— Lisa Cronin

So let me outline for everybody the, the process of the no oil saute and in, um, uh, our Forks Over Knives course, as well as our flagship, uh, uh, plant-based, uh, professional course. We offer lessons on the no oil saute. Uh, and the, the lead up to that is a, a lesson on heating your pan. And, uh, you know, we have you, uh, the student gradually heat up the pan, um, as you add a, a drop, uh, or two of water, and then you observe that water in the pan and, uh, you know, you'll wipe it out and, and then add another drop and observe that that water in the pan as the, as the pan temperature increases. And you wanna find this window in there where the water bead stays together, and it has a tendency to sort of jump around and maybe move in a, in a swirling manner, uh, in the pan. And it's a, it's a temperature range, not, not a single point. Um, so you've got some, some leeway there. Um, below that, the water tends to grab onto the pan, and, and really, uh, doesn't form a clean bead that, that looks like mercury. Uh, and then as, uh, if, if the pan gets very, very hot, uh, the water will tend to splatter, um, and break up into smaller pieces and then start to evaporate, uh, pretty quickly. And so you wanna find yourself, you know, in between those zones that I just described. Um, now, uh, I wanna take a little tangent here and, and share a, a word of caution. Um, this particular approach for heating the pan is, um, uh, it can be used for both oil and non-oil, uh, sauteing. Now, if you are gonna use this pan heating method with oil, uh, please note, um, that, uh, oils have, uh, not only a smoke point, you know, which is that temperature, uh, at which they start to smoke, uh, and you wanna avoid that, uh, you know, stay cooler than that. But if you get above that temperature, uh, then you get into, uh, what we call the flash point. And this is where the oil will burst into flames. And, um, the risk with this, um, uh, pan heating, uh, technique, at least, you know, as you're starting out, is you're still learning. And, um, I have heard from a student or two that, uh, said, Hey, I put oil in the pan, and it just about took my eyebrows off. Well, the pan was too hot. And so before we start adding oil to the pan or anything else that's, um, uh, flammable in that way, um, practice, practice, practice, and find that zone where you need to be okay, without the oil first. Okay? Now, back to the, uh, uh, the response here. Uh, taking this other path toward no oil saute. Uh, same sort of thing. Once we start warming up the pan, start adding some food product to see what it does. So you can start to then work with the equipment that you have. Okay? After identifying what you think is gonna be that middle ground of, of that, uh, uh, that best temperature range with water, you're adding food. And I recommend, um, it, it could be, uh, onions, uh, it could be, uh, like a, a, a small dice or medium dice of carrots. Um, something that, uh, is, um, uh, gonna, uh, give you some feedback in terms of browning, uh, but not be so troublesome in terms of sticking. Uh, so in other words, I would not recommend rusted potatoes, um, for this activity, uh, because you'll be cleaning the, the pan, uh, very quickly, uh, with a lot of elbow grease. So, um, so that's, that's step one, okay. Is to understand your equipment and to control the temperature. Now, back to your question, Lisa. Um, so if you want the onions to be, um, caramelized and, and softened, um, uh, to a, let's say a, a a deeper extent, then we can add those first, and then we can work with those in the pan. We can even deglaze those on their own before other ingredients are added. Okay? Uh, on the other hand, if you, let's say, want some lighter color, and, uh, you're okay with the onions cooking at the same pace as the other ingredients, then feel free to put all those things in together. Um, you know, knowing that, uh, you won't have individual control over each item. But, um, you know, if we, if we have the knife cut sizes, you know, that are, um, comparable so that things cook at a, at a similar pace, um, or they can be in different sizes, if you want the bigger pieces to retain more toothsome, uh, than the smaller pieces throughout that, uh, joint cooking process, that's, uh, a fine approach as well. Uh, and then, you know, the third scenario would be to add your carrots and celery first, and then you can soften those, get those edges brown, and then you can add onions if you want, perhaps, uh, no color, uh, added to the onions. And so there are different ways, uh, that we can approach, um, what sounds like the simple task of no oil sa sauteing. Okay? And so, all of, uh, this, uh, this, this knowledge and, and, um, uh, the ultimate decision that you make, right, is gonna be based upon your accumulation of experience, uh, and, uh, the, the skill and know-how around controlling time and temperature, and knowing what outcomes you want, okay? So keep those things in mind. Um, that's, this is the beauty of cooking. Um, you know, at, uh, in any cooking school, um, and I, I've visited many, I've been affiliated with a couple. And, um, uh, the, the approaches is always the same, right? We can only teach you a, a finite set, um, of knowledge and skill within the bigger world of cooking. And, uh, so once you start to understand these fundamentals, then feel free to experiment some more and branch out in different directions to further broaden and deepen, uh, your knowledge.