Bain-marie cooking: pros and cons



Cooking in a bain - marie means inserting the pot (or the container) in which there is food in another larger one, where usually there is hot water, placed on the stove or in the oven.

The pot in which the food is placed, therefore, gradually and more evenly warms up than it does when placed directly on the flame, thus spreading the temperature more evenly.

Bain - marie cooking also allows the water temperature to be controlled : it is enough to add cold if it is too hot.

Bain-marie cooking is an indirect cooking method, useful in cases where foods need to be cooked in a delicate way and for long preparations.

Uses of bain-marie cooking

Bain-marie cooking is mainly used in the preparation of both sweet and savory sauces and dessert creams, when too intense heat could alter the flavor and texture of the food.

For example, the bain-marie is used to melt the butter, avoiding the risk of frying it, or to melt the chocolate, especially the one with a high percentage of cocoa: in contact with excessive heat it has the tendency to burn quickly and become bitter.

Furthermore, cooking in a bain-marie allows you to heat cooked foods without cooking them a second time.

Pro of bain-marie cooking

Bain-marie cooking is simple and can be done without special tools : just have two pans of such size that you can put one inside the other, leaving space, in the larger one, for the cooking water.

The pros of cooking in a bain - marie approach this technique to that of steam cooking: the dishes are cooked and heated indirectly by the temperature of the water and of the water vapor.

These are types of cooking that are suitable for the preparation of food and dishes without adding seasonings or, if they are provided, without them being altered because they are brought to too high temperatures .

Furthermore, cooking in a bain-marie never reaches points of no return : the temperature of the cooking water can be easily controlled by adding cold water or increasing the intensity of the flame.

The slowness makes the bain-marie cooking suitable for those who want to control the state of cooking in a precise manner, and the homogeneous diffusion of the temperature does not alter the taste of the food .

In addition, in the case of cooking various liquids, such as milk (including vegetable), for example, foam or skin is formed on the surface above, and makes it possible to avoid the inconvenience of the formation of lumps or the separation of the ingredients. in sauces.

Against the bain-marie cooking

Apart from whole grains, for which cooking involves, in most cases, direct immersion in a boiling liquid and prolonged times, all foods can be cooked in a water bath .

The vegetables can be blanched briefly before being then sautéed in another pan, or tubers can be softened and added to soups or soups.

The disadvantages of bain - marie cooking concern more than other times : it is necessary to have plenty of time available and pay attention to the amount of water present in the larger pan: in fact it must be such as to cover as much as possible the surface of the smaller pan that surrounds, to avoid that the heat of the little water is too concentrated and does not allow a wide diffusion of the temperature.

Finally, the bain-marie is not a cooking technique that allows you to leave the pan on the stove setting a timer .

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