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* here are some similar terms for STIRRING that have slightly different meanings...
BEAT - stir (cooking ingredients) vigorously with a fork, whisk, or beater to make a smooth or frothy mixture.
COMBINE - when you combine two or more ingredients, you are just gently bringing them together. For example, a quick mix with a spoon will combine pieces of corn and pieces of pepper.
FOLD - gently lifting and mixing of ingredients to spread one ingredient into another. For example, if you’re adding chocolate chips to cookie batter, you would fold them in - so that each cookie will gets some chips, but not so hard you’re breaking them.
MIX - this requires more stirring - you want your ingredients to join together to become really integrated. If you mix sugar and flour while making cookies, you want them to become one.
SIFT - put a powdery substance (like flour, baking powder, sugar) through a sieve to remove lumps or large bits. If you don’t have a sieve, just use a whisk or fork and stir the ingredients a good bit to break up lumps and bring some air into them.
STIR - move a spoon around in order to combine something more thoroughly. If you’re told to stir something in a pot while it’s cooking, it’s more than just once or twice around - you usually have to keep going. Sometimes it’s to combine things as they cook, sometimes it’s to keep one part of what your cooking from burning - so the heat gets all around.
WHISK - beat or stir (esp. cream or eggs) with a light, rapid movement.
*and the opposite...
REST - leave a food or ingredients that have been combined to sit, without further treatment for a while. This allows flavors to combine (like in a salsa), or in baking, for chemical reactions to occur (such as dough rising)
*sometimes, non-technical terms are used to describe AMOUNTS, such as...
DOT - place small bits of something - like butter or cheese - over an area - with more space between than sprinkling
DRIZZLE - a thin stream of liquid trickled over something else. For example, if you’re drizzling olive oil over bread, you’re not covering all of it, but making a few quick criss-crosses over it.
GLUG - an amount of liquid poured from a bottle - like a two second pour - tip and back. Approximately 1-2 tablespoons
PINCH - a small amount of an ingredient that can be held between fingers and thumb - often used to describe salt amount
SPLASH - a small amount of liquid, approximately 1 -2 teaspoons
SPRINKLE - scatter small pieces of something onto another surface or food, lightly covering most of the surface
* some TEMPERATURE terms
CHILLED - cooled food or drink taken right from a refrigerator
PRE-HEAT - turn oven on a while before you need to put something in - this allows it to heat up and get to the right temperature before you cook.
ROOM TEMPERATURE - the comfortable temperature of your home, approximately 21°C. So if a recipe calls for “room temperature butter” you should take your butter out of the refrigerator well before you begin to cook and let it sit on the counter to warm up. (or if you’ve forgotten, warm up in microwave a little bit)
* some CHOPPING terms
DICED - chopped into small cubes
CHOPPED (coarsely/finely) - cut into smaller pieces using a knife. Coarsely means not too small; only a few cuts needed. Finely means more cuts and smaller pieces.
MINCED - cut up or grind (like meat or garlic) into very small bits
WEDGES - when you cut something into wedges, you’ll have one thick end and one thinner. It can be triangle shaped, like pizza. It can also refer to something like potatoes - where you’ve cut so the outside is wider than the inside.