Sautéing or sauteing (, ; , , 'jumped', 'bounced', in reference to tossing while cooking) is a method of cooking that uses a relatively small amount of

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Various sauté methods exist.

Description

Ingredients for sautéing are usually cut into small pieces or thinly sliced to provide a large

surface area The surface area (symbol ''A'') of a solid object is a measure of the total area that the surface of the object occupies. The mathematical definition of surface area in the presence of curved surfaces is considerably more involved than the d ...

, which facilitates fast cooking. The primary mode of heat transfer during sautéing is conduction between the pan and the food being cooked. Food that is sautéed is browned while preserving its texture, moisture, and flavor. If meat, chicken, or fish is sautéed, the sauté is often finished by deglazing the pan's residue to make a

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

. Sautéing may be compared with

pan frying Pan frying or pan-frying is a form of frying food characterized by the use of minimal cooking oil or fat (compared to shallow frying or deep frying), typically using just enough to lubricate the pan. In the case of a greasy food such as bacon, ...

, in which larger pieces of food (for example, chops or steaks) are cooked quickly in oil or fat, and flipped onto both sides. Some cooks make a distinction between the two based on the depth of the oil used, while others use the terms interchangeably. Sautéing differs from

searing Searing or pan searing is a technique used in grilling, baking, braising, roasting, sautéing, and the like, in which the surface of the food (usually meat such as beef, poultry, pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the ...

in that searing only browns the surface of the food. Certain oils should not be used to sauté due to their low

smoke point The smoke point, also referred to as the burning point, is the temperature at which an oil or fat begins to produce a continuous bluish smoke that becomes clearly visible, dependent upon specific and defined conditions. This happens when one or ...

Clarified butter Clarified butter is butter from which all milk solids have been removed. The result is a clear, yellow butter that can be heated to higher temperatures before burning. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to ...

rapeseed oil Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historica ...

and

sunflower oil Sunflower oil is the non-volatile oil pressed from the seeds of the sunflower (''Helianthus annuus''). Sunflower oil is commonly used in food as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient. Sunflower oil is primarily compos ...

are commonly used for sautéing; whatever the fat, it must have a smoke point high enough to allow cooking on medium-high heat, which is the temperature at which sautéing is done. For example, although regular butter would impart more flavor, it would also burn at a lower temperature and more quickly than other fats due to the presence of milk solids. Clarified butter is more fit for this use.

Methods

In a sauté, all the ingredients are heated at once and cooked quickly. To facilitate this, the ingredients are rapidly moved around in the pan, either by the use of a utensil or by repeatedly jerking the pan itself. A sauté pan must be large enough to hold all of the food in one layer, so steam can escape, which keeps the ingredients from

stewing A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, ...

and promotes the development of

fond In the culinary arts, fond is a contraction of ''fonds de cuisine'' which is loosely described as "the foundation and working capital of the kitchen". In its native usage, fond refers to the sauce created by dissolving the flavorful solid bits o ...

. Most pans sold specifically as sauté pans have a wide flat base and low sides, to maximize the surface area available for heating. The low sides allow quick evaporation and escape of steam. While skillets typically have flared or rounded sides, sauté pans typically have straight vertical sides. This keeps the ingredients from escaping as the pan is jerked or stirred. Only enough fat to lightly coat the bottom of the pan is needed for sautéing; too much fat will cause the food to fry rather than just to slide, and may interfere with the development of

. The food is spread across the hot fat in the pan, and left to brown, turning or tossing frequently for even cooking. The sauté technique involves gripping the handle of the sauté pan firmly and using a sharp elbow motion to rapidly jerk the pan back toward the cook, repeating as necessary to ensure the ingredients have been thoroughly jumped. Tossing or stirring the items in the pan by shaking the pan too often, however, can cause the pan to cool and make the sauté take longer. File: Sautee onions and peppers.jpg, Sautéing onions and peppers File: Baby bella mushrooms being sautéed.jpg,

Sautéed mushrooms Sautéed mushrooms ( French: ''Champignons sautés au beurre'') is a dish prepared by sautéing edible mushrooms. It is served as a side dish, used as an ingredient in dishes such as coq au vin, beef bourguignon, and foods such as duxelles, a ...

: baby Bella ( portobello) mushrooms being sautéed File: US Navy 100610-N-9327W-084 Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas Roby, from Louisville, Ky., tosses sautéed vegetables in the commanding officer's galley aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4).jpg, Sautéed vegetables being tossed in a sauté pan File:Flambé in a sauté pan.jpg,

Flambé Flambé (, , ; also spelled flambe) is a cooking procedure in which Ethanol, alcohol is added to a hot pan to create a burst of flames. The word means "flamed" in French language, French. Flambéing is often associated with the tableside presen ...

ing in a sauté pan

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sauteing Cooking techniques Culinary terminology

Description

Methods

See also

References

External links