baste
Spoon, brush, or squeeze pan juices, marinade, or melted fat over food as it cooks, to keep it moist and add flavor to the surface.
How to do it
When pan-basting meat, brown it first. Near the end of cooking, drop the heat enough that butter will foam rather than burn immediately, then add the butter and any aromatics. Tilt the pan so the hot butter pools to one side, and use a large spoon to scoop it up and pour it repeatedly over the food. For roasted food, spoon pan juices over the exterior periodically instead. Basting works best alongside correct cooking temperatures, not as a way to rescue something that's already overcooked.
Common pitfalls
- Assuming basting keeps the interior moist -- most of its effect is on the surface, not the center.
- Burning the butter -- the milk solids in regular butter scorch easily.
- Starting too early -- constantly wetting the surface can delay it from crisping.
- Opening the oven too often on a large roast -- frequent basting can lose more heat than it contributes.
Why it works
Hot fat makes closer contact with an irregular surface than hot air does, which improves heat transfer, and fat also carries the fat-soluble aroma compounds from herbs and spices along with it. In pan-basting, the top surface of the food -- which would otherwise get relatively little direct heat -- is repeatedly exposed to hot fat, helping it cook more evenly. What basting does not do is force a meaningful amount of liquid deep into intact muscle fibers; its real effects are surface flavor, better heat transfer, and browning.
Equipment
For pan-basting, use a skillet with enough depth to pool butter safely and a large metal spoon with a fairly deep bowl. A lighter-colored pan interior makes it easier to see the moment butter shifts from foamy and golden to dangerously dark. For roasting, a bulb baster works, though a large spoon is often simpler to use and to clean.