where it could be used to concentrate juices,

increase its sugar content.

Ice beer is another form of freeze concentra-

stocks, and other liquids. Reverse osmosis yields

liquids enriched in everything a cook wants to

tion. Ice beer is cooled until ice crystals form, and

save but does not require destructive heat or result

these crystals are then filtered out. The resulting

in the losses that come with evaporation.

beer often has a alcohol content that is higher

than usual.

inherently expensive, it can be cumbersome to use.

Freeze concentration cannot achieve high

396

Although reverse-osmosis technology is not

An innovative appliance vendor and some time

concentration ratios or a very pure result. During

will probably be needed to scale down the process

this process, some solutes get incorporated into

before commercial units can appear in kitchens.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

CUTTING 'EM DOWN TO SIZE

It's not exactly a love-hate relationship, but as

and shear forces at work in a knife, sieve, grater, or

much as we love our food, there are times that we

mallet, these newer tools can pulverize or mix

want to pulverize it. Any cook does-ingredients

food to a degree far beyond what traditional

are often more interesting to eat or easy to cook

means can achieve. They thus greatly expand the

when broken into lots of tiny pieces. Both heat and

range of particle sizes available for use in your

flavor components flow more readily through little

recipes and open new vistas of flavor and texture.

The word "particle" may conjure images of only

bits, so they cook faster and yield a greater amount

of the good stuff. It's more efficient to mix, dis-

For more on making oil-water and water-oil

emulsions, see chapter 15 on Emulsions,
page 4196.

solid foods, but liquids come in particles, too-

solve, and transfer flavor among several ingredi-

most notably in the form of emulsions, which are

ents if they are first cut down to size. And particle

liquid mixtures of tiny droplets (i.e. particles) of

size can largely determine the texture of any food

immiscible liquids such as oil and water. Making

that flows, whether it be a chunky salsa prepared

an emulsion presents its own size-reduction

using knives and a few pulses of a blender, or a

challenges, whether you are blending oil into

silky smooth lentil soup pushed through an

water (as in milk, mayonnaise, and vinaigrettes) or

ultrafine sieve.

the other way around (as in butter or margarine).

Although it may not take as much energy to split

It takes a lot more energy to cut food into tiny

pieces than it does to chop that food into big

colloidal globules into smaller droplets as it does

chunks. A knife is not always the most efficient

to, say, grind chestnuts into chestnut butter, it does

tool for the task, and even the most skilled prep

take both energy and advanced equipment to

make the finest, smoothest, and longest lasting

cook can slice and dice only so finely and quickly.

emulsions. A whisk is not always sufficient.

To speed the job and get to smaller sizes, a

The amount of energy required for a particular

kitchen blender, food processor, whisk, hand

Blending generates heat, so even

when a blender can reduce food
pa rticles' size no further, it wi ll
slowly heat food. This is usual ly an
annoyance, but it can be usefu l for
cooking foods, such as egg custard,
in situ.

beater, or mortar and pestle come in handy. At

application-and thus the tool that is best suited

some stage, these conventional kitchen tools also

for the job-depends on the texture of the food

reach their limit: you keep running the blender or

you are starting with and the texture you want to

moving the mortar, but the food just doesn't get

achieve. Is it hard or soft, wet or dry, granular or

any smaller; at most, all that happens is that the

fibrous in structure? Hard foods, for example, tend

to have crystalline or brittle amorphous micro-

machines and their contents grow warmer.

This is the point at which the sophisticated

structures (like glass), so they shatter when you

equipment of the Modernist kitchen comes in,

slice them. Soft foods, in contrast, often cleave and

including Pacojets, colloid mills, sonicators, and

split along innate contours defined by the fibers or

ultrahigh-pressure homogenizers. These tools may

cells inside them.

The fundamental principle to keep in mind is

sound a little intimidating, but they are easier to

use than you might think. Although they rip apart

that the amount of power that goes into reducing

foods using the same basic compressive, impact,

the food chunks is inversely proportional to the

A colloid mill is one of the most powerful and flexible tools for
grinding food into a smooth puree.

398

VO LU ME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

STRATEGIES FOR GRINDING, MILLING, AND PUREEING

When you want to break food down more finely than is

homogenizer, the ideal tool when the mixture starts out

possible with a knife, turn to more specialized tools ranging

smooth and your goal is to make it silky or as superstable as

from the primitive mortar and pestle to the superpowerful,

an emulsion. The most unusual tool is the Pacojet, which can

technologically advanced Pacojet. A household blender or

make remarkably fine powders and pastes from virtually any

food processor excels at making a basic puree, but these

ingredient that can be packed in a canister and frozen. This

devices have limited power. The next step up is a rotor-stator

table lists the tools from lowest to highest power.

A pplications
Coarse paste
or powder

Thin
puree

Thick
puree

mortar and pestle

./

./

./

produces a wide range of particle sizes;

hard work

food mill

./

./

suitable only for soft foods

401

coffee grinder

./

high shearing force; good for grinding spices

4376

household
blender

./

medium shearing force, fine for most fluids

but not for thick purees

412

both stabilizes emulsions and releases

volatile compounds; useful for extractions
and very fine emulsions

415

better than a household blender for large,

coarse items

412

./

higher shearing force than a household

blender

412

./

makes silky purees and very stable emulsions 420

when starting from fine particles; expensive

./

ideal for stabilizing emulsions; very ex pensive; must start with moderately fine puree

422

Strategy

Fine
powder

ultrasonic
homogenizer

Fi ne
p uree

./

food processor

./

commercial
blender

./

rotor-stator
homogenizer

./

ultrahigh-pressure
homogenizer

Note

See page

Pacojet

./

./

./

./

./

very high shear force purees most solids;

expensive; must start with frozen food

408

colloid mill

./

./

./

./

./

large footprint; requires cooling during use;

can easily make smooth purees from the
toughest foods; good for large volumes

416

400

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

10
size of the resulting pieces-more power yields

inspired by the way in which eaters' teeth slice and

smaller bits. That is equally true for the globules

crush foods when they chew. Early tools such as

in an emulsion as it is for the shards of a solid.

stone blades, mortars and pestles, and millstones

Because Modernist chefs often want to make silky

worked in much the same way as molars and

smooth sauces or nearly indestructible emulsions,

bicuspids.

their kitchens often sport grinding machines more

typical of industrial settings.

Today, you can choose among a wide variety of

food- and grain-milling machines that feature an

At the business end of a food mill, for example,

assortment of blades, hammers, and shearing

are surfaces that apply much stronger shear forces

tools. Each device specializes in processing foods

to the food passing through the mill than the

that have a certain starting texture or range of

blades of the most powerful electric hand beaters

sizes into smoother or smaller forms.

can generate. Food mills are thus able to knock

Probably the most familiar grinding device in

particles down to just a few microns (millionths of

the kitchen is the countertop coffee grinder, whose

a meter, or 40 millionths of an inch) across, smaller

whirring blades chop food more finely the longer it

than the human tongue and mouth can discern as

runs-up to a point. Burr grinders, a category

individual grains. As far as perception goes, solids

that includes old-fashioned, hand-cranked models

that are this fine feel as smooth as liquids.

Keep in mind, however, that no size-reduction

as well as motorized espresso grinders, work

differently. They crush coffee beans or other foods

procedure ever yields particles that are all exactly

between two surfaces that rotate relative to one

the same size. To constrain the range of sizes, run

another, creating a shearing motion that tears the

each batch through the machine several times.

food apart. A burr grinder yields more uniform

The more runs, the more uniform the texture.

Ball mills and other dry grinding

too ls are mainly used industrially.
Small-scale laboratory units are
used in scientific research, but we
have not fo und good kitchen
applications fo r them.

particles than a comparable blade grinder. It is a

good tool for processing coffee beans, seeds, and
hard spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, and

Dry Grinding
For breaking up hard and rigid foods such as dried

pepper.
Ball mills resemble burr grinders but crush

grains and spices, the cook's strategy hasn't

foods between the hard surfaces of continuously

changed much in many millennia: grind and mill

moving steel spheres. Industrial firms use ball

the food into progressively finer particles. This

mills to produce powdered pigments and other

traditional approach was probably originally

fine particulate products.

I II I

\I \ I II I \I \ I I I '

<

Engineers who work in the food-processing industry often

rely on a special set of equations that helps them determine
how much energy is required to perform a particular sizereduction task. Among these is Kick's law, which provides
practical guidance for coarse-grinding processes that increase the material's surface area by only a relatively small
amount. Kick's law states that the energy needed to conduct
the grinding is proportional to the length (i.e., the longest
dimension) of the pieces before grinding, divided by their
length after grinding. This equation works well when this
reduction ratio is no greater than about eight-meaning the
bits end up no less than than one-eighth of their starting size.

Rittinger's law provides more accurate estimates of the

energy needed for degrees of size reduction that are much
greater than Kick's law can handle. Rather than involving a
single typical dimension of the pieces, Rittinger's law instead relates the energy to the change in surface area from
beginning to end.
For processes that fall in between very coarse and very
fine, Bond's law sometimes works best. It bases calculations
on the pore size of a sieve that will allow 80% of the beginning materials to pass, as well as the pore size that will allow
80% of the final product to pass.

TH E MODERNIST KITCH EN

40 1

The classic kitchen pepper grinder is an example of a burr grinder.

The same approach is also used in high-quality coffee grinders for
espresso making (see page 4376).

.,
402

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

10
EXAM PLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CHILl TOMATO SPICE BLEND

Yields70g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Freeze-dried tomatoes

30g

100%

0
0

see page 451

Freeze-dried piquillo peppe r

Grind together to fine powd e r.

Store in airtight co ntain e r until needed.

83%

25g

see page451

Coriand er seeds, toasted and ground Sg

16.7%

Sweet paprika powder

Sg

16.7%

Controne hot peppe r, finely ground

2g

6.7%

Hot-smoked paprika powder

1g

3.3%

Saffron threads

1g

3.3%

Fennel seeds, toasted and ground

0.6g

2%

Ajowan seeds, toasted and ground

[Link]

1.7%

(2010)

EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

INDIES SPICE BLEND

ADAPTED FROM OL IVIER ROEL LINGER

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Coriander seeds

2.1 g

28%

Black peppercorns

1.7g

22.7%

0
0

Caraway seeds

1.5 g

20%

Cinnamon stick, grated

1g

13.3%

Yields20g

Combine and toast in frying pa n until fragrant.

Re move from heat, and coo l.

Mace

1g

13.3%

Sichuan peppe rcorns

1g

13.3%

Star anise

0.4g

5.3%

Clove

0.2g

2.7%

Turmeric powde r

7.5g

100%

Orange peel, grated

2.5g

33.3%

Combin e in coffee grind e r with toasted

sp ice blend.

Vanilla seeds and pulp

1.5g

20%

Cayenne peppe r

[Link]

6.7%

Store in airtight conta in e r until needed.

Grind to fin e powder.

(original2001, adapted 2010)

Most Indian recipes start with

toast ing spices in a d ry fry ing pan
to deve lop the flavor. A better way
to toast sp ices is to put them in a
shal low pan in a combi oven or
convection oven at 170 c I 338 f
until fragrant . This avo ids scorchi ng
the spices.

To make the vani lla seed-pod

scrapings, sp lit a van illa bean
lengthwise with a knife then
scrape the seeds and the residue
surround ing them fro m the
seed pod.

EXAMPLE REC I P E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

QUATRE EPICES

Yie lds420 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Black peppercorns

200g

100%

Cinnamon, ground

100g

50%

0
0

Nutmeg

BOg

40%

Co mbine in coffee grind er and grind to

fine powd e r.

Cloves

40g

20%

Store in airtight co nta in er until needed.

Toast sp ices in a dry skillet until frag rant.

(2009)

THE MODERNI ST KITCHEN

403

So many other kinds of mills exist that you

A co lloid mi ll can be used instead

of a coffee grinder for large batches
of spice mixtures (see page 416).

tailored to make specific foods. Chocolate was

could fill an entire catalog with them. Both

unappetizingly gritty-and thus usually con-

single- and double-disc mills rely primarily on

sumed in beverages-before the Swiss confection-

strong shear forces, whereas pin-and-disc mills

er Rudolph Lindt invented the conche machine in

add the punch of impact as well. Roller mills

1879. Lindt's system uses rollers to grind cocoa,

reduce particle size by using a combination of

sugar, and other ingredients to sizes too small for

shearing and compressive forces. Colloid mills-

the tongue to register, while simultaneously

which we discuss below because they also work on

heating and aerating the mixture to remove

liquids-use jagged, spinning teeth and come in

off-flavors and to ripen the desirable tastes that

industrial sizes that possess fearsome power.

Some varieties of milling equipment have been

remain. This process is called conching and has

become fundamental to chocolate making.

EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CITRUS SPICE

ADAPTED FROM HESTON BLUMENTHAL

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

Orange zest, finely grated

11g
100%
(from two oranges)

CD Combine.
0 Spread on silicone baking mat.

Lemon zest, finely grated

9g
82%
(from two lemons)

Dehydrate at 50 oc / 120 F until completely dried, about 35 min .

Lime zest, finely grated

3g
(from two limes)

27%

Licorice root, finely ground

Vanilla seeds and pulp
Coffee beans, roasted and
finely ground
Coriander seeds, deeply toasted
and finely ground
Mint leaves, freeze-dried

3g
1.5 g

27%
13.6%

1g

9%

1g

9%

1g
(20 leaves)

9%

see page 3-372

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Combine with dried zest and grind to fine powder.

Vacuum seal and refrigerate until use.

(original2004, adapted 2010)

404

VOLUME 2 TECHNI QUE S AND EQUIPMENT

Yields30g

10
EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

liCORICE POWDER

A DAPTED FROM M ICHEL BRAS

Yields280g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Black olives, pitted

400g

250%

<D Arrange on nonstick baking sheet in one even layer.

0 Dehydrate in 80 "C / 175 "Foven for 8-12 h until completely dried.

Dried black olives, from above

160 g

100%

@ Grind together to fine powder (N-Zorbit M will prevent powder from turning
into paste), and reserve.

Measure 160 g of dri ed olives.

N-Zorbit M (National Starch brand) 20 g

12.5%

Almond powder(m eal)

80 g

50%

Mix together, and spread on nonstick baking sheet.

Demerara sugar

lOg

6.25%

Bake in 135 "C I 275 "F oven until light golden, about 35 min, and cool.

Licorice root, finely ground

Sg

3.1%

Salt

Sg

3.1%

Tonka beans, finely ground

1g

0.625%

Blend into olive powder.

Stir into powder.

(published 2002, adapted 2010)

EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

RAS El HANOUT

Yields155 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Ginger powder

40g

100%

Turmeric powder

30g

75%

<D Dry-blend together.

0 Vacuum seal, and refrigerate until use.

Black peppercorns

25 g

62.5%

Coriander seeds*, toasted

15g

37.5%

Grains of paradise*, toasted

12g

30%

Cinnamon stick*

[Link]

13.75%

Star anise, toasted

[Link]

13.75%

Dried chili*

5.4g

13.5%

Dried rosebuds*

Sg

12.5%

Allspice

4g

10%

Cubeb pepper*, toasted

3.6g

9%

Clove

2g

5%

2g

5%

Nutmeg
(2010)

*(jinelyground)

EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

EXOTIC SPICE MIXTURE

INSP IRED BY OL IVIER ROEL LINGER

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

Sesame seeds
Cumin seeds
Sumac

18g

36%

Grind together in spice grinder.

Ajowan seeds

6.5g

13%

@ Add sesame and cumin bl end, and grind to fine powder.

Dried oregano

2.9g

5.8%

Store in airtight container until needed.

Cardamom seeds

2g

4%

SCALING

PROCEDURE

SOg

100%

8.2g

16.4%

<D Combine, and toast in frying pan until golden.

0 Cool completely, and reserve.

Ground cinnamon

2g

4%

Nutmeg, freshly ground

1.5g

3%

Yields 90 g

(2001)

THE MODERNIST KITCH EN

405

Pacotizing

food is typically b~tween - 15 c and - 12 c

Many Modernist cooks have adopted an unusual

and 10 F. The combination of frictional warming

pureeing tool, called the Pacojet, with such

from the grinding process and pressurized jets of

enthusiasm that a newverb-pacotize-has

air (which enters the machine at room tempera-

entered the culinary lexicon. Unlike almost all

ture) causes the heat to rise. The exact degree of

other size-reduction machines, the Pacojet

heating depends on the nature of the food matter:

specializes in grinding frozen material. The maker,

a fibrous fruit such as a mango will reach a higher

Pacojet AG of Zug, Switzerland, originally de-

postprocessing temperature than will a pear,

signed the machine to make ice cream and sorbet

whose flesh has less fiber against which the blade

(a task at which it excels), but innovative cooks

will generate friction .

have learned to use it for general fine -grinding

fine, dry frozen powder to a smooth, ice cream-

capable of making frozen powders, an innovation

like consistency-it all depends on the freezing

introduced into fine cuisine by Ferran Adria of

point of the mixture, the amount of solids (such as

salt or sugar) and liquids (such as alcohol) dis-

Using a Pacojet is a fairly straightforward

operation (see Sorbet (or Powder) in a Flash, page

the grinding is done. Fortunately, you have some

control over these variables.
You can lower the freezing point of most

beaker and immerse them in a liquid (water,

stock, syrup, or oil), then freeze the mixture solid
at a temperature of - 22 to - 20 c

I - S to - 4 F.

solutions by adding soluble solids or liquids; thus

exploiting a chemical effect called freezing-point

The beaker then goes into the Pacojet, where the

depression. If you don't depress the freezing

system's high-speed blade starts to mill down the

point, you will end up with a dry, frozen powder

hard, fro zen food mass at around 2,000 rpm.

air, pressurized to 1.7 bar I 25 psi, at the food. The

406

solved in it, and the size of the ice crystals when

408). You place the ingredients in a stainless-steel

As it grinds away, the machine also blows jets of

The Pacojet can process a vegetable to

make a smooth texture like that of ice
cream or a fresh, fi nely ground puree
powder for adding to a sauce or soup.

The texture of the final product ranges from a

jobs. The Pacojet is the only kitchen device

elBulli.
Some mixtures are best pacotized
tw ice. To start another ru n, you
press the start button a second time
and sta nd ready to hit the stop
button immediately afte r the blade
contacts the frozen mix, which is
indicated by the portio n light bar.
Refreezing betwee n the fi rst and
second passes, although timecons uming, yields eve n smoother
res ults.

I 5 F

rather than an ice cream. That may be exactly what

you're after. Some Modernist chefs have had great
success freeze-grinding savory foods into this

jets supplement the shearing forces of the cutting

unusual form. For example, they can prepare a

blade with a shattering effect. This dual-grinding

vegetable, spice, or seasoning blend, then process

process, pacotizing, yields food particles as small

it in a Pacojet to make a fresh, finely ground puree.

as two microns (80 millionths of an inch) across.

This form is ideal for incorporation in a sauce, a

Pacotizing typically warms the frozen sample

by 7-10 c

soup, or another dish.

I 13-18 F, so that after processing, the

VO LUM E 2 TEC HNIQUES AND EQ UI PM ENT

You may also serve the powder directly, an

1
II II

II

"I

i)

II!

\\'ilhelm ,\\aurere . the S\\iss-born engineer\\ho imented

Over time , chef., de\eloped certain sa\ory applications for

th e Pacojet \\ hile li\ ing in Bra~il in the 1980s, re portedly

the machine, but it is fair to say that most Pacojeh are still

built a prototype that incorporated a handlwld electric

u'>ed for preparing pastry and de'>Sert dishes.

The first Pacojet imported into the United States \\'as used

drill. His patent \\as later acquired bv a group of pri\ate

i11\ estors from S\\ it zerland , \\ ho e".ta blished t he product".,

bv the master chef Gray Kurll at the famed :'\e\\' York restau-

manufacturer, l'acojet AG . .\laurere had original!\ intended to build a '>oft-se n e ice-cre am machine for home use ,

rant Lespina'>'>l'. One of us 1.\lyhnoldi sa\\ it there inl995

and , after becoming intrigued , purchased \\hat \\'<l'> then

but high manufacturing costs made the de\ice too expen-

ju'>t the second l'acojet in the L:nited States. At that time, the

'>iH for the home market. So it \\a'> rqJOsitiomd for profes-

product had not vet recei\ed Under\\riters Laboratories '

.. ional cooks .

'>afetv apprmal Ire quired for all electrical appliance's in the

Soon after the Pacojet \\a'> introduce d inl993 in Europe .

it found its

\\J)'

into many profe'>'>ional kitchen'>. Tho .. e nho

tricd it found it imaluablc for making ice cream and sorbet.

approach pioneered by Ferran Adria. The frozen

granules that come from a Pacojet can be quite
tasty; they melt instantly in your mouth. Outstanding examples ofPacojet-enabled dishes
include a novel powdered-cheese course (see page
411) and a knockout powdered steak tartare (see
page 3-62).
If, however, the freezing point of the mixture is
lowered enough and the percentage of soluble
solids is high enough, the result of grinding will be
a smooth texture like that of ice cream or sorbet.

L.S. I, so strictly '>peaking, it \\a'> illcgal. But the l'acojet

\\orked \\ell, and by the next ycar, UL approval \\as in the

\\'orks , and te'>t-marketing had begun.

chiller (see page 255) provides the ideal way to

freeze the material that is to be used in a Pacojet
because it can freeze samples to the desired
temperature very quickly. Conventional freezers
are better suited to storing the end product.
You might find it tempting to use liquid nitrogen to freeze the Pacojet beakers even more
quickly than a blast chiller can. We have tried this
and found that it does work, as long as you place
the beakers in a freezer for a while to warm them
after their dip in the nitrogen. Try to pacotize a
mixture that is too cold, and you risk breaking the

Although some added fat and soluble solids are

usually necessary, the amounts you add should be
lower than in conventional ice-cream churning to

blade. It is very important that no liquid nitrogen

enters the beaker; frictional heating during

produce the best results.

Unlike conventional ice-cream production,
Pacojets don't whip air into the fat. So they

pacotizing will boil the nitrogen and create excess

pressure in the Pacojet chamber, possibly causing
it to explode. A similar problem can occur if a

produce a denser product that melts more

quickly than churned ice cream. Pacotized food

processing.

typically expands during processing only by about

25%-35% in volume, whereas churned ice creams

Regular Pacojet users find it convenient that the

pacotizing chamber is clearly demarcated in units

carbonated liquid gets into a beaker prior to

typically expand more-one source of their softer,

of about a tenth of a beaker, or 100 ml I 3.5 oz of

slower-melting texture.
Pacotizing is also different from ice-cream
churning in the way it makes ice crystals. The

volume for each tick mark. This volume scale

makes it easy for a cook to process a single 100 ml

Pacojet creates small ice crystals by grinding up

large ice crystals rather than by growing them

remainder to the freezer, where the beaker's

contents can remain safely frozen for months.

small, which is the usual goal when making

Each serving unit typically weighs about 100 g,

and its final volume ranges from 125- 135 ml I

ice cream.
Experienced Pacojet hands find that a blast

The Pacojet is dry-grinding when

it produces a powder, but one can
argue that it is doing partial
wet-grinding when it creates a
sorbet or ice cream-like texture
in a food, and that it is doing full
wet-grinding when the Coupe-Set
blades are operating.

I 3.5 oz serving to order and to then return the

4.2- 4.6 oz after it expands. The first serving unit

THE MO DE RNIST KITCH EN

407

For more on how the freezing point of a liquid

is affected by other substances dissolved in it.
see Freezing and Melting, page 1-304.

Ice cream base is typically a

high-fat-content emu lsion . The
particu lar fats that are incorporated
affect the texture of the final
product. Unsaturated fats, including
olive oi l and most other vegetab le
oils, tend to freeze at a lower
temperature than do saturated fats
such as cocoa butter, milk fat,
butter, or lard .

Liquid nitrogen temperatures also

affect texture; the colder the mix,
the more like ly the Pacojet will turn
it to powder.

to be pacotized in a beaker may contain a bit more

off the seconds and press the red stop button.

or less than the standard serving unit, because the

For example, to process 25 ml I 0.8 oz, hit the stop

top of the frozen material is usually not completely

button after five seconds.

The countdown starts when the blade contacts

level.
This single-serving feature is especially useful

the frozen mixture. You can either do this by ear

for busy cooks . A chef who uses a Pacojet

(the grinding noise will tell you) or wait until the

invariably winds up with a freezer full of beakers

green light bar starts to flash.

containing various flavors and ingredients ready

to be pacotized when needed. When the chef

The Pacojet has an accessory called the CoupeSet that contains blades for grinding or pureeing

selects one of them for processing, the machine

nonfrozen food-even a blade for whipping foams

sends its mobile blade down into the beaker

such as whipped cream or egg whites. The main

until the blade just contacts the top of the frozen

value of the Coupe-Set is in space-limited kitch-

mix; this measurement allows it to determine

ens, where it can save the counter space that

exactly how much farther it must mill down into

another, less-flexible machine would take up. The

the icy mass to pacotize a 100 ml

I 3.5 oz

portion.

Pacojet suffers somewhat because its beakers are

opaque, which doesn't allow you to watch the

The Pacojet processes that portion in 20

seconds. To pacotize smaller quantities, just count

processing proceed as you can with most mixers or

food processors.

EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PACOJET PEA SOUP

INGREDIENT
Green peas, frozen
Heavy cream
Pea juice
see page 336 (or white vegetable
stock)

Salt
Mint leaves, fine julienne

QUANTITY
300g
200g
150g
(from 500 g of
peas)

6g
3g

Yields660g
SCALING
100%
67%
50%

PROCEDURE

0 Combine and transfer to Pacojet beaker.

0 Freeze to at least -20 c I - 4 r.
Pacotize once.
0 Optionally, freeze and Pacotize once more for

2%

smoother texture.
Transfer soup to pot, and warm until just melted
and velvety.
Season .

1%

(1996)

410

VOLUM E 2 TE CHNIQUES AND EQUIP MENT

This soup is best served when at

or below 60c I 140 r, so that it
retains its sweetness. At higher
temperatures, the peas will taste
cooked and less sweet.

10
EXAMPlE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

MOZZARELLA POWDER

Yields450g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Buffalo mozzarella

250g

100%

CD Cut into 2.5 em 1 1 in cubes.

Buffalo mozzarella brine

100g

40%

Glucose syrup DE 40

100g

40%

Blend whey mixture with mozzarella cubes until smooth.

Dissolve glucose into whey.

@) Transfer mixture to Pacojet beaker and freeze to at least -20 c I -4 F.

Pacotize once without vent ing.
Serve powder immediately, or store frozen for up to 1 h.
(2010)

EXAMPlE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FROZEN CHEDDAR-CHEESE POWDER

Yields400g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Water, cold

250g

100%

[) Combine.

Agar

2g

0.8%

Bring to a boil, and hold for1 min to fully hydrate.

Blend over ice-water bath to create fluid gel.

Sodium citrate

3.2%

8g

@) Disperse into fluid ge l.

Bring mixture to a simmer.

Cheddar cheese, finely grated 150 g

2.5 g

Salt

60%

Incorporate slowly into simmering mixture until fully melted.

1%

0 Transfer mixture to Pacojet beaker, and freeze to -30 c I -22 F.

Pacotize once, and refreeze to -60 c I -76 F.
Pacotize again once more to make a very fine powder.
Serve imm ediate ly or store frozen for up to 1 h.

(2010)

EXAMPlE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FROZEN CREME-FRAICHE AND PINE-NUT CREAM

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Water

500g

500%

Glucose syrup DE 40

135g

135%

CD Blend together.
0 Place in Pacojet beaker, and freeze to at least -20 c I -4 F.

Creme fraiche

100g

100%

Pacotize once.

Pine-nut butter

100g

100%

@) Serve frozen cream immediately, or freeze.

Skim milk powder

79g

79%

Isoma It

60g

60%

Salt

lOg

10%

Sugar

lOg

10%

Guargum

2g

2%

Yields1 kg

see page418

(2009)

T HE MODERNI ST KITC HEN

411

Wet-Grinding

The food processor sits somewhere between

Wet-grinding occurs when you reduce the size

dry-milling and wet-milling; it is thus, in many

of particles that are suspended in water or another

ways, the most versatile of grinding tools. A typical

liquid. Common examples of the results of wet-

processor design features a wide blade that sweeps

grinding in the kitchen are pureed meat or vegeta-

over a broad surface very close to the flat bottom.

bles. The high water content of most plant and

Food has nowhere to hide, so it gets cut and flung

animal foods means that even if you start by

violently against the container walls.

dry-grinding, it pretty rapidly becomes wetgrinding as liquid is released. If you grind peanuts

The foo d processo r was invented

in the late 1950s by Pierre Ve rdun,
a French cate ring co mpany
salesman. In 1960, the co mpany
Robot-Coupe was fo rmed in France
to sell foo d processors as a product
and beca me ve ry successful.
In 1973, Carl So ntheimer
licensed the technology from
Robot-Coupe and offered it for sa le
in the US under the bra nd name
Cuisinart. The Massachusetts
Institute ofTechnology now awards
the Ca rl G. Sontheimer Prize for
Exce llence in Innovation and
Creativity in Design in his honor.

wet-grinding. They rely on the liquid being thin

or tree nuts, something similar happens, but

enough that it can flow past the blade area, which

instead of water, the released liquid is oil. Another

is usually quite narrow compared with the wide,

example of a product of wet-grinding in the

flat bottom of a food processor. As a result, very

kitchen is an emulsion. Indeed, wet-grinding is far

thick liquids may not receive adequate turnover.

more common than dry-grinding and ranks as one

Large chunks of food can get stuck or be blocked

of the most important food preparation tasks .

from the blade area. Food processors are better for

Wet-grinding is, in general, more effective at

those tasks. Alternatively, if a liquid is too thick for

particle reduction than dry-grinding because shear

a blender, dilution with a little added water (or oil)

forces transmitted through the suspending liquid

usually improves the situation.

can be an effective way to break up particles.

A wide variety of wet-grinding tools are used in

The design choices that make a blender problematic with some foods is a real benefit with

conventional kitchens. Blenders and food proces-

others. Hydrodynamic forces generated in the

sors are the most familiar examples. Each has

liquid as it flows through the narrow passage and

rotating blades that cut the food directly, which is

past the blades subject food particles to shear

important in the coarsest phase of grinding. When

forces that can literally rip them apart. Blenders

the particles become small, hydrodynamic forces

have motors that spin at higher speeds than food

that the blades induce in the liquid become an

processors do to accentuate this effect.

important way to disrupt the food particles.

The very different designs in kitchen wet grind-

The combination of speed and shear makes

blenders better at wet-grinding and enables them

ers reflect their differing tasks . A food processor

to produce smaller particles and smoother purees

handles dry, soft food better than a blender does .

than a food processor can. As a result, household

Conventional hand blenders or upright

blenders are the primary tools used for
wet-grinding tasks. Their high-speed
blades generate tremendous shear forces.
which are proportional in strength to the
speed of the blade and the gap between
the blade and the surrounding container.
As a result. blenders tend to be fairly
narrow in the region near the blade. This
design works well for liquids but can be a
liability if large chunks of food get stuck.

412

Blenders are more purely oriented toward

VO LU ME 2 TECHN I QU ES AND EQUIPM ENT

1
blenders and their higher-powered commercial
cousins such as the Vita-Prep are excellent tools
for many wet-grinding tasks.
Upright blenders are the most common, but
immersion blenders, also called handheld blenders, are quite similar. Instead of sitting at the

Rotor-stator homogenizers are more flexible in

their capacity. They range in size from small units
with very thin generators meant to process a
teaspoon or less of material in a test tube to large
units that can process tens ofliters at a time.
Colloid mills are next along the technological

bottom of a narrow canister, the blades reside in a

housing on the end of a shaft. This design allows

path toward smaller particle sizes. These mills

work on dry ingredients, thick pastes, and even

them to be immersed from the top into a bowl or

pourable emulsions such as salad dressings. They

have the advantage that nothing can get past the

pot. Immersion blenders are inexpensive and are

useful for many small tasks. However, their
limited motor power and small blades make them

grinding parts, which work essentially like a

rotor-stator homogenizer on steroids. The rotor-

inferior to upright blenders for most serious

stator blade assemblies in a colloid mill are much

wet-grinding tasks.

larger than those in a homogenizer and typically

Unfortunately, blenders (whether upright or

handheld) have an intrinsic limitation: they are

Unlike a blender, a food processor excels

at certain wet-grinding tasks because its
large blade enables it to cut big pieces
without jamming.

generally unable to make particles smaller than

10-12 microns I 0.0004-0.0005 in, and even that
is not easy to achieve. This dimension is just above
the range of sizes that the human mouth can
detect as a particle. As a result, a blender is not
able to create the very smoothest purees or the
finest emulsions. A puree or cream soup may be
noticeably gritty if a blender is used to wet-grind
it. Fortunately, other tools can reduce size further.

Big Iron for Blending

A rotor-stator homogenizer looks a bit like a milk
shake mixer (see Better than a Blender, page 420).
The motor sits on a vertical stand and drives a
specialized blade assembly called the generator, or
rotor-stator, that sits at the end of a shaft.
The blade, or generator assembly, has two parts
called-unsurprisingly-the rotor and the stator.
You may have heard these terms used to describe
the central parts of an electric motor, and the
analogous parts of the homogenizer blade are
similar in their arrangement.
The rotor spins fast-up to 20,000 rpm-on its
axle inside a closely matching, precision-built
stator, which remains stationary (hence the name).
The clearance between the two can be as tight as
25 microns I 0.001 in. The motion of the rotor
forces the liquid through the tiny gap in the
assembly, which creates tremendous hydraulic
sheer forces that rip apart any particles suspended
in it. The violence of the process is such that solid
particles break up into even finer bits, and colloidal
globules emulsify further into the liquid.

T HE MO DE RNIST KI TCH EN

41 3

The high-pressure homogenizer takes another

feature multiple rows of teeth and adjustable gaps

that allow the tool to handle very hard and large

step toward even tinier food particles. This is our

pieces of food, such as whole nuts. Multiple passes

preferred tool for making supersmooth sauces,

at successively smaller gap sizes can grind food

creams, purees, and emulsions.

There are several kinds of high-pressure

into fine pastes or butters. The design forces all of

the material through the rotor and the stator. In

homogenizers. Some shoot jets of compressed air

contrast, a rotor-stator homogenizer is immersed

or nitrogen (at pressures of up to hundreds of bars

in the liquid and relies on fluid flow to mix things

or thousands of psi) at a stream ofliquid that is

adequately. As a result, some parts of the liquid

forced (also at high pressure) through a small

might not pass through the generator. This

orifice. Others shoot high-velocity jets of food at

omission can't happen with a colloid mill. Because

an impact plate or blade, where the entrained

a colloid mill generates considerable heat, most

food particles are smashed to smithereens. Still

models include a water-chilled jacket.

others use pulsating jets of high-pressure air that

Colloid mills are generally sized for large-

The Thermomix is a high-quality blender

combined with a heating element into an
ali-in-one tool for wet-grinding and heating.
It is therefore very useful. It would be even
more useful if the temperature control on
the heating element were more accurate.

alternately compress and decompress the stream

volume operations that process liters ofliquid. You

of food. Upon decompression, the liquid is

pour the food through the colloid mill. If neces-

literally torn apart into voids that implode. This

sary, it can be poured through again in another

process, called cavitation, puts food particles

pass to get a finer result. The maximum amount of

under high stresses and rips them apart.

High-pressure homogenizers use high-speed,

food the machine can handle depends on the

model, but it can be substantial.

high-friction techniques that produce considerable heat. This can cook or even ruin the food.
These devices thus almost always require cooling.
High-intensity sound carries enough power to
homogenize food by using the process of cavitation. An ultrasonic homogenizer generates
high-intensity, high-frequency sound and passes
it through a precision-machined, solid titanium
cylinder called the horn. The horn is immersed
in the liquid to be homogenized. Vibrations in
the cylinder create sound waves in the water of
such high intensity that they cause cavitation
bubbles to form, putting enormous strains on any
surrounding food particles. Although this
microscopic cavitation effect takes more time,
with a bit of patience, Modernist cooks can
create ultra-emulsified liquids with suspended
droplet sizes no bigger than a micron or two.
Traveling further into the realm of the small is
to enter the unexplored nanoparticle scale, which
can behave in ways that differ from larger-scale
particles that are composed of the same substance.
Who knows? Pioneering chefs may someday
uncover now-unimagined ways to exploit nanotechnology to make sauces or drinks that change
color as they cool, or when you stir them or view
them from different angles. Perhaps we might
even see a dish that releases, like Willie Wonka's
fictional chewing gum, a preset sequence of flavors
as you eat it.

414

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

PowerGen 7000

--

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BROCCOLI AND HAZELNUT-OIL PUREE

Yields400g

INSPIRED BY JACQUES MAXIMIN

INGRED IENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Broccoli florets

300g

100%

CD Blanch florets in 2% saline water for 3 min.

Brocco li sta lks,

peeled and sliced

220g

73%

Neutral oil

lOg

3%

Roasted hazelnut oil

30g

10%

Rinse in ice water.

Saute stalks until golden and tender, about

[Link].
@ Combine with florets and stalks.
Puree in blender on high power until smooth.

Walnut oil or other nut oils

can also be used for this recipe.

Transfer puree to beaker.

Season and drizzle with more hazelnut oil if

desired.

to taste

Salt

Process with rotor-stator homogenizer at

4,000 rpm until extremely silky, about 3 min.

Warm through or refrigerate until use.

(2010)

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CREAMED WATERCRESS

Yields700g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Watercress,
large branches removed

450 g

150%

(i) Cook sous vide in 90 c / 194 Fbath for 7 min.

Shock in ice water, then remove from bag.

Puree.
@ Pass through fine sieve.
Measure 300 g of puree for recipe, and reserve.
42%

Dry-blend gellan and sodium citrate, and disperse in water.

Low-acyl gel lan (Kelcogel 7g

F, CP Ke lco brand)

2.3%
(1.2%)*

Sod ium citrate

2g

0.7%
(0.35%)*

Refrigerate gel stock until set.

Watercress puree, from

above

300g

100%

@ Combine with gel stock.

Glucose syrup DE 40

60g

20%

Water

125g

Vacuum seal so lution .

Hydrate so us vide at 85 c/ 185 F for 5 min.

@ Puree.

White onion, th inly sli ced 51 g

and blanched

17%

Water

21 g

7%

O live oil

51 g

17%

@ Combine with puree.

Maltodextrin DE 19

27g

9%

@ Pour into Pacojet beaker.

Egg white

24g

8%

@ Freeze to at least -20 c I - 4 F.

20g
Garlic, thinly sliced and
blanched once in bo ili ng
water

7%

@ To serve, Pacotize once and serve cold as a garnish for roast beef, or warm and use as a sauce
for roasted fish.

Capers

15g

5%

Sa lt

9g

3%

(2008)

426

*(%oftotal combined weight ofthe puree and subsequent ingredients)

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

10
EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PISTACHIO PUREE
INGREDIENT

ADAPTED FROM ALEX STUPAK

QU A NTITY

Si ci lian pistachi os, shell ed 200 g

Yields445g

SCA LING

PROCEDURE

100%

CD Soak pistachi os in waterfor 12 h, refrigerated.

Water

125g

62.5%

Pistachi o oil

75g

37.5%

Glucose syrup DE 40

40g

20%

Sa lt

4g

2%

Puree togeth er p istac hi os an d soaking wate r, oil,

and glucose.

Pass through fi ne sieve.

A co lloid mill works superb ly for

making pistachio puree, as shown
on page 418. A blender or Pacojet
also works.

@) Season wi th sa lt.
N-ZorbitM
(National Starch brand)

2.5g

1.25%

W hi sk into puree to thi cke n.

(0.6%)*

Vacuum seal and refrige rate until use.

*(% oftoto/ combined weight offirstfour ingredients)

(o riginal2008, adapted 2010)

EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BLACK TRUFFLE CONCENTRATE

Yields325g

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Black winter truffles, scrubbed lOO g

thoroughl y and thinly sli ced

100%

CD Com bi ne and p uree in b lend er or wi th roto r-

Brown chi cken jus

see page 344

25g

25%

Red w ine (dry)

15 g

15%

Porto bello mushroom gills

lO g

10%

Tawny port (medium dry)

lOg

10%

QUANTITY

INGREDIENT

stator homoge nize r.

Vacuum sea l puree .

Cook so us vid e in 80 oc I 176 Fbath fo r 1 h.

@) Transfe r sealed pu ree to ultraso ni c bath
if ava il ab le (see page 415), and process for
30 mi n. If bath is un ava il abl e, proceed with
re maining steps.
Refri ge rate sea led puree for later use, or
prepare to se rve.
To se rve, warm sea led puree in 80 oc l 176 F
bath fo rlO mi n.

0
Black truffl e oil (store-bought) 7 g
Champagne vin egar

to taste

Salt

to taste

Re move fro m bag, and b lend un til co mpletely

smooth.

This puree is quite expensive

and a small amount can go a long
way. Use it sparingly as a season ing
for sauces and dressings. To make
a more diluted puree that can be
served as a garnish, use more
liqu id, then th icken with a flu id
gel (see page 41 76) or blend into a
mushroom puree (see page 5216).
European summer and autumn
truffles, Oregon truffles, and
Australian truffles are all acceptab le substitutes.

Season, and se rve imm edi ately.

3.5%

(2009)

EXAMPLE RECIPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CELERY ROOT MOUSSELINE

Yields500g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Suga r

30 g

10%

CD Heat to 190 oc I

375 F to make ca ramel.

Coo l co mp lete ly.

Brea k into small p ieces.

100%

@) Vacuum sea l with ca ramel.

Celery roots, peeled and

thinly sliced

300g

Skim milk

100 g

33%

Co m bin e, and bring to a simm er.

Unsa lted butter

45 g

15%

Cook so us vide in 90 oc l 195 Fbath for 1Y2 h.

Add ce lery roots, and puree to fine co nsistency.

Pass through fi ne sieve.

Roasted pea nut oil

30g

Salt

to taste

10%

Season pu ree.
@ Se rve or coo l and refri ge rate until use.

(2008)

THE MODERNI ST KITCHEN

427

DRYING
The water removed by drying needs to go

Most fresh foods are predominantly water, which

accounts for 60%-90% or more of their mass (see

somewhere. In the case of air-drying, the water

page 1-292). Some of the earliest forms of cooking,

vapor goes into the surrounding air. The drier the

such as baking, evolved as a way for our ancestors

air-that is, the lower its relative humidity- the

to preserve foods by drying them out. Today, we

faster the food will dry. Conversely, very humid air

tend to value these cooking techniques not for

slows the pace of evaporation, even to the point at

their ability to preserve but for the unique textures

which drying stops altogether, as discussed in

they yield. The crunchy crust of freshly baked

Water in-and out of-Air, page 1-319.

bread, the crackling skin of a roast chicken, the

There is another constraint on drying food. A

chewiness of a strip of beef jerky, and the dense

certain fraction of the water in food is not free to

stickiness of fruit leather are all textures that we

diffuse or evaporate because chemical bonds tie it

crave-and all of them are made by deliberate,

to various molecules in the food. This bound water

controlled acts of drying.

is called vicinal water and is distinct from the

Drying begins at the food's surface. Liquid

water evaporates from the surface and diffuses as a

"free" water in food that readily diffuses and

evaporates.
The proportion of bound water in a food

gas into the surrounding air. The evaporating

Hygroscopic materials, called
humectants, are often deliberately
included in food products to help
them >eta in moisture. Humectants
are particularly important in baked
goo ds, in which drying is assoc iated
with staleness. Humectants such as
honey improve shelf life and
texture. Of co urse, the sa me trait
that is desirable in baked goo ds can
be problematic when we are trying
to dry foods.

liquid draws water from deeper inside the food to

depends on what fraction of the food is made up of

the surface through a combination of molecular

hygroscopic materials: substances with a strong

diffusion and capillary (wicking) action. As

chemical affinity for water. Nearly all common

drying progresses, this movement slows until

food ingredients are hygroscopic to one degree or

eventually water from the food's interior cannot

another, especially sugars like sucrose, glucose,

reach the surface quickly enough to replace the

and fructose. Some salts used in food processing,

evaporating water. When this happens, the dry

including calcium chloride, are so hygroscopic

zone moves deeper into the food. With enough

that they will actually suck moisture out of the air

time, the food will dry to its core.

Drying food evenly from the surface to the

and dissolve into a liquid, a process called deliquescence. Many other foods, including instant

center is an inherently slow process. The bottleneck

coffee, also show deliquescent behavior-indeed,

is the diffusion of water through the food, which is

this property is what makes them" instant."

When we dry food, we only get rid of the free

much like the diffusion of heat by conduction (see

Heat in Motion, page 1-277). The main difference is
Perhaps surprisingly, alcohol and
sa lt readily absorb moisture under
the right co nditions.

moisture; the bound water stays put. With

that the diffusion of water is much slower than the

enough heat, you can unbind and drive off the

conduction ofheat-more than 100 times slower

vicinal water, but you might ruin the food in the

in most food .

process. Therefore, simple moisture content (the

Accelerating evaporation at the food surface

total percentage of a food 's mass that is water) is

does not help. If evaporation removes water much

not the best indicator of how dry a food is. Some

faster than it can move from the interior to the

foods can be completely dehydrated from a

surface, then that surface becomes hard and

culinary perspective yet still contain quite a bit

dry-a phenomenon known as case-hardening.

of vicinal water.
A better measure of dryness is the amount of

This can inhibit further drying and can leave

moisture trapped inside the food.
Desiccants are hygroscopic
substances used to draw wate r out
of the air in order to keep other
things dry. The most fa miliar
desiccant is silica ge l: porous
packets of it are often included in
the packing materials for electronics and other items that need to
stay absolutely dry.

428

Case-hardening is fine, even ideal, for some

free water in the food, which is designated by a

property called water activity (see page 1307).

purposes. In baking bread and many other foods,

Pure water has a water activity of 1.0, and juices

for example, the goal is to dry the surface to a crisp

and milk have a water activity of 0.97. At the low

crust while keeping the inside moist. But if your

end of the scale, crackers and dry cookies measure

aim is to dry food evenly from the surface to the

0.3, and dry powders, such as powdered milk or

center, then you must use other means-and be a

instant coffee, have a water activity of 0.2. Dried

bit more patient.

beans typically have a water activity of 0.25.

VO LUM E 2 TE CHNIQUES AND EQ UIP M ENT

STRATEGIES FOR DRYING

Foods react to dehydration in ways that vary from the
rubbery, dense texture of a salted cucumber pickle to the
brittle, powdery crunch of a freeze-dried peach. Air drying is
the simplest method of drying, but it is slow and inconsistent.
Dehydrators or combi ovens are better, and vacuum-assisted
drying is better still-although all require special equipment.

The microwave, despite its reputation, is often the ideal tool

when used at a low powerthat avoids scorching. Spray dryers
and freeze dryers, though more exotic, achieve truly unique
results. But even ubiquitous salt and sugar can effectively
desiccate food , by inducing diffusion and osmosis. A quick
dunk in nearly pure alcohol can dry food in a similar way.

Application
Whole
foods

Sliced
foods

Juice
or broth

See page

Example use

Note

pickles, herbs, jerky

accelerates drying via osmosis

same as dehydrator; salt cod,

bottarga

good control, but drying ties up

equipment for a long time

162

dehydrator

leather, fruit chips, jerky

has limited heat and airflow, so

thin slicing is important

431

freeze
dryer

fruit and vegetable chips,

stock powder, juice powder

best for heat-sensitive foods;

can produce unique textures;
very expensive

444

microwave

jerky, fruit and vegetable

powder

can dry food rapidly, but choose

the power level with care

182

salt and
sugar

cured meat, vegetables

dehydrates by osmosis; good

for curing and pickling

396

spray dryer

stock powder, juice powder

use with thin liquids that have a

high solids content; often need
to add bulking ingredients

438

pasta, dried herbs

fast, very good results for many

foods

433

Strategy

alcohol
combi oven

Puree

" "
"

vacuum
dryer

"

"

This has an important practical implication for

Drying protects food from spoilage and pathogens because it reduces water activity. Most
bacteria stop growing at a water activity at or
below 0.91; yeasts generally don't thrive below

air-drying: to dry food, you need to place it in air

that has a relative humidity lower than the water
activity you want to reach. That means drying

0.87. That's why raisins, which have a water

activity around 0.76, don't ferment into wine.
Lowering water activity also suppresses many

raisins in air at a relative humidity no higher than

76% (0.76). To dry milk, the relative humidity
should be at or below 20%-at least in the final
stages of the process. Drying near equilibrium
relative humidity takes a long time. To ensure

enzymatic reactions that degrade food.

If you seal a dried food in a container and let it
sit for a while, the water activity of the food will
come into equilibrium with the water vapor of the
Relative humidity is a measure
of how much free water is in the air
and as such is conceptually related
to water act ivity.

430

air in the container. Raisins with a water activity of

0.76 will be at equilibrium with air having an
equilibrium relative humidity of76%, for example.

reasonable drying times, the relative humidity has

to be much lower. Drying is thus all about keeping
the humidity of the air around food well below the
food's water activity so that water continually
moves out of the food and into the air.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Drying with Warm Air

There are several ways to lower the relative

Combi ovens, discussed in chapter 8 on

Cooking in Modern Ovens, are also well suited to

humidity of air. The simplest is to heat it; even

drying. But a combi oven is much larger and more

gentle heating lowers relative humidity consider-

expensive than a dehydration cabinet. Unfortu-

ably. This technique has been used in food-drying

nately, typical convection ovens won't do for

through the ages. Sun-drying, for example, uses

drying because they are not accurate enough at

solar energy to heat the food and air.

the low temperatures that work best.

Another approach is to circulate the air. As

water evaporates from food, it raises the relative

Food in a dehydrator goes through several

stages of drying, just as baking food does (see page

humidity of the thin layer of air, called the bound-

101 for a complete explanation). Knowing these

ary layer, that is in immediate contact with the

stages will help you to recognize when drying is

food . Even if the air a short distance away from the

going too fast and when it is going too slowly.

food has low relative humidity, the boundary layer

can become saturated with moisture and prevent

During the initial, brief stage of drying, called

the settling period, the surface of the food

drying. Circulating air with a fan disrupts the

warms up to the wet-bulb temperature-the

boundary layer and keeps water vapor from

value that a wet thermometer would read. In the

accumulating near the food.

next phase, the constant-rate period, a balance is

Dehydrating cabinets use both of these tech-

For more on wet-bulb and dry-bulb

temperatures, see page 1-314.

struck between the rate at which moisture inside

niques to dry food effectively and inexpensively.

the food diffuses to the surface and the rate of

A cabinet-style dehydrator is a dedicated piece of

evaporation that occurs there. During this stage,

equipment that gently heats and circulates air,

the food should appear shiny and slightly tacky,

operating reliably and with moderate control at

but still wet, to the touch.

temperatures ranging from 40-70 oc I 105-160 F.

Dry boxes are used to store dry items and

maintain their low water activity. The
boxes contain desiccants such as silica gel
at the bottom that absorb any remaining
water vapor in the food or the surrounding
air. More sophisticated dry boxes can be
connected to a vacuum pump. which
virtually eliminates humidity by removing
air and water vapor. Dry boxes help
prevent confections and other dried food
from becoming sticky in a humid kitchen.

If drying is going too fast, the food surface will

It has a fan as well as perforated shelving to help

become increasingly dry and crusty, and you

ensure vigorous airflow around the food.

should lower the temperature-the food is on the

THE MODERNIST KITC HEN

431

But ifyou want to drive out the vicinal water,

then you must substantially increase the temperature of the drying air. You might need temperatures
near, or even above, the boiling point of water to
dry the food further. Such temperatures are generally beyond the capability of standard dehydrating
cabinets, so you'll need to move the food into an
oven or vacuum desiccator to finish the job.
Of course, high temperatures will invariably
alter the texture and flavor of the food. You want
to be sure that such altered textures and flavors
and an advanced degree of dryness are the result
you're looking for before you take these extreme
measures.
It is difficult to specify exactly what combina-

tions of temperature and humidity will work for

drying any given food, but some general guidelines apply. Lower drying temperatures almost
invariably yield better results than higher drying
temperatures do. That's because water isn't the
only thing that vaporizes during drying: volatile
aromas also vaporize and degrade, and the higher
the drying temperature, the more pronounced the
loss. Rapid drying at high temperatures also does
more damage to the texture of food.
Balanced against these restrictions are factors
of expedience and food safety. You' ll be tempted
to use higher temperatures to get the job done
sooner, and as long as evaporation doesn't outpace the wicking of water to the surface, that
approach will work.
Safety issues can arise at lower drying temperatures if the temperature of the drying food itself is
not high enough to halt bacterial growth. In
practice, the food-not the air in the chamberHerbs can be dried in many ways, ranging
from traditional approaches like tying
them in bunches hung in the sun to more
high-tech approaches like vacuum drying.

needs to stay at a temperature above 52 c I 126 f .

verge of baking rather than dehydrating. If the

Keep in mind that, for most of the drying process,

surface remains visibly wet, however, this means

food is at the wet-bulb temperature, which is

that the food is drying too slowly, and you should

generally lower than that of the air flowing past it

increase the air temperature (and decrease the

because the food is being cooled by the evapora-

humidity directly, if possible).

tion of moisture from its surface.

In the final stage of drying, once the bulk of the

The simplest way to abet safety as well as

water has been evaporated, the process will often

expedience is to slice food thinly (and spread

seem to stall. This is because the drying tempera-

purees thinly) to speed drying. In practice, slicing

ture is not hot enough to vaporize the tightly

food to less than 1 em I 3/s in thick and dehydrating

bound vicinal water that remains. At this stage of

at temperatures above 40 c I 105 p is usually

drying, the food is usually tacky, even sticky, and

enough to minimize the proliferation of bacteria.

has a leathery texture. In some cases, this might be

432

But short drying times at low temperatures

exactly what you want: the chewy texture of fruit

won't decontaminate food. To destroy the bacteria

leather or beef jerky, for example.

already present in food, you must pasteurize it, and

VO LUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

1
that requires drying or cooking the food at specific

commonly found in chemistry laboratories (see

temperatures for specific times (see page 1-148).

Food prone to internal contamination must be

Suck It Up! on page 436). Typically dome-shaped,

the container has a drying rack nested in its lower

adequately pasteurized at some point before

eating: either before, during, or after drying ..

half and a valve, to which a vacuum pump connects, on its upper half. Desiccators are made

Instead of cooking, you can use some combination of curing or fermenting to decontaminate
food before drying it. These methods are commonly used for meats and seafood, in which very
slow drying at low temperature (typically
15-25 c I 60-80 "F) and high humidity (typically 75%-90% to start, but declining over time) over
a period of weeks or even months yields character-

either from heavy glass or from lighter-weight

(and much less expensive) plastic. Our advice is to
skip the glass versions: they are expensive, fragile,
and difficult to seal properly. Chemistry labs use
glass desiccators mainly for evaporating solvents
that would erode plastic.
Another kind of vacuum dryer that cooks
should know about is a fancier and larger cabinet-

istic textures.

style desiccation box that has multiple shelves.

Some foods don't need pasteurization: intact

pieces of raw fruits, vegetables, and even intact

This kind of device is a good choice for drying

muscle foods are most likely to have only surface

contamination. Very brief blanching in boiling
water or steam will ensure that surface bacteria

Using a vacuum desiccator is simple. Place

the moist food onto the drying rack, close the
lid (the upper half of the dome), connect the

larger amounts of food.

have been destroyed. Another useful strategy,

vacuum pump to the valve using vacuum tubing,

particularly for raw fruits and vegetables, consists

of washing them in a 0.4% solution of water and

open the valve, and engage the vacuum pump.

Keep the pump running until the food is dry

bleach for one minute, followed by a thorough

rinsing in clean water. This is a common practice

the food).

in the agricultural world, and, so long as the bleach

solution is dilute enough, it will not impart an
unpleasant taste.
Even after taking these steps, however, you
need to dry decontaminated food either quickly
enough or at a temperature high enough to
prevent bacteria from recolonizing and proliferating on the warm, tacky surface of the food .

Vacuum-Drying

(you can stop the process periodically and check

To hasten the drying process, place the entire
setup outside on a sunny day-or next to a
window in bright sunlight. The sun will warm the
food and accelerate evaporation. Although it may
be tempting to place the desiccator under a heat
lamp, don't do it if yours is plastic; it will melt!
You can also use a vacuum desiccator to store
delicate foods that have already been dried. To
do this, cover the bottom of the desiccator with

close the valve and disconnect the pump. The

dehydrate food . Lowering the pressure drives

silica gel will absorb any residual moisture that

evaporates from the food or that was left inside

drops dramatically; you can boil water at room

temperature, and even at freezing temperatures, if
the pressure is low enough.
Water also evaporates more readily at lower

Vacuum-drying removes vo latil es

as read ily as drying at higher
temperatures, because, just like
water, these evaporate more
readily at lower pressures. The
advantage of vacuum-drying is
that the remaining volatiles are
not altered or degraded by
excessive heat.

silica gel, place the food on the rack, seal the

chamber, and turn on the vacuum pump. Then

Drying under vacuum is a powerful way to

water out of food just as effectively as heat does. At
low ambient pressures, the boiling point of water

The term vacuum-dry ing is

a bit of a misnomer. Food in a
vacuum continually outgases water
vapor-that's the point of drying. So
the env ironm ent in the desiccator
isn 't rea lly a vacuum; it's a blend of
low-pressure air and water vapor.
"Low-pressure drying" wou ld be
a more accurate name.

the chamber.
A more elaborate piece of equipment for
vacuum-drying is a vacuum oven. This is a vacuum chamber with shelves that can be heated.
There is very little air left in a vacuum oven, so the

pressures, and drying happens faster, too. With the

surrounding pressure reduced, the water inside

only way to heat the food is through conduction

from the shelves. It is essential that the food you

food starts to push to the surface. The vacuum

effectively "sucks" the water out of the food.

are drying sits firmly on the oven shelves.

Several kinds of vacuum dryers are suitable for

the kitchen. The least expensive and simplest to

vacuum oven. These ovens offer some unique

culinary possibilities in addition to drying, such as

use is a vacuum desiccator, a piece of equipment

cooking very light meringues (see page 4-247).

Even then, food will heat very slowly in a

THE MO DE RNIS T KI TCH EN

The equipment assoc iated with

vacuum-drying also provid es
unique ways to man ipulate the
texture of food by expanding
foams. For examples, see chapter l6
on Foams, page 4243.

4 33

Spray-Drying

volume. They turn into a cloud of solid particles,

Drying a liquid produces a more concentrated

each with a diameter of roughly 180-250 microns

liquid and was discussed earlier in Concentrate!,

(millionths of a meter)-about 0.007 in. The

page 379. If you want to dry a liquid into a solid

dust-like pieces slowly settle to the bottom of the

powder, then spray-drying is the technique to use.

chamber, where they can be collected.

Spray-drying exploits the fact that the smaller

As with other methods of drying, lower

a drop ofliquid is, the faster it will dry. Spray

temperatures are preferable to higher ones in

dryers thus break up liquids into extremely tiny

spray-drying, because they are less damaging to

droplets. The business end of a spray dryer is

flavor. The taller the tower of the spray dryer is,

built a little bit like a showerhead. This

the lower the temperature that is necessary to

atomization nozzle sits at the top of a heated,

dry the droplets. Greater height provides more

silo-like or funnel-shaped chamber. A liquid

distance and thus more time for the mist to dry

solution high in soluble solids-either naturally

before reaching the bottom. Industrial-scale

occurring or added by the user to reach 40%-

spray-drying towers are truly enormous silos

60% by mass - is injected under high pressure

many stories high.

into the nozzle.

The liquid exits the nozzle as a fine mist that

A short, lab-scale spray drier with a column

about 1 m

I 3 ft high typically blows air up the

meets heated air blowing up through the drying

column at temperatures ranging from 90-300 c

column. The droplets dry rapidly because of their

I 195-570 p , The liquid mist then cools the air in

the chamber to about 100 c I 212 F. The

large surface area relative to their miniscule

evaporation of moisture from the droplets

further cools them to around 40 c

I 105 p,

so that very little heat damage occurs to the

drying food.
Spray dryers are very expensive. Fortunately,
excellent spray-dried powders are commercially
available as flavoring ingredients. Supply catalogs
list hundreds of spray-dried powders in fruit,
vegetable, and savory flavors. These powders
make colorful, intensely flavored garnishes for
dishes, and they can also be used to add a
concentrated flavor to a food that would be
difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate in the
kitchen.
The powders rehydrate easily to yield unique
products such as spray-dried sauce preparations.
They can be sprinkled onto a dish like any
seasoning or blended into pasta and pastries. We
love them in sauces. Adding powdered blood
orange juice to a traditional sauce maltaise is a
fantastic improvement. Store all powders in an
airtight environment.

Spray drying produces a powder from a liquid-in this case, blood

orange juice.

438

VO LU M E 2 TEC HNIQU ES AND EQU I PM ENT

Mim-Spray Dryer

ADL31

10
EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Yields200g

SPRAY-DRIED BUTTERMILK
INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Buttermilk

2 kg

100%

Dextrose DE 36

20g

1%

0
0

Microcrystalline cellulose
(Avice I CG 200, FMC
BioPolymer brand)
Lactic acid

20g

1%

Blend together thoroughly.

Set spray dryer's inl et temperature to 90 oc 1 194 F. The outlet temperature
should read about 57 oc 1 135 F.

Q) Spray-dry at full pressure until liquid is fully processed, about 2 h.

0.4g

0 .04%

Store powder in airtight container.

(2010)

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SPRAY-DRIED BLOOD ORANGE JUICE

Yields250 g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Blood orange juice, clarified

2 kg

100%

Blend together thoroughly.

Maltodextrin DE 9

100 g

5%

Citric acid

20 g

1%

Set spray dryer's inlet temperature to 100 oc I 212 F. The outlet temperature
should read approximately 65 oc I 149 F.

Q) Spray-dry at full pressure until liquid is fully processed, about 2 h.

Allow spray dried juice to cool completely. If powder clumps, grind in coffee grinder, and
try adding more maltodextrin and using a higher drying temperature for the next batch.

Store powder in an airtight container.

(2 010)
Evaporative coo ling keeps the juice
much cooler as it dries than the
outlet temperatu re would suggest.

Cyclone separation is used to centrifugally

separate the powder from the air stream.
This process results in an interesting
pattern. After being removed from the
receiving flask, some foods may need to
be pressed through a sieve to ensure good
particle size distribution.

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

443

Freeze-Drying

at the surface. Done right, no liquid water forms,

As we noted in the previous section, vacuum-

no capillary forces are exerted, and much less

drying works in part because the boiling point of

damage to delicate food structure occurs.

water falls as pressure declines-it falls so much, in

You can freeze-dry food directly from the raw

state or after cooking. Regardless of the starting

fact, that at very high vacuum (and thus very low

Sophisticated (but expensive)
freeze dryers use microwaves to
slowly heat the food. Heated
shelves are a simpler and less
expensive option.

Freeze-drying is used by conservators at museums and rare-book

libraries to restore water-soaked
books. Once freeze-dried, the
paper is restored to nearly new
condition.

pressure) water will even boil at temperatures

point, the first step for freeze-drying is always

below 0 c I 32 p, Consequently, if you freeze a

freezing the food-and it is essential to do so as

food solid and then lower the pressure while

completely as possible.

maintaining freezing temperatures, the water in the

This is more complicated than it seems because

frozen food will begin to "boil." More precisely, the

as the water freezes, the remaining unfrozen water

water will turn directly from ice into vapor without

requires an ever-lower temperature to freeze. That

melting into a liquid first. This process, called

unfrozen water has to hold all of the sugars,

sublimation, is described in more detail in Sublima-

proteins, carbohydrates, and other molecules that

tion and Deposition, page 1-326. As a practical

are dissolved in it, and the more concentrated

matter, sublimation offers an additional way to dry

these solutes become, the further the freezing

food: freeze-drying, also called lyophilization.

point of the water is depressed. Eventually, the

Freeze-drying works by freezing the food and

remaining water is so saturated with dissolved

then slowly warming it under a high vacuum

molecules that it simply won't freeze; instead, it

(below 6 mbar I 4.5 torr) until the ice crystals in

becomes glassy, supercooled liquid water.

The temperature at which this change occurs is

the food sublimate. Once vaporized, the water

known as the glass transition temperature. For

moves out of the food and is trapped by refreezing

If the food appears to "melt" or

foam on the surface during
sublimation, it has risen above its
critical temperature. Decrease the
pressure in the chamber to speed
sublimation, whi<:h will quickly
cool the food down. At the same
time, lower the shelf temperature
by 5 c I 10 F, and continue the
freeze-drying.

onto a very cold condenser that is connected to

the best results, you must get the frozen food

the main chamber. This sublimation process is the

several degrees below this temperature before you

main step of freeze-drying, and it goes very slowly.

freeze-dry it. For meats and seafood, the glass

After sublimation, a small amount of water

transition temperature is somewhat higher than

-20 c

proteins and other molecules that make up food .

much lower.

Removing this trapped, or vicinal, water to com-

The rate of freezing is important, too. Although

pletely dry the food requires a second step at a

slowly frozen food freeze-dries more quickly

higher temperature (see Freeze-Drying, page 450).

(because slow freezing produces bigger, more

Freeze-drying provides a way to preserve food

connected ice crystals), quickly food frozen gives

so that it doesn't need refrigeration and can later be

the best results. You'll want to strike a practical

rehydrated to something resembling its fresh state.

balance between reasonable freeze-drying times

In freeze-drying-unlike cooking, curing, or

and the highest-quality result.

other forms of drying-it is possible to remove

Note that the critical temperature

for freeze-drying is a totally
different concept than the critical
temperature on a phase diagram
(see page 1328). It is unfortunate
that these different entities share
the same name. For more on the
critical temperatures of common
foods, see the table on page 451.

444

I -4 p, but in foods such as fruits, it can be

remains chemically bound to the surface of

Once the food has been frozen, sublimation can

water from food with minimal changes to the

proceed in the freeze-drying chamber under low

intricate and delicate microstructure of the food.

pressure. Sublimation, as a form of evaporation,

Possible but not easy: it requires care to do the

cools the food. So the machine adds a bit of heat to

least damage while free ze-drying, and care must

drive the process, usually by heating the shelves

also be taken when rehydrating the food later.

that the frozen foods sits on.

Dried food isn't like fresh, and even if we add

It is important-but also tricky-to select

water to rehydrate it, it is never the same. When

appropriate shelf temperatures that are warm

food dries, the liquid water in it moves, exerting

enough to keep sublimation going but not so warm

capillary forces on cell walls or membranes. The

that vapors accumulate faster than they can diffuse.

resulting damage is often all too evident.

Vapor build-up can cause ice to melt into water that

Conventional drying (whether under a vacuum

or not) causes water to move within the food in

flows and damages cellular structures. Any flowing

water can also degrade the flavor by allowing too

liquid form; it only evaporates near the surface. In

many of the food's aromatics to vaporize and

freeze-drying, however, water changes directly

escape. Trial and error are often needed to find the

from solid to gas throughout the food, not merely

right process for a particular preparation.

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQU I PM ENT

Frozen juices and pu rees can be

difficu lt to freeze-dry efficiently.
As the surface freeze-dr ies, it tends
to leave few cracks and pores for
sublimating water vapor from
deeper inside the food to escape
through. Foami ng the juice before
freezing it creates an aerated
structure that freeze -dries readily.
Alternatively, grinding the frozen
liquid or puree into smaller pieces
of ice increases the surface area
re lative to the vo lume. Both of
these approaches are good
strategies for efficiently freezedrying for a high-quality final resu lt.

As you experiment, however, it helps to know

the glass transition temperature of the food you are
working with because above that point, damage

drying. The usual pattern is that the temperature

becomes likely. Freeze-drying experts actually

falls at first as sublimating water cools the food.

refer to this temperature as the critical tempera-

Then the core temperature slowly increases

ture or collapse temperature. It is so important to

toward the shelf temperature. That recovery from

maintain the freeze-drying food below that

the initial dip indicates that sublimation is

temperature until it has dried, but not too far

progressing.

below, or the freeze-drying process will stall.

Meats have a critical temperature of roughly
-12 c to -10 c

I -14 to -10 F. Critical temperaI

tures for seafood can range from -12 c to -5 c

10-23 p. For plant foods, the critical temperature is

often as low as -SO c to -35 c

I -58 p to -31 p_

So you want to keep the food below its critical

Sublimation causes the temperature to drop because it is another
fo rm of evaporative cooling.

sublimated, and the first stage is nearly complete.

The next step is to warm the shelves further to
drive off the last bit of the frozen water in the
food. The primary stage of freeze drying is done
when the core temperature of the food is above

I 32 p. By then, all of the ice will have

0 c

than the critical temperature in order for subli-

sublimated to vapor.

mation to proceed apace. Now you see why

As in any kind of drying, the rate at which

food freeze-dries depends largely upon its size.

seem like the shelf should eventually warm the

This inherently slow process gets much slower as

frozen food above the food 's critical temperature,

food gets bigger, and thicker layers of already-dry

it doesn't. Conveniently, the sublimation causes

material impede sublimating water vapor from

the water content of the food to fall, and that

leaving the food.

forces the critical temperature of the food to rise

in response.

446

When the temperature of the food nears that

of the shelves, most of the ice in the food has

temperature but also to keep the shelves warmer

freeze-drying can be tricky. Although it might

Hot water rehydrates a freeze-dried ramen

and dissolves its packaging, turning it into
something you can eat.

ature of the freeze-drying food. This feature

allows you to monitor the slow progress of the

You can speed the process by slicing your food

into pieces as small and thin as possible. Slices

Most freeze dryers have thermocouple junctions that continuously measure the core temper-

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUE S AND EQUIP MENT

about 6 mm

I V4 in thick will freeze-dry in about

four hours. Double the thickness to 1.2 em I

1
I/ 2

in, and drying will take roughly 16 hours. In

general, the freeze-drying time required increases somewhat faster than the square of the thick-

ing and become soft, even soggy, in a matter of

minutes, whereas starchy foods stay crisp for hours.
Vacuum packing the food in a rigid storage

ness. It's not at all uncommon for something as

container is one way to avoid this problem.

thick as a steak to take several days to freeze-dry.

Alternatively, store the food in a modified atmo-

The final stage of freeze-drying, usually

sphere; injected gasses are entirely dry. If nothing

called the secondary step, is to drive off the last

else, a tightly sealed container with a desiccant

bit of vicinal water, which requires a lot more

such as silica packets can work.

energy than sublimation does because it means

Freeze-dried foods can be eaten without

breaking chemical bonds. In this stage, you

rehydrating or cooking, but keep in mind that the

want to increase the temperature of the food as

same food safety rules that apply to dehydrating

much as you dare without cooking it or damag-

food also apply to freeze-drying. Bacteria that

ing its flavor.

At a minimum, increase the shelf temperature to room temperature; the higher you can
get away with, the better. To speed things along,
you also want to dial in the lowest vacuum

contaminate food can survive freeze-drying, and

they will revive and start to proliferate as soon as
the food begins to rehydrate.
Finally, keep in mind that rehydration requires
care and good judgment. When rehydrating

pressure available on the machine. You can

muscle foods, for example, use water at the same or

increase the strength of the vacuum by setting

a lower temperature than you would cook them at

the condensing chamber control to the lowest

if they were fresh. For plant foods, hot but not

temperature the machine offers.

simmering water does a better job of restoring the

Once drying is done, store the food in the driest

possible environment. Freeze-dried foods are so

Fat does not freeze-dry, so freezedried fatty cuts of meat tend to go

rancid quickly. To min imi ze this
problem, always prefreeze these
cuts of meat as quickly as possible,
and after freeze-drying, store them
at cool temperatures and out of
direct sunlight.

Foods that contain very high levels

of sugar and gelatin are also
difficult to freeze-dry well. They
hold on to water so tightly that,
after sublimation, they are still
moist enough to be sticky and soft.
A high-temperature secondary
drying step is essential for removing the residual water to attain a
dry, crispy texture.

texture and flavor.

Careful rehydration is necessary only when you

dry that they tend to absorb moisture right out of

want to preserve the original texture of the food.

the air. The more hygroscopic the components of

For freeze-dried broths and purees, the tempera-

the food are, the greater this tendency. Foods with

ture of the water isn't critical because there is no

high sugar content, for example, can start rehydrat-

intricate microstructure left to preserve.

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

Freeze drying is widely used to preserve

flowers because it keeps their shape and
color much better than conventional
drying does.

447

. . GENESIS

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FREEZE-DRIED BEEF GRAVY GRANULES

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

Yields200 g

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Beef shank, ground

1.2 kg

160%

Neutral oil

100g

13.3%

<D Panfry; brown until dark.

0 Remove beef from pan, and reserve .

Carrots, thinly sliced

1SOg

20%

Button mushrooms, thinly

sliced

100g

13.3%

Brown vegetables together in suet until deep amber.

Measure SO g of rendered suet and reserve.

Leeks, thinly sliced

100g

13.3%

Sweet onions, thinly sliced

100g

13.3%

Turnips, thinly sliced

100g

13.3%

Garlic heads, split

7S g

10%

Prepare vegetab les as noted.

Rendered suet, from above

SOg

6.7%

Redwin e

1SO g

20%

Deglaze vegetab les.

Brandy

so g

6.7%

(f) Add browned beef.

White beef stock

1 kg

133%

Transfer beef and vegetable mixture to pressure cooker.

see page296

Add stock, and pressure-cook at a gauge pressure ofl bar I 1S psi for 1 h.
@ Strain through fine sieve.
@ Pour stra in ed stock into centrifuge bottles.
@ Centrifuge at 27,S00g for 1 h, and strain through fine sieve.
@ Measure 7SO g of stock, and coo l.

Centrifuged beef stock, from

above

7SO g

160 Bloom gelatin

7.S g

100%

@ Disperse gelatin into cold stock, and warm to dissolve ge latin.

@ Pour stock into a 30.S em by 20 em I 12 in by 8 in hotel pan, and freeze completely.

1%

@ Wrap frozen stock sheet in cheesecloth.

@ Place perforated hotel pan (30.S em by 20 em I 12 in by 8 in) onto anothe r hotel pan
that is the same size but deeper.
@ Lay wrapped frozen stock sheet flat on perforated pan; all ow thawing stock to drip
down into deeper pan below it.

@ Freeze-dry clarified broth for 12 h, by using the table on page 4SO.

For rehydration:
Freeze-dried beef gravy
granules

12 g

1.6%
1.1%

Ultra-Sperse A

8g

Salt

2g

0.3%

Water, boiling

120g

16%

@ Mix together.

@ Whisk into dry blend.

@ Divide gravy into four servings.

(2009)

EXAMPLE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SALTED, FREEZE-DRIED LOBSTER

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

Yields20 g

SCALING

PROCEDURE

<D Mix until dissolved.

Water

100g

167%

Salt

7g

12%

Lobster tail

60g

100%

Brine, refrigerated, for12 h.

Cook so us vid e in 57 c I 13S F bath for 20 min.

Freeze dry for12 h, by using the table on page 4SO.

To use as a seasoning, grate the dried lobster ove r food.

(2008)

454

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

1
EXAMP LE REC I P E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

RAMEN VEGETABLES

YieldsSOg

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

Mirin

205g

205%

CD Combine, vacuum sea l, and cook so us vide in 80 c 1 176 F bath for 2 h.

Water

205g

205%

0 Cool.

Soy sauce

105g

105%

Bamboo shoots

lOOg

100%

@ Slice bamboo shoots 1 mm I y,, in thin.

Strain; discard liquid.

Sugar

SOg

50%

Freeze-dry by using the table on page 450.

Carrots, fine julienne

lOOg

100%

Blanch for 30 s.
0 Shock in ice-water bath.
Freeze-dry as above.

40%

40g

Young ginger, minced

Vacuum seal and cook so us vide in 90 c l 194 F bath for1 h.

@ Freeze-dry as above.

Hon-shimeji mu shrooms, tops

100 g

100%

Scallions, greens only,

fine julienne

100g

100%

@ Freeze-dry as above.

(2009)

,,

..

....

.,

,.
/

.-

' '
For more on how to assemble these components to
make Astronaut Ramen, see page 5247.
EXAMP LE REC IPE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

RAMEN STOCK POWDER

Yields38g

INGREDIENT

QUANTITY

SCALING

PROCEDURE

japa nese stock

seepage296

300g

100%

CD Combine a nd vacuum sea l.

Chinese everyday stock

see page 296

250g

83%

@ Strain.

Scallions, whites only,

thinly sliced

lOg

3.3%
2%

0 Cook so us vide in 60 c I 140 F bath for 1 h.

@ Heat broth to 85 c I 185 F.

Kombu

6g

Smithfield ham, thinly sliced

6g

2%

Garlic, finely minced

Sg

1.7%

Dried scallop (store-bought)

4g

1.3%

Add to simm ering broth.

Bonito flakes (katsuobushi)

2g

0.7%

Steep forlO s.

White soy sauce

to taste

0 Strain.
Season.
Freeze-dry by using the table on page 450.
@ Grind into powder.

(2009)

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

455

CRYOGENIC FREEZING
AND CARBONATING
Most cooking is about adding heat to food in order

I -346 F. In between those temperatures,

to cause chemical reactions in that food that can

nitrogen is a clear, thin liquid that is not chemi-

change its color, taste, and texture. But one can

cally reactive.

also cook by removing heat. If we remove enough

Liqu id nitrogen has long been a
must-have commod ity in research
laboratories, where it is used for
numerous cooling tasks. Recently, it
has become a staple in Modernist
kitchens.

Plunging things in liquid nitrogen is an ideal

heat, we can freeze the food, turning liquids into

way to drop their temperature, for two reasons.

solids. The most common example is that water

The first is obvious: the temperature is incredibly

turns to ice. But oil, alcohol, and other food-related

low. The rate at which heat flow occurs depends on

liquids all freeze.

the temperature difference (see Heat in Motion,

In fact, at low enough temperatures, every liquid

page 1-277), and with liquid nitrogen, you can

can freeze solid. Even the gases in the air around us

For more onthe long and interesting history of

liquid nitrogen use in the kitchen, dating back
more than a century, see page 160.

There is no official acronym or

abbreviation for liquid nitrogen,
but many people use LN2, wh ich is
short for "liquid N 2 ." In principle,
the abbreviation ought to have a
subscri pt, but in email and internet
postings it is invariably just LN2 .

l iquid nitrogen provides a quick way to

make food extremely cold. In a sense, it is
the opposite of deep-frying, which uses a
hot liquid such as fat or oil to heat and
cook food.

obtain stunningly high temperature differences-

can do so, although most of them become a liquid

over 200 oc I 360 F. Heat will flow rapidly out of

first. This was first realized in the 19th century,

anything immersed in liquid nitrogen-much

when scientists discovered the main elements in

more rapidly than with ice.

air-nitrogen and oxygen-could be liquefied. In

Surprisingly, you would actually need to use a

doing so, they invented the field of cryogenics,

larger mass ofliquid nitrogen than you would with

which is generally defined as the production of

ice! Due to the factors discussed on the next page

temperature below -150 oc I -238 F.

in How Liquid Nitrogen Boils, this cryogen is not

The term cryogenics comes from the Greek

particularly good at bulk chilling. It actually

words for "the production of freezing cold," and

absorbs less energy than ice does.

that is a good description. Cold liquids, called

Liquid nitrogen excels in cooking applications

cryogens, are the primary tool of cryogenics, and

where you need extremely low temperature to, for

the most commonly used cryogen is liquid

example, freeze alcohol or to make a soft sub-

n itrogen. Air is mostly nitrogen (about 78%), so

stance as hard and brittle as glass. The cryogen is

it is present all around us. Indeed, nitrogen is the

also good at producing extremely high rates of

most common pure elemental substance on

cooling-for example, to freeze drops ofliquid

Earth. Nitrogen is useful as a cryogen because

instantly so they stay spherical or to make instant

it has a boiling point of -196 oc I -321 oF and a

ice cream. In those applications, liquid nitrogen

freezing point that is just slightly lower at -210 oc

truly seems magical.

Cooking with liquid Nitrogen

Modernist cooks have learned to use liquid
nitrogen to create unexpected food textures.
These freezing agents make possible novel foods,
such as ice creams with ultrafine textures and
deep-fried pork roast that is succulent on the
inside with perfectly crisped skin on the outside.
Liquid nitrogen helps pull off that last feat,
known as cryosearing, because it creates a difference
of about 400 oc I

no F between the frigid outer

layers of the frozen meat and the searing-hot oil in a

fryer. The heat in the oil thaws, cooks, and starts
crisping the skin well before it begins working in
earnest on the frozen and chilled flesh beneath.
To make supersmooth ice cream, add liquid
nitrogen to a mixer containing an ice-cream base.

456

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

For more on how to cryosear pork roast or duck

breasts, see page 3-124.

The water freezes very rapidly into many tiny ice

same freeze-and-shatter technique, for instance,

crystals that are much smaller-and less percepti-

can markedly change the appearance of beef

ble in the mouth-than the fewer, larger crystals

tartare on the plate.

Liquid nitrogen makes quick work of many

that form during conventional freezing.

kinds of mis en place. Shucking oysters is as easy as

Another culinary use for liquid nitrogen is a riff

spraying the frigid liquid onto the mollusk's hinge;

on what science-inspired entertainers or chemistry professors do when they freeze a rose or a

the oyster just pops open (a trick we learned from

rubber ball in the cold liquid, then smash the

chefHomaro Cantu). Dip tough nuts, such as

brittle result into shards, as if it had been trans-

chestnuts, in liquid nitrogen for a second, and you

formed into glass. Cooks can similarly use liquid

can shatter their shells with a tap of a mallet.

Frost glasses like a pro by pouring a little

nitrogen to freeze, say, olive oil into a brittle solid.

For more on how the speed of freezing affects
ice crystal growth, see page 1-304.

You can then shatter, crumble, or distribute it as

liquid nitrogen into an empty glass and swirling

you like; as it warms, it melts back into puddles of

it around; the water vapor in the air instantly

delicious liquid. Maple syrup and honey lend

condenses into frost on the cooled glass. (Make

themselves to the same kind of treatment-for

sure the glass is completely dry or it may shatter!)

instructions, see How to Cryoshatter, page 463.

Liquid nitrogen is also great for chilling alcoholic

cocktails without diluting them with ice, a

Some uses for liquid nitrogen are just plain fun.

Cryofreeze a fruit meringue, then pop it in your

technique that might be especially apt for

mouth. Fog will emerge, dragon-like, from your

preparing Halloween party drinks that bubble

mouth and nose-but be sure to read the safety

and fume eerily, for example. And making

warnings on page 464 before trying this.

gin-and-tonic slushies on a sweltering summer

day sounds like another appealing application for

Once you become comfortable with liquid

liquid nitrogen.

nitrogen, the temptation to try it with just about

every food can be hard to resist. For example, we
like to break up cryogenically frozen raspberries

For more on dry ice and sublimation, see page

1-326.

into individual drupelets and garnish a salad with

Dry Ice

them or fold them into a pastry filling, which can

Carbon dioxide is another common gas generated

produce a tartlet that doesn't leak juice until the

by many living things. Humans exhale about 1 kg

first bite (see page 462).

I 2.21bs of carbon dioxide per day. The physics of

If you freeze fresh herbs in liquid nitrogen, they

carbon dioxide at low temperature is a bit differ-

become easy to grind into powders that have a

ent than nitrogen-instead of turning into a

consistency just like commercial bottled herbs yet

liquid, it becomes a solid, known as dry ice, at a

without losing their freshness. Indeed, almost

temperature of -78 oc I -173 op (see page 1304).

anything that you might want to grind into a

This is warmer than the usual definition of

puree can be frozen, shattered or powdered this

cryogenics but still cold enough that it can be

way (see How to Cryopowder, page 461). The

used as a kitchen cryogen.

THE SOURCES OF

Cryogens for Sale

Industrial gas suppliers like Praxair sell liquid nitrogen, but
first you need a Dewar flask to put it in. A 50 I I 13 gal Dewar
flask is probably the minimum size of a storage container
that is useful for a moderately busy kitchen. Smaller containers lose too much to evaporation and require toofrequent refills.
The easiest approach for commercial kitchens is to contract
with a supplier that leases the Dewar vessels and makes

458

weekly deliveries to top them up. Call a major industrial gas

supplier first because they can refer you to a local supplier if
they don't offer this service themselves.
Dry ice is typically sold in 1 kg I 21b blocks or bags of pellets,
and it is easier to come by than liquid nitrogen. In the U.S.,
many urban supermarkets stock dry ice. One approach is to
call freight shipping companies near an airport for a referral;
dry ice suppliers often set up shop close to such shippers.

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Carbon dioxide is often known by

its chemical formula, C0 2 .

Carbon dioxide is soluble in water (see page

Beyond carbonation, dry ice is also a fine

1-330) and this is the basis for carbonation, the

name for the process of dissolving carbon dioxide

substitute for liquid nitrogen when cryosearing

some meats and poultry.

in a food, most often a beverage like soda pop,

seltzer, or Champagne.

Safe Handling of Cryogens

The temperature of a carbonated liquid affects

how quickly it goes flat. Carbon dioxide is soluble

Dry ice and liquid nitrogen can be fabulous tools in

in water, and the colder the water, the more carbon

the kitchen, but they are seriously cold substances,

so they can be dangerous. Cryogens can injure

dioxide can dissolve in it. Even a little warming or a

small reduction of the pressure above the liquid-

cooks and their guests alike. Serious mishandling

which happens suddenly when you pop open a

can even have fatal consequences. Much of the

Champagne bottle-and the gas bubbles out.

That's why you should keep carbonated liquids

hazard arises from people's unfamiliarity with

supercold materials, but just like the well-known

chilled. Take care not to freeze them, however,

perils posed by extremely hot temperatures in the

because ice can't hold the carbon dioxide.

kitchen, those associated with cryogens can also be

Kitchen carbonation ofliquids is fairly straightAny container of carbon diox ide

wi ll also have air in the heads pace
above the carbon dioxide. You
must vent that air-rich gas before
carbonating food-otherw ise, you
wi ll be trying to carbonate with
mostly air instead of most ly carbon
dioxide, and it won't work. To avoid
this problem, allow the gas cylinder
to vent to the atmosphere for a few
minutes, or depress the valve
momentarily while charging with a
gas cartridge.

minimized by safe handling.

forward for liquids and can even be done with

In our kitchen, we use the same precautions

solid foods. One approach requires a pressurized

when working with liquid nitrogen as when

tank of carbon dioxide. An industrial-size tank

working with hot frying oil; indeed, the two are

equipped with a pressure regulator, like those used

almost polar opposites. Liquid nitrogen happens

by bars and taverns, works well. So do small,

disposable cartridges of the kind used in seltzer

to be almost the same number of degrees below

the freezing point of water, at -196 oc I -321 oF, as
deep-frying oil is above it, at 200 oc I 392 F. In

dispensers.
An alternative technique uses dry ice, which

some ways, however, liquid nitrogen is actually

packs molecules of carbon dioxide together in an

sublimes directly into a gas (without melting en

safer than frying oil. Droplets ofliquid nitrogen

will often bounce harmlessly off skin due to the
Leidenfrost effect (see page 1-317); frying oil

route), it expands in volume by a factor of more

than 500. So it doesn't take much dry ice to

fire the way oil can.

extremely compact arrangement. When the solid

certainly won't. Liquid nitrogen also can't catch

carbonate a batch of food or beverage. A little over

The guiding principle you should follow to

protect eaters is this: no dry ice or liquid nitrogen

3 g I 0.1 oz of dry ice-just a few pebble-size

pieces-can transform 355 ml I 12 oz of water
into seltzer.
Soda water has been around for
centuries. The early American
chemist joseph Priestley made a
name for himse lf, in part, for
dissolving "fixed air," an early term
for carbon dioxide, into water.

What happens to the carbon

dioxide in drinks you consume?
Many people are surprised to find
out that it almost immed iately
diffuses through the gut wall and is
absorbed into the blood, then
transported to the lungs. You
typically exhale the C0 2 within a
minute of swallowing it.

464

should still be in a dish or drink when it is served.

Cooks use similar precautions when preparing

Because food is mostly water, cooks can also

dishes with hot oil. Fortunately, liquid nitrogen

carbonate it by dissolving the gas into the water

contained in the food. The technique even works

usually flashes out of a food well before it's ready

for presentation at the table.

for fruits with peels, including grapes, oranges, and

bananas (see How to Carbonate Fruit, page 472).
If you are so inclined, you can serve carbonated

nitrogen and eat it almost right away. Doing so is

truly safe, however, only with dry foods, such as

bananas that look and feel normal (though they

must be served cold) but taste like a solid banana

marshmallows and meringues. In those cases, the

foam structure insulates the food so that only a thin

soda. The same trick works for oranges, whose

carbonated versions put orange pop to shame. Bite

surface layer is frozen. That layer thaws quickly on

your tongue, rather than freezing to it. Foods that

on a carbonated grape and it goes down fizzing and

contain a lot of moisture should never be consumed

crackling. You can even carbonate meat.

right after immersion in liquid nitrogen.

Nevertheless, it's fun to immerse food in liquid

Novel and exciting as this approach may be,

Cooks and others in the kitchen must respect

not all foods are tasty when made fizzy. Many

the potential dangers of contact with liquid

people associate fizziness in strawberries and

cucumbers, for example, with unwanted fermen-

porous fabrics, such as canvas shoes, is not ad-

tation and spoilage.

vised. Liquid nitrogen spilled on clothing could

nitrogen. Safety goggles are a must, and wearing

VOLUM E 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

THE SCIENCE OF

The Taste of Fizziness

The distinct, multisensory experience of imbibing a
carbonated drink is more than just a matter of tiny bubbles
of carbon dioxide popping on your tongue. The fizzy feel
involves our touch and pain response systems. But there is
also biochemistry at work.
In late 2009, a team of neuroscientists reported in the
journal Science that they had teased out some of the details of
the familiar experience by silencing specific populations of
sensory cells in taste buds, such as sour-sensing cells and
sweet-sensing cells, one by one. They showed that soursensing cells are the ones that respond to carbonation.
This observation could help explain why seltzer, or soda
water, seems to taste sour. Investigating th e process at the
molecular level, these researchers found that the sensation

begins when an enzyme (carbonic anhydrase 4) on the

surface of the tongue converts carbon dioxide into ions of
bicarbonate and hydrogen. The hydrogen ions then trigger
the taste bud receptors, which report a sour taste to the brain .
The researchers speculate that the evolutionary purpose of
our ability to sense carbon dioxide might be to detect
spoiled, fermenting foods . On the other hand, the capability
might be a fortuitous side effect of the presence of the
enzymes involved, whose primary role is to maintain the pH
oftaste buds.
Once scientists arrive at a definitive answer to that question, perhaps they can figure out why the Nigerian miracle
berry, Synsepalum dulcificum, nullifies the taste of carbonation . A fizzy consumed after eating the fruit tastes oddly flat.

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

465

A dramatic illustration of why you

should take care when using dry ice
in enclosed spaces occurred in
Cameroon in 1986. Carbon dioxide
had been building up for years in the
deep, cold waters of Lake Nyos
when suddenly, early one morning,
the supersaturated water released
its gas in a foaming fountain within
the lake. This is analogous to
opening a Champagne bottle and
having its contents spurt out.
Because carbon dioxide is denser
than air, the cloud of gas displaced
the air near the ground as it swept
over adjacent farms and a village.
Some 1,700 people and 3,500
livestock suffocated in the tragedy.

soak into the fabric weave, which would hold it

Achatz, G. Alinea. Achatz, 2008.

against the skin long enough to cause severe

Aduriz, A. L. [Link]. IXO Editorial, 2004.

frostbite.
Aftel, M., Patterson, D. Aroma: The Magic of
Essential Oils in Foods and Fragrance. Artisan,
2004.

It is essential to avoid doing dumb things such

as pouring liquid nitrogen from above eye level or
bending over next to a coworker who is pouring it.

Blumenthal, H. The Fat Duck Cookbook.

Bloomsbury USA, 2009.

The cryogen swiftly ch ills metal containers or

implements to dangerous temperatures. So always

Bras, M. Essential Cuisine. lei La Press, 2002.

wear gloves when working with cryogens.

Dry ice and liquid nitrogen both turn to gas

Buchi Literature. The Kjeldahl Guide -A guidance

for your daily laboratory work.
BUCHI LabortechnikAG, 2010.

when exposed to heat. In a poorly ventilated space,

this can be hazardous. As an example, if you
tipped over a Dewar flask ofliquid nitrogen in a

Buchi Literature. The Laboratory Assistant.

BUCHI LabortechnikAG, Switzerland, 2007.

small room or in a car, the gas could displace

enough air in the room that you wouldn't be able

Coyne, G. The Laboratory Companion: A Practical

Guide to Materials, Equipment, and Technique.
Wiley-Interscience, 2005.

to breathe. Normal air contains 21% oxygen, but a

rapid influx of vaporized nitrogen can dilute th is
concentration to below 16%, the point at which

Cross Media, editor. Dashi and Umami: The Heart

ofJapanese Cuisine. Cross Media, 2009.

people start to lose consciousness. Oxygen levels

Liquid nitrogen will run off any
impermeable convex surface due
to the Leidenfrost effect (see page
1317). This includes human skin. A
few drops dribbled over the back of
your hand poses no danger. But
don't try this with a cupped hand!

below 16% can even cause death by asphyxiation.

Fellows, PJ. Food Processing Technology: Principles

and Practice. CRC Press, 2009.

Dry ice can endanger users in a similar fashion,

but it vaporizes much more slowly-which is why

Gayler, P. The Sauce Book: 300 World Sauces Made

Simple. Kyle Books, 2009.

dry ice has long been used, quite safely, in theatrical

performances to produce fog. Most injuries from
dry ice occur from handling it directly, without

Kamozawa, A., Talbot, A. H. Ideas in Food: Great

Recipes and Why They Work. Clarkson Potter,
2010.

tongs or gloves, or by accidentally eating some that

is hidden in a dish that was prepared with dry ice
before it had the time to sublime into the air.

Kunz, G., Kaminsky, P. The Elements of Taste.

Little, Brown & Company, 2001.

Liquid nitrogen greatly expands as it evaporates, so you must never seal it in a container-

Norman,]., editor. Herbs & Spices: The Cook's

Reference. DK Publishing, Inc., 2002.

evaporation will cause the pressure to build up

until the container explodes. Liquid nitrogen

Shugar, G., Ballinger, ]. Chemical Technicians'

Ready Reference Handbook. McGraw-Hill
Professional, 1996.

Dewars have either loose-fitting lids or special

pressure releases to vent the gas so that this does
not occur.

Further Reading
Believe it or not, an infamous party
trick for chemists and physicists is
to gargle small amounts of liquid
nitrogen. Although many people
do it without harm, it can also
cause serious injury if done
incorrectly.

Sokolov, R. The Saucier's Apprentice: A Modern

Guide to Classic French Sauces for the Home . Alfred
A. Knopf, 1976.

Adria, F., eta!. A Day at e!Bulli: An Insight Into the

Ideas, Methods and Creativity of Ferran Adria.
Phaidon Press, Incorporated, 2010.
Adria, F. elBulli 1994-1997. Ecco, 2006.
Adria, F. e!Bulli 1998-2002. Ecco, 2005.
Adria, F. e!Bulli 2003-2004. Ecco, 2006.
Adria, F. Modern Gastronomy: A to Z. CRC Press,
2009.

466

VOLUME 2 TECHNIQUES AND EQUIPMENT

Thompson, R. B. Illustrated Guide to Home

Chemistry Experiments. O'Reilly Media, 2008.
Zieglar, H. Flavourings: Production, Composition,
Applications, Regulations. Wiley-VCH, 2007.
The Curious Cook. [Link]
Ideas in Food. [Link]
Cooking Issues. [Link]

HOW TO Preserve the Freshness of Truffles

Fres h t ruffl es a re so ex pe nsive th at it is we ll wo rth the ti me a nd effo rt to
modi fy th e e nviro nm e nt in w hi c h you kee p t he m so th at th ey will stay as
pristin e as poss ibl e. Resea rch has show n that t hey ca n last significa ntly
lon ge r if sto red in pure ca rbo n di ox id e. He re a re three ways to kee p
t ruffl es in a bl a nke t of ca rb o n diox ide, so th eir degradation is slowed . In
additi o n to truffl es, lettu ce a nd oth e r leafy gree ns can be nefit fro m
storage in carbon di ox id e using th e sa me a pproac h.

1
2

3
4

Place the truffle in a partially sealed, reseal able bag or storage

container.
Load a carbon dioxide cartridge in a completely empty, dry soda
siphon (not shown).
Blow the carbon dioxide into the container to flu sh outthe oxygen.
Seal and store in the refrigerator. Re peat each time you use th e truffl e.

470

VO LU ME 2 TE CHN I QU ES AND EQUIPMENT

1
VARIATION: Storing with Dry Ice

1.5L

1
2

-f

2qt.

Place a pea-size piece (- 3 g I 0.1 oz) of dry ice in a plastic resealable

container. Do not use glass.
Place the truffle in the container so that it will nottouch the dry ice
and be damaged by the extreme cold.

3 Letthe carbon dioxide sublimate for a few minutes with the lid
resting loosely on the container, then seal and refrigerate.

Pressure may build up in the

container. This is not a problem;
just release the pressure and reseal.

VARIATION: Storing by Using

a Gas-Flushing Vacuum Sealer

1 Seal the truffle loosely with

carbon dioxide in a gasflushing, chamber-style
vacuum sealer, then refrigerate.

THE MODERNIST KITCHEN

471