MIXING OF FOOD INGREDIENTS
In order to get meats ready for cooking, it is necessary to wipe them clean and usually to trim off all unnecessary bone, fat, and skin. Meats may be cooked in large pieces or small pieces or they may be ground, depending on the cooking process to be used. Before cooking poultry and fish, they should be thoroughly cleaned and then trimmed and cut to suit the cooking process chosen.
If desired, the bones may be removed from poultry or fish before cooking, and sometimes it is advantageous to do so. Cream and raw eggs may be whipped or beaten light before they are served or cooked, and after such foods as fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish have been cooked, they may be sliced, chopped, ground, mashed, or cut into dice, or small pieces.
MIXING OF FOOD INGREDIENTS
PROCESSES INVOLVED IN MIXING.
--In cookery, the mixing of ingredients is done for several purposes--to produce a certain texture, to give a smoothness or creaminess to a mixture, or to impart lightness. Various processes are involved in the mixing of ingredients, and the results that are accomplished depend entirely on the method that is selected. The most important of these processes with
brief explanations of what they mean follow.
BEATING is a rapid motion that picks up material from the bottom and mixes it with that nearer
the surface. It is done with a spoon, a fork, an egg whip, or, if the mixture is thin, with a rotary egg beater. Sometimes beating is done for the purpose of incorporating air and thus making the mixture light.
STIRRING is usually done with a spoon, and is accomplished by moving the spoon in circles,
around and around, through ingredients contained in a pan or a bowl. This is the method that is
generally applied to the simple mixing of ingredients.
FOLDING is a careful process whereby beaten egg or whipped cream is added to a mixture
without destroying its lightness. It is accomplished by placing the egg or cream on top of a
mixture in a bowl or a pan, and then passing a spoon down through both and bringing up a
spoonful of the mixture and placing it on top. This motion is repeated until the two are well
blended, but this result should be accomplished with as few strokes as possible.
RUBBING is done by pressing materials against the side of a bowl with the back of a spoon. This
is the process that is applied when butter and other fats are to be mixed with such dry ingredients as sugar and flour.
CREAMING consists in continuing the rubbing process until the texture becomes soft and
smooth and is of a creamy consistency.
CUTTING-IN is a method used to combine butter with flour when it is desired to have the butter
remain hard or in small pieces. It is done by chopping the butter into the flour with a knife.
SIFTING is shaking or stirring material through a sifter having a fine wire mesh. It is done to
remove foreign or coarse material, to impart lightness, or to mix dry ingredients together.
RICING is a process whereby certain cooked foods, such as fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish,
may be reduced to the form of a purée. This result is accomplished by forcing the cooked material
through a ricer.
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