How to Saute

Preheating the saute pan is essential. Preheating allows the cook time to have all ingredients at hand when cooking begins so that the oil and/or butter are never left unattended. This also prevents the cook from being distracted by other food preparations during the short cooking process. Inattentiveness to sauteing is often leads to burned food.

Sauteed food should be cooked directly over medium or high heat, and moved back and forth, to keep it from sitting on a hot spot and burning. Sauteed food is cooked for a relatively short amount of time so portions must be kept small or medium in size to allow the inside to cook as the outside browns. A steak can be sauteed, because it can fully cook inside before the outside burns, but a roast is too large and the center will not be done before the outside burns.

To accomplish this, preheat your saute pan, place a small amount of butter and/or oil in the pan, having all ingredients ready before placing food in the heated butter and oil. It is time to place the food in the preheated pan and the butter when the butter stops foaming and begins to turn brown.

Placing too much food in the pan will crowd it and prevent proper cooking by restricting the circulation of air around the food.

Placing wet or damp food in hot oil or butter can cause spattering, which is very dangerous. It is important to dry off the food before placing it in the oil or butter, particularly if the meat has been marinated. Too much moisture will prevent foods from browning.

If you prefer not to flip your food in the air to turn it, use a spatula or tongs to turn the food. Piercing it with a fork will allow juices inside the meat to escape, speeding up the cooking time and making the inside too dry once the outside is browned.