TEST KITCHEN
By DANIELLE CENTONI
Q: When recipes say to cook something until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, what exactly does that mean? Even if I dip a spoon into broth it will get coated in broth, so I'm assuming there's a certain thickness I should be aiming for. How do I know when I've reached it?
A:
When recipe writers state "thick enough to coat the back of a spoon" that's shorthand for a mixture that's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and hold a line when you draw your finger through it.
To test, dip the spoon in the mixture and then hold it up horizontally, with the back of the spoon facing upward; next, draw your finger along the spoon so that it creates a path through the mixture. If the path fills in, the mixture isn't thick enough. If it stays put, it's ready.
If you're making something like a gravy or stew, and it's thinner than you'd like it, there are a couple of quick ways to thicken it.
First, you can reduce it; just keep cooking it until more of the water evaporates and it becomes more concentrated. This is a good option for some things, like pan sauces, where you want a concentrated flavor. But it's not really practical for things that are already intensely flavored or would get scorched in the process.
For those types of dishes, you can either make a beurre manié or a slurry. Beurre manié, French for "handled butter," is a paste of equal parts softened butter and flour. It's like a roux, except it's not cooked. Just mix them together (start small, with a tablespoon of each) until they're fully combined, then stir into the dish. The butter helps the flour incorporate into the dish without lumps, while adding richness and a silky mouth feel. The dish should be cooked for a few minutes to allow the flour to do its job and also to cook out any taste of raw flour.
If you don't want to -- or need to -- add more fat to the dish, simply make a slurry by mixing cornstarch with liquid. You don't have to be precise about the amount of liquid, as long as it's enough to saturate the cornstarch and keep it from forming lumps when added to the dish. You can use water, broth or even some of whatever it is you're trying to thicken.
Keep in mind that cornstarch and flour work in slightly different ways. Cornstarch has about twice the thickening power of flour, so you don't need to use as much of it. Also, mixtures thickened with cornstarch have a more translucent look (think stir-fry sauces) than those thickened with flour (think gravy).
And, finally, cornstarch can be a little finicky. If mixtures thickened with cornstarch are boiled for too long, or boiled more than once or vigorously whisked for too long, the starch granules will burst and the mixture will thin out and become watery.
How much thickener to use
Thick consistency:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour or 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch to 1 cup liquid
Medium consistency:
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or 1 tablespoon cornstarch to 1 cup liquid
Thin consistency:
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch to 1 cup liquid.
Danielle Centoni
is a Portland-based freelance writer.
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