In the Adding the Food section, when the oil is poured in it begins to smoke immediately. In the Pan Frying lesson, it said that this means the pan was too hot and to start over. Should it smoke immediately like this if you are sauteing rather than pan frying?

Also, when cooking with butter, do you use the same water test method or would a pan that hot burn the butter?

Sautéing involves higher heat than pan frying because it is a quick cooking method. A bit of smoking is ok, as long as your mise en place is organized and you are immediately ready to cook. Once the food is added to the pan, the temperature will drop. However, if the oil smokes profusely, it's best to start again.

Using butter can be a bit tricky when cooking over higher heat. A high-smoking point oil will need to be added with regular butter to prevent it from burning. You can also use clarified butter, but keep an eye on it. While it can withstand higher heat, it still smokes around 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

What is the difference between Pan Frying and Sauteeing?

http://rouxbe.com/community/forums/7/topics/645

In the lesson of Pan Frying I ask if that was the same wok, but after seeing this lesson, I understand that this technique is similar to the wok, which is used as cooking over high heat, and the food result is different.
Thanks for this amazings lesson.

I'm unsure which lesson gives information on what the different smoke points are for the different fats. Is there a glossary somewhere?

In this lesson on Sauteing there is a Drill-down (at 00:34 of topic 2) that appears to the left of the player. The Drill-down is called Smoking Points of Oils, there you will find a chart that highlights some of the more popular oils and their smoking points.

There is also a bit more information on this subject in the lesson on Pan Frying (topic 4 around 00:04).

Hope this helps!

I used to buy pre-packaged combined vegetables from the grocery store. They were pre-cooked, so I just had to heat them through on a high heat and that gave me a great side dish of sautéed vegetables. Also, the package contained some herb butter, that gave the vegetables a great taste. I don't buy this package anymore because it contains MSG and other things I can't pronounce. Also, since the Rouxbe Cooking School, I try to cook as much from scratch as possible.

Let's move to my question. I would really like to re-create this dish, using the techniques that I have learned in the Cooking School and using the exact same vegetables as the package contains. These vegetables are: onions, peas, pre-cooked potatoes (they're deliciously crisp, looks like your hash brown recipe), green beans, corn, carrots and button mushrooms.
My problem is that the vegetables that are used here should be cooked differently. For example: the potatoes should be seasoned at the end of the cooking time, whilst the mushrooms should be seasoned at the beginning. My question is, should I cook each vegetable separately? Or can I cook the whole dish in one pan and if so, what vegetable should I start with?

Thanks in advance..

HEY GUYS, I AM NEW HERE; CAN ANYONE TELL ME THE DIFFERENCE COOKING ON A GAS STOVE VS AN ELECTRONIC, AND IF THERE IS ANY LESSON COVER THE SUBJECT.THANK YOU

You will likely have to cook or at least precook some of the vegetables separately. I would suggest that you experiment. Start with a small batch of each. Try cooking them together and try cooking them separately and then combining them and see which method you like better. Likely you will find that the one cooked separately will taste better but perhaps it will be too much work for you. Remember that package of precooked vegetables was made in a huge factory. They could cook and even treat each of the vegetables differently as they were doing it all by machine.

You may want to just start with a few less varieties of vegetables the first time while you are figuring it out. Good luck!

No there is no lesson covering electric and gas stoves. It basically comes down to personal preference.

Here is a thread from Wisegeeks that talk about this and here is one from Chowhound as well.

Here is another Rouxbe thread that talks a bit about which people prefer gas or electric. Good luck!

Hey Rouxbe Staff,

I am just wondering, it seems that both the pan frying and sauteing seem to show that olive oil in essence can't be used because of its lower smoke point. However, this confuses me because I'm not exactly sure where I should use it then. If you could clarify how to use olive oil, or where it tends to be used, that would be great.

Cooking with olive oil depends on the type. Some refined olive oils can be used for cooking over higher heat. Reserve the quality, extra-virgin olive oils for salads, vinaigrettes, and for drizzling over dishes as a finishing touch. Here is a bit more information on How to Choose Olive Oil. Cheers!

Whenever I add mushrooms to a cream-based pasta sauce, the sauce ends up going grey. What is the best way to add mushrooms to a cream sauce?

Mushrooms will almost always turn a cream sauce a bit beige, especially if the mushrooms were sauteed. If however the sauce is turning a bit grey then this may be a sign that the mushrooms are older. Hope this helps - Cheers!

Hi Dawn, just wanted to let you know that I followed your sauteeing lesson and for the first time EVER I produced lovely looking and tasty mushrooms. I added these to my creamy sauce at the last minute and it didn't go grey. Rouxbe cooking school is great!

I was feeling really good about my pan frying skills until I tried sauteing diced potatoes. They stuck like mad. What did I do wrong? I'm using a 10" All-Clad Stainless Frying Pan. Do I need to towel dry the diced potatoes? Pan not hot enough perhaps? After all, the potatoes turned out nice but took longer than expected and my pan was a mess. Ended up deglazing the pan with water and it cleaned up nicely. Potato Jus anyone? ;)

Also, is it okay to use bacon fat instead of oil for sauteing?

Look forward to your reply.

You are in luck Annette as we actually have an entire lesson devoted to How to Saute that you might find very helpful. In that lesson we also talk specifically about sauteing potatoes. You may also want to watch the pan frying lesson as well as this will also teach you some of the necessary skills and techniques behind both pan frying and sauteing. Cheers!

I was happy to read Annette's question as I have had potatoes stick to the pan before. I have re watched the lessons as you suggested, but I'm still not sure why potatoes would stick.

Thank You

The starch in the potatoes is what causes them to stick if the pan is not heated properly and if the potatoes are moved too much and too soon etc. Cheers!

since I'm trying to stay away from white potatoes do you think this would work as well with sweet potatoes? I'm anxious to try that. any hints

Sweet potatoes can be tricker to saute as they contain quite a bit more sugar and water than regular potatoes. I usually tend to roast my sweet potatoes in a nice hot oven instead. Cheers!

Thank you for your prompt answer. In fact, I'd just pulled out my saute pan and picked up some sweet potatoes from the market. So I don't ruin them (since I love sweet potatoes), I'll go ahead and roast them in a hot oven and when I feel like white potatoes I'll definitely do it the way I learned on the video. Thanks so much for your help.

After watching your videos on Pan Fry and Saute, I understand the subtle difference but wonder if those terms are used interchangeably. Many of the books I use describe the pan fry technique but call it a saute (e.g. chicken piccata).

You are correct that many terms in cooking are used either interchangeably or even incorrectly (at least technically speaking), but in this case there are few important differences between the two. Cheers!

I compromised on the sweet potatoes and prepared my pan on the top as though I would saute, then moved them to the oven. Yum! they were delicious with that little crispiness.
I also finally did try some white potatoes. I was soooo proud of myself. they came out so well and I now know how to cook white potatoes on the stove without a mess. Thank you