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Cooking encyclopaedia Techniques

Searing

Also called browning; pan-searing

Cooking a surface hard and fast to brown it, before or after the inside is cooked.

180–230 °C (356–446 °F)

What it is

Heat a heavy pan until a drop of water skitters rather than sits. Dry the food, oil it lightly rather than flooding the pan, lay it down and leave it alone until it releases on its own. Crowding is what turns a sear into a steam.

Why it works

Browning is the Maillard reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars, and it needs a surface above roughly 140 °C. Water boiling off holds a wet surface at 100 °C, so nothing browns until the surface is dry — which is why a dry surface and a hot pan matter more than the fat.

When to use it

Meat, fish skin, scallops, mushrooms, halloumi, cut vegetables — anything whose flavour you want to deepen rather than merely cook through.

What goes wrong

A wet surface; a crowded pan; moving the food before a crust has formed; a thin pan that loses its heat the moment food lands in it.

Meridian cooking encyclopaedia — Watchman Productions

More on this shelf

  • Blanching Brief cooking in heavily boiling water, usually followed by cooling.
  • Blooming spices Heating spices briefly in fat or a dry pan to release their aroma before they meet anything else.
  • Braising Browning, then cooking slowly in a small amount of liquid in a covered pot.
  • Deep-frying Cooking fully submerged in hot fat, usually 160–190 °C.
  • Deglazing Dissolving the browned residue in a pan with liquid, to turn it into sauce.
  • Emulsifying Dispersing fat and water into each other so they behave as one smooth sauce.
  • Grilling Cooking over or under direct radiant heat, close to the source.
  • Poaching Cooking submerged in liquid held below a simmer, around 70–85 °C.
  • Reducing Simmering a liquid uncovered to evaporate water and concentrate what is left.
  • Resting meat Leaving cooked meat off the heat before cutting it.
  • Roasting Cooking in dry oven heat, uncovered, so the surface browns while the inside cooks.
  • Sautéing Cooking small or thin pieces quickly in a little fat over fairly high heat, moving them often.