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(With reference to a liquid) reach or cause to reach the temperature at which it bubbles and turns to vapor.  Subject (something) to the heat of boiling liquid, in particular. The temperature at which a liquid bubbles and turns to vapor.

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Today's Topic: Boiling and simmering

The Goal: 20 lessons, 20 days to become a better cook at home

Enter to win The Kitchn Cookbook: Simply share and tag photos of your Kitchn Cooking School progress on Instagram and Twitter with #kitchnschool to enter for a chance to win. We're giving away one copy for every homework assignment during The Kitchn's Cooking School. See rules and regulations.

Enroll & see all the lessons so far: The Kitchn's Cooking School

Boiling and simmering are the next two basic skills we're adding to our home cooking repertoire. With these solidly under our belts, we can poach eggs, simmer stews, reduce sauces, make stock and all sorts of other useful (and tasty!) kitchen endeavors.

Do you know what makes a simmer different from a boil? Or why recipes always say to bring to a boil, then down to a simmer? Let's dive in!

Watch the Video

Day 15 Lesson: Simmer

What's happening when foods simmer? As you probably already know, simmering and boiling both involve liquids, usually a large amount of liquid like a pot of water to boil pasta or simmering a soup. Simmering is a way of gently cooking ingredients until they are tender, but it's also a way of getting flavors in a dish to melt. As a soup or a sauce simmers, herbs and spices infuse the liquid, vegetables absorb some of that seasoned liquid while also contributing some of their own flavors back - it's synergy! Since some of the liquid evaporates while simmering and boiling, flavors are also more concentrated and intense by the end of cooking.

Boiling vs. Simmering: Think this a spectrum. At one end, you have a "slow simmer" and on the other end you have a "full rolling boil." At a slow simmer, you'll see very little movement in the liquid; wisps of steam and a tiny bubble or two every so often, but that's it. Then you have a "simmer," where you'll see some gentle bubble activity. A "rapid simmer" is just below a full boil; you'll see a lot of activity in the liquid but the bubbles will still be pretty small. When liquids are at a full, rolling boil, you'll see big bubbles and lots of churning, frantic activity in the pot.

Why is it important? In other words, why not just crank the heat and let a soup boil? Good question! The temperature of the liquid is a factor (liquid at a full boil is several degrees hotter than liquid at a slow simmer), but it's mostly about the action of those bubbles. A rolling boil causes ingredients to bump around a lot, causing them to disintegrate and also making the outsides mushy before the insides are fully cooked. At a simmer, the food is jostled just enough to move it around the pan and mix all the flavors, but not so much that the ingredients are damaged.

How to boil and simmer: It's all about controlling the heat! Liquids over high heat will boil rapidly, while liquids over a lower heat will simmer. Stovetops can be touchy, though, so you may need adjust the heat a bit to keep the liquid where you want it. Keep an eye on it - don't totally turn your back on the pot until you're sure the simmering is holding steady.

Pro Tip!

There's a myth that if you add salt to almost-boiling water, it'll raise the temperature and make it come to a full, rolling boil. While it make look like that is happening since the water bubbles furiously when the salt is added, what's actually happening is that the salt helps form bubbles but doesn't actually raise the temperature by any noticeable amount. The furious bubbling is only a temporary occurrence, so know that you're salting water for flavor, not for temperature.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer: It seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it? Why do so many recipes have you bring foods all the way up to a boil and then reduce it back to a simmer? The biggest reason is time: it can take quite a while for food to come to a simmer over medium-low heat; it's faster to bring it to a boil, then cut the heat back. It's also easier to control the simmer when you do it this way.

What recipes mean by boil and simmer: When a recipe says "bring to a boil," it means a true, rolling boil. Whether your boiling eggs or about to simmer a soup, you should see big bubbles and lots of roiling action in the pot. A recipe that tells you to "let simmer," means you should see small bubbles merrily popping the surface, but less action and vigor than a true boil. Be aware when a recipe says to use a "slow simmer" or a "rapid simmer" and adjust the heat under the pot accordingly.

Simmering and Boiling Cheat Sheet

Slow Simmer: Low heat, very little activity in the pot. You'll see wisps of steam and a stray bubble or two, but that's it. Most often used for stocks and braises.

Simmer: Medium-low heat, gentle bubbling in the pot. Most often used for soups, sauces, and braises.

Rapid Simmer: Medium- to medium-high heat, more aggressive bubbling in the pot, but the bubbles should still be fairly small. Most often used for reducing sauces.

Boiling: High heat, lots of big bubbles over the whole surface of the liquid, roiling activity in the pot. Most often used for boiling pasta and blanching vegetables.

Every lesson has three homework options. Maybe you've already got one down, or you just have time for a quick study session. So pick one, and show us by tagging it with #kitchnschool on Instagram or Twitter.

Study: Fill a pan with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once it's at a full, rolling boil, start cutting back the heat in increments. Wait a few minutes at each increment until the activity in the water changes. Watch how the water goes through each of the stages, from boiling to a rapid simmer, then to a simmer, and finally to a slow simmer. The goal is to train yourself to recognize each stage so you can apply it later when cooking.

Practice: Boil or poach an egg - or both! Boiling eggs requires you to bring the water to a full, rolling boil. Poaching an egg requires you to simmer. Here are step-by-step instructions for both:

Improve: Make a batch of homemade vegetable or chicken stock. Stocks are best if they're left at an extremely low simmer for several hours - the low temperature and small amount of movement in the pan help extract all the good flavors from the stock ingredients without making the stock overly cloudy. This is a longer project, so set some time aside this weekend if you don't have the extra hours today!

The Kitchn Cookbook & Boiling & Simmering

The Cooking School was inspired by our new book, The Kitchn Cookbook- and there's plenty in the book to help your Cooking School experience.

Today's tip: One of Faith's favorite sets of photos in The Kitchn Cookbook appears on page 110 and it shows the difference between a boil and a simmer in a pot of water!

5 Recipes to Practice Boiling & Simmering

1. Miso Soup with Rice & Poached Egg

2. Quick Turkey Meatballs Over Greens

3. Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

4. Ham Bone, Greens, and Bean Soup

5. Quick Weeknight Pasta with Hearty Tomato Sauce

The Kitchn's Cooking School

The Kitchn's Cooking School is 20 days, 20 lessons to become a better cook at home. Every day we'll tackle an essential cooking topic and explain what you should know. Each lesson has three different homework options, so you can choose the one that teaches you what you need. Whether you want to refresh your skills or start from scratch, come to school with us!

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Today's Topic: Boiling and simmering The Goal: 20 lessons, 20 days to become a better cook at home Enter to win The Kitchn Cookbook: Simply share and tag photos of your Kitchn Cooking School progress on Instagram and Twitter with #kitchnschool to enter for a chance to win.

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Take or move (someone or something) in a particular direction suddenly and quickly. Beat or stir (a substance, especially cream or eggs) with a light, rapid movement.

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A rich white sauce made with milk infused with herbs and other flavorings.

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Béchamel is a basic white sauce and one of the five mother sauces of classical cuisine. That means it's the starting point for making other sauces, like the cheddar cheese sauce, the mornay sauce, and several other variations.

You can also season it and serve it as-is. Or try making it with bacon or sausage fat for an amazing white gravy.

The reason for using fresh bay leaf as opposed to dried is that it allows you to attach the bay leaf to the onion using the cloves like thumbtacks. A dried bay leaf will tend to crack and crumble if you try this. This is not the end of the world, since you'll be straining the sauce anyway.

What's nice about thumb-tacking the cloves into the onion, though, is it makes them easier to retrieve. Again, you're straining the sauce anyway. But since a clove can crack a tooth, it's nice to confirm that the same number come out as went in.

It's traditional to use white pepper to season béchamel because some chefs prefer not to see specks of black pepper in a white sauce. But if you 1) can't find white pepper and/or 2) don't mind specks of black pepper in your béchamel, you can use black.

Finally, while clarified butter is ideal for making béchamel, béchamel is not nearly as fussy as hollandaise, so you can make it with ordinary unsalted butter. Just make sure you use a little bit more, because whole butter contains water, while clarified butter doesn't.

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Learn How to Make Béchamel Sauce, One of the 5 Mother Sauces

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Béchamel is a basic white sauce and one of the five mother sauces of classical cuisine. That means it's the starting point for making other sauces, like the cheddar cheese sauce, the mornay sauce, and several other variations. You can also season it and serve it as-is.

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A mixture of fat (especially butter) and flour used in making sauces.

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Fried quickly in a little hot fat. A dish consisting of ingredients that have been sauteed.

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A cooking technique in which a bread or dough product is partially baked and then rapidly frozen for storage. The raw dough is baked normally, but halted at about 80% of the normal cooking time, when it is rapidly cooled and frozen.

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Uploaded by Ken's Artisan on 2016-04-07.

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Work (moistened flour or clay) into dough or paste with the hands. Massage or squeeze with the hands.

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The chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms, typically involving effervescence and the giving off of heat.

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Fermentation, chemical process by which molecules such as glucose are broken down anaerobically. More broadly, fermentation is the foaming that occurs during the manufacture of wine and beer, a process at least 10,000 years old. The frothing results from the evolution of carbon dioxide gas, though this was not recognized until the 17th century. French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur in the 19th century used the term fermentation in a narrow sense to describe the changes brought about by yeasts and other microorganisms growing in the absence of air (anaerobically); he also recognized that ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide are not the only products of fermentation.

corn ethanol; biofuel© Jim Parkin/Shutterstock.com

bacteria: Heterotrophic metabolism

...cell via two different processes, fermentation and respiration. Fermentation is an anaerobic process that takes place in the absence of any external electron acceptor. The organic compound, such as a sugar or amino acid, is broken down into smaller organic molecules, which accept the electrons that had been released during...
READ MORE

Anaerobic breakdown of molecules

In the 1920s it was discovered that, in the absence of air, extracts of muscle catalyze the formation of lactate from glucose and that the same intermediate compounds formed in the fermentation of grain are produced by muscle. An important generalization thus emerged: that fermentation reactions are not peculiar to the action of yeast but also occur in many other instances of glucose utilization.

Glycolysis, the breakdown of sugar, was originally defined about 1930 as the metabolism of sugar into lactate. It can be further defined as that form of fermentation, characteristic of cells in general, in which the six-carbon sugar glucose is broken down into two molecules of the three-carbon organic acid, pyruvic acid (the nonionized form of pyruvate), coupled with the transfer of chemical energy to the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The pyruvate may then be oxidized, in the presence of oxygen, through the tricarboxylic acid cycle, or in the absence of oxygen, be reduced to lactic acid, alcohol, or other products. The sequence from glucose to pyruvate is often called the Embden-Meyerhof pathway, named after two German biochemists who in the late 1920s and '30s postulated and analyzed experimentally the critical steps in that series of reactions.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The term fermentation now denotes the enzyme-catalyzed, energy-yielding pathway in cells involving the anaerobic breakdown of molecules such as glucose. In most cells the enzymes occur in the soluble portion of the cytoplasm. The reactions leading to the formation of ATP and pyruvate thus are common to sugar transformation in muscle, yeasts, some bacteria, and plants.

Industrial fermentation

Industrial fermentation processes begin with suitable microorganisms and specified conditions, such as careful adjustment of nutrient concentration. The products are of many types: alcohol, glycerol, and carbon dioxide from yeast fermentation of various sugars; butyl alcohol, acetone, lactic acid, monosodium glutamate, and acetic acid from various bacteria; and citric acid, gluconic acid, and small amounts of antibiotics, vitamin B₁₂, and riboflavin (vitamin B ₂) from mold fermentation. Ethyl alcohol produced via the fermentation of starch or sugar is an important source of liquid biofuel.

controlled spoilage© MinuteEarth

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Fermentation, chemical process by which molecules such as glucose are broken down anaerobically. More broadly, fermentation is the foaming that occurs during the manufacture of wine and beer, a process at least 10,000 years old. The frothing results from the evolution of carbon dioxide gas, though this was not recognized until the 17th century.

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a kitchen tool used to mix a hard (solid) fat into flour in order to make pastries. The tool is usually made of narrow metal strips or wires attached to a handle, and is used by pressing down on the items to be mixed (known as "cutting in").

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also known as a basting brush, is a cooking utensil used to spread butter, oil or glaze on food. Traditional pastry brushes are made with natural bristles or a plastic or nylon fiber similar to a paint brush, while modern kitchen brushes may have silicone bristles.

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a method for making quick breads such as scones and, well, biscuits. ... The biscuit method is one of the only mixing methods that does not require you to have all of your ingredients at room temperature. Your fats and liquids should be cold for the biscuit method.

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Updated with a new photograph, expanded information, recipe links and shopping options on November 16, 2015

The biscuit method is a method for making quick breads such as scones and, well, biscuits. That's American biscuits, not cookie-biscuits, if you're visiting from across the Big Blue Ocean.

The biscuit method is one of the only mixing methods that does not require you to have all of your ingredients at room temperature. Your fats and liquids should be cold for the biscuit method. The colder, the better. Why? Well, the whole point of the biscuit method is to keep discrete little pieces of fat dispersed throughout your dough. That way, when they melt in the oven, the steam the little pieces creates assists in with the rise. Also, you get all of these wee little buttery pockets. I love me some biscuits.

How to Perform The Biscuit Method

So, here's how it goes.

1. Mix all your dry ingredients together with a whisk: flour, baking powder and/or baking soda, salt, sugar, dry spices, etc.

2. Cut your very cold fat into about 1/2 inch chunks (if you're using shortening, or part shortening, put that stuff in the freezer. I vote all butter, personally, for flavor and for no trans fats, but do what you want).

3. Toss the butter/shortening with the dry ingredients.

4. Using your fingers, break up the butter/shortening, rubbing it into the flour. When you're done, the pieces should be anywhere from the size of grits to the size of peas. Nothing too much bigger than a pea. If your hands are warm, throw everybody into the fridge to firm up.

5. Pour in your liquid (milk/cream/half and half/buttermilk-whatever the recipe calls for). Toss together with the dry. Don't mix viciously.

6. Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a square about 1/2″ thick.

7. Cut into squares (no waste) or circles. (You can re-roll the scraps, but those biscuits will be tougher. I vote squares).

8. Brush with cream/butter/egg wash. Bake at about 400 degrees, F, until risen and golden brown and lovely.

I will now take your questions. Yes? You in the back. "Why can't I mix viciously. I need to get out my aggression."

Me: If you need to take out your aggression on something, make some bread or take a kick boxing class. You want to handle your dough gently once the liquid is in there. Biscuits are supposed to be tender, and a bunch of mixing will just activate the gluten in the flour and you'll end up with chewy biscuits.

Yes, sir. You there, in the brown sweater. "Can I use my stand mixer or food processor?"

Me: I would stay away from the food processor because it can generate a bunch of heat, and you don't want your butter to melt. You can use a mixer as long as you use the paddle attachment and stop and check the consistency and the size of your butter pieces every 30 seconds or so. You don't want to end up with paste. Once you get the liquid in there, I would take the bowl off the mixer and fold the liquid in with a spatula. You don't want to develop that gluten."

That's enough for today. Thank you all for coming.

PS The Biscuit Method is also the method most often used for making pie crust. Any time you're cutting pieces of fat into smaller pieces of fat mixed into flour and adding a little bit of liquid, you can bet your biscuit you're using The Biscuit Method.

Biscuits and other Biscuit-like items on Ye Olde Blogge that Utilize The Biscuit Method for Mixing

Here are some biscuit and pie crust recipes you might want to try out. Take a look in the instruction section of all the recipes. I'm sure you'll be able to recognize the basic method.

Pie Crust Recipes on Ye Olde Blogge that Utilize The Biscuit Method for Mixing

Shop the Method

Like most of the basic mixing methods, you don't need a ton of fancy equipment to perform them properly, but here are a few of my recommendations for baking sheets, pie plates, biscuit cutters, etc, you might find useful. These are affiliate links. Thank you for helping me keep the lights on. I appreciate the support.

First up, a bench knife is a must-have. For me, I usually cut my biscuits in squares so I don't have any dough to re-roll. A bench knife does this beautifully. As well, you'll find tons of ways to use it in performing the biscuit method and beyond. Best less-than-six dollars you will ever spend.

If you do like round biscuits, I can recommend this set of graduated cutters. Choose your biscuit size from petite to mondo to any size in between. And of course you can use them to cut cookies and pie crust, as well. If you like fluted biscuits, this set of fluted cutters also gives you a choice of size.

I love a good aluminum pie pan. Light weight, conductive so you get great browning of the bottom crust, and inexpensive What's not to love? The standard size is 9″ or you can go crazy and get a 10″ pie pan.

Last up, it's absolutely necessary to have at least one heavy-duty half-sheet pan that will not warp in the oven. I like my Nordic Ware half-sheet pan. Give it a look.

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The Biscuit Method for Making Tender Biscuits and Flaky Pie Crust

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Updated with a new photograph, expanded information, recipe links and shopping options on November 16, 2015 The biscuit method is a method for making quick breads such as scones and, well, biscuits. That's American biscuits, not cookie-biscuits, if you're visiting from across the Big Blue Ocean.

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working solid shortening into dry ingredients with two knives or a pastry blender until well mixed. When making a pastry, solid shortening, lard, or butter is cut in to a flour mixture until the particles are the size of small peas.

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The Function of Sour Cream in a Baked Good

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The Function of Sour Cream in a Baked Good

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It provides sweetness, adds tenderness, and helps in the browning of baked goods. When added to yeast dough, it helps the yeast begin producing the gas for the dough to rise and helps to retain the moisture in the bread. It is also referred to as white sugar.

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a crumbly topping or filling made from fat, flour, sugar, and often cinnamon.

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Folding is usually done with a rubber spatula (for liquid & dry ingredients) or with a wire whisk (often beneficial for whipped cream and egg whites so that the mixture gently incorporates as it falls through the wires)

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Learn how to gently fold egg whites into melted chocolate and egg yolks.

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a technique whereby two mixes are created: a mix of wet ingredients and then they are combined

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Escoffier Online International Culinary Academy

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Baked goods are a favored food no matter what time of day it is. Whether you like eating muffins for breakfast, banana bread during snack time or cake for dessert, there are plenty of pastries worth making. As you complete your baking program online, you're learning about the methods that create a delicious dish. One such baking process is the one used to create muffins. Here's some insight to the muffin method:

Why you should use it
You may have made muffins in the past that came out of the oven looking and smelling amazing. However, when you bit into them, there were all sorts of air pockets known as tunnels. These are the result of not using the right method. Muffins are known for their density. Tunnels are fine in cakes, as those are meant to be light and fluffy.

Basic principles
The muffin method in and of itself is rather simple. The idea is to mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. You then pour the wet over the try and combine, mixing as little as possible. Eggs and sugar are both considered wet. Use a spatula to combine the ingredients. The mixture does not have to be lump-free. If you use a mixer or stir too much, the gluten in the flour develops, creating those tunnels during the baking process.

Using the method
As the name suggests, the muffin method is great for that tasty treat. However, you can use it to create other baked goods as well. The muffin method works best for quick breads, which are traditionally dense. Banana, zucchini and pumpkin bread are perfect examples of items that will benefit from using the method. Note that the key ingredients in these breads (banana, zucchini and pumpkin) should be included in the wet ingredients.

When your mixture is made, pour it into a bread pan instead of a muffin tin. The baking temperature and time will be different with a bread tin. Basically, the temperature will be lower and the cook time longer as the heat has to get through to the center of the mixture.

Saving time
The muffin method of baking is also nice because you can make the batter ahead of time. Mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another the night before cooking. Place the wet bowl in the refrigerator and the dry bowl - covered - on the counter. Combine the two and place them in the oven the next day.

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Baked goods are a favored food no matter what time of day it is. Whether you like eating muffins for breakfast, banana bread during snack time or cake for dessert, there are plenty of pastries worth making. As you complete your baking program online, you're learning about the methods that create a delicious dish.

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In the technical terms used by the food service industry and in the retail and wholesale food utensil industries, there is a clear distinction between three types of scoop: the disher, which is used to measure a portion e.g. cookie dough, to make melon balls, and often to serve ice cream

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a cookie made by dropping spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet.

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Cookies made by shaping dough by hand into small balls, logs, and other shapes.

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Molded Cookies | CraftyBaking | Formerly Baking911

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a sweetened baked good that is made from a dough, is typically denser than cake, and is cut into a rectangular or square shape.

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Bar cookie definition is - a sweetened baked good that is made from a dough, is typically denser than cake, and is cut into a rectangular or square shape. How to use bar cookie in a sentence.

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a white, crystalline, acidic compound obtained as a byproduct of wine fermentation and used chiefly in baking powder.

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a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives brown food its distinctive flavor.

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The Maillard reaction in foods. - PubMed - NCBI

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Prog Clin Biol Res. 1989;304:301-27. Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Review

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sugar and fat are blended together

and small air cells are formed and then incorporated into the mix.

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How to Caramelize Sugar, a video tip from ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen. For more kitchen tips, recipes and household advice, visit our website at http://atcoblueflamekitchen.com. For our Cooking 101 how-to guide, visit http://www.atcoblueflamekitchen.com/How-To/Cooking-101/ .

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sugar and fat are blended together

and small air cells are formed and then incorporated into the mix.

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Wouldn't it be neat to look at a list of ingredients and know exactly what to do with them, without having to read the rest of the recipe? By understanding the basic methods of baking, you can do just that!

We're going to start with the most basic, the creaming method. You've likely used it countless times to make cookies, cakes, muffins, and more and knowing how (and why) it works will give you consistent successful results every time.

What you'll need

The creaming method starts with sugar and fat (shortening, butter, or other) beaten until light and creamy. In order to achieve this, you need a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Unfortunately, no other kitchen appliance (hand-held mixer, food processor) will do it right. You can of course do it by hand, it will just take more time and elbow grease.

An important note about butter: it needs to be at room temperature. Not straight out of the fridge, and not at all melting. The butter should be firm, but your finger easily leaves an imprint when pressed into it. Thirty minutes before you're ready to prepare your recipe, remove the butter from the fridge, cut into cubes, and let rest on the counter.

How the Creaming Method works

Place the sugar and fat in the bowl of your stand mixer.

With the mixer on a good medium speed (I use "4" on my KitchenAid), beat the sugar and butter together for several minutes, stopping the mixer and scraping down the beater and bowl as needed.

What happens during this time is the sugar granules are cutting tiny holes into the fat (butter), which incorporates air, and causes the fat to soften and increase in volume. You'll notice the batter change drastically in color and texture.

Are you guilty of inadequate aeration? Undercreaming is quite common. Stop mixing when the mixture appears light and creamy. You should no longer be able to see sugar granules, but you can still feel them if you rub a little of the batter between your fingers (try this next time you make cookies!).

Next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. This is so that the fats have a chance to emulsify and come together with the batter. Add them all at once and you'll overwhelm the batter, causing it to separate and appear curdled.

Add the dry ingredients slowly while mixing on low, alternating with any other liquids (such as in a cake recipe). Again, adding these ingredients slowly helps to not overwhelm the batter, which can encourage overmixing.

Finally, add any additions, such as chocolate chips, mixing only until incorporated.

The creaming method is most responsible for texture in the final baked good. Do it properly and you'll have a tender cake and chewy cookie every time.

Questions? Leave me a comment or send me a message.

Recipes using the Creaming Method

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies | Brown Butter Skillet Cookie | Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies | Burnt Sugar Bundt Cake | Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies | Gooey Cinnamon Squares | Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars | Peanut Butter Buttercream | Southern Coconut Cake

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Baking Essentials: The Creaming Method - Completely Delicious

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Wouldn't it be neat to look at a list of ingredients and know exactly what to do with them, without having to read the rest of the recipe? By understanding the basic methods of baking, you can do just that! We're going to start with the most basic, the creaming method.