— ingrid ortega

So, um, yeah, you know, uh, I, I would say, first of all, follow the directions of whatever it is you're making. Okay? I mean, hopefully, uh, if, if the author is, um, specifying some sort of a direction that there, that, that it's been tested and that there's a reason, um, for that recommendation, so follow that, understand the recipe, and then go from there. But, um, I mean, otherwise, generally speaking, there's a lot of flexibility, okay? On, um, the use of a lid. But, um, you know, one overarching, um, reason is simply to, to maintain heat. And, um, so, you know, some of this, some of this can depend on whether it's a dry heat cooking method or a moist heat cooking method that you might be, uh, applying here. But, but generally speaking, um, if you put a lid on something, right, it's gonna maintain the heat in the pot. And so it's gonna push heat into the food and facilitate the cooking, uh, of that product. Now, you know, it's also going to trap moisture. And, uh, so if you've got, if you start out with some saute work, uh, maybe developing color, uh, the browning on the surface of the food, you know, as you, uh, put the lid on the pot, uh, maybe to finish cooking, understand that now you are, uh, you're engaging a moist heat, um, method, you know, whether it's, uh, probably steaming, but depends on, on the details here, okay? Um, and so textures can change, the appearance can change with that, you get to decide whether that's desirable or not, okay? Uh, based upon, uh, the finished product that you, uh, are shooting for. Okay? Um, you know, when it comes to bringing water up to a boil, it's probably nice to put a lid on because it'll shorten that time, as you know, the heat is maintained in the pot rather than escaping into the atmosphere, okay? Um, you know, in our lessons, one thing we talk about when, um, cooking, uh, green vegetables, uh, in submersion, uh, you know, methods or via submersion methods, like, um, you know, simmering, uh, is to take the lid off in order to let some of these natural acids, um, you know, evaporate or, or otherwise escape. And, um, rather than being trapped, you know, in that environment and hastening color change, um, in relation to the pigment chlorophyll, okay? And, um, there's certainly some proof to that, but I, you know, I will also add that when cooking green vegetables, um, in most cases anyway, the, the, the bigger issue is just one of controlling time. Because, um, even if you take the lid off of a pot when you're simmering something like broccoli, um, if you simmer it for a long time, you'll get that, um, dingy, olive drab sort of, um, uh, shift in its color, okay? And so it's, you know, it's not simply, am I using a lid or not, but you gotta pay attention to what's going on in the pot as well, okay? And, um, one thing that I, uh, frequently mention to my students is, don't forget the very, very fundamentals of cooking. And, uh, by and large, that is the control of time and temperature, those two factors. And, um, so, you know, regardless of what it is that we're doing, right, you know, we often have one or both of those that are at play. And, um, so, you know, in the case of simmering green vegetables, um, you, you're gonna bring that pot up to a simmer, uh, which in, in, in my book, in my mind, is a temperature range of approximately 185 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. So a little bit under a boil and, and greater than a poach, okay? Um, so it's, it's gentle, but you have some bubbles that are coming up to the surface to give you a, you know, a, a gentle environment for the food, um, um, to, uh, to maintain its integrity and, and not bounce around and get damaged inside the pot. So now you just control the, if, if you can control that time, uh, or excuse me, the, the temperature, the simmer range, then you get to adjust the time, okay? And, uh, that same broccoli will be bright green in about 15 seconds. It'll be bright green and, uh, uh, and taking on some tenderness, you know, after about a minute. And then if you leave it in there for 5, 6, 7 minutes, that brightness fades off, and you start to move toward olive drab, which we associate with overcooked green vegetables. And so, um, you get to, to play okay in these spaces, um, with the lid, without the lid, and, um, engage yourself with, with what's going on. Listen to your food, look at the food, smell it, pull out samples and taste it. Get your fingers in there and touch it. Use all of your senses to understand what's going on. Okay? Thank you. Great question. All right.