Sautéing

Sautéing or sauteing , ; from  'jumped, bounced' in quotation to tossing while cooking is a method of cooking that uses a relatively small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Various sauté methods exist.

Methods

In a sauté, all the ingredients are heated at one time and cooked quickly. To facilitate this, the ingredients are rapidly moved around in the pan, either by the use of a utensil or by repeatedly jerking the pan itself. A sauté pan must be large enough to form any of the food in one layer, so steam can escape, which sustains the ingredients from stewing and promotes the developing of fond. nearly pans sold specifically as sauté pans gain a wide flat base and low sides, to maximize the surface area available for heating. The low sides let quick evaporation and escape of steam. While skillets typically have flared or rounded sides, sauté pans typically have straight vertical sides. This submits the ingredients from escaping as the pan is jerked or stirred.

Only enough fat to lightly coat the bottom of the pan is needed for sautéing; too much fat will cause the food to fry rather than just to slide, and may interfere with the coding of fond. The food is spread across the hot fat in the pan, and left to brown, turning or tossing frequently for even cooking. The sauté technique involves gripping the handle of the sauté pan firmly and using a sharp elbow motion to rapidly jerk the pan back toward the cook, repeating as essential to ensure the ingredients have been thoroughly jumped. Tossing or stirring the items in the pan by shaking the pan too often, however, can cause the pan to cool and make the sauté take longer.

Sautéing onions and peppers

Sautéed mushrooms: baby Bella portobello mushrooms being sautéed

Sautéed vegetables being tossed in a sauté pan

Flambéing in a sauté pan