Cooking covered or uncaovered?!
Cooking covered or uncaovered?
When and why do some recipes tell you to cook a food in an uncovered pot and some other recipes tell you to cook in a covered pot?
Answers:
In an uncovered pot, the liquid cooks down and thickens. When you cover a pot, the food will retain more liquid. It will also cook faster, as you're retaining more heat.
to control the moisture - - the temperature
The reason things are cooked covered is usually because the liquid in the pan needs to be absorbed (rice). Uncovered is usually because it just needs to heat through and the liquid is just for basting. Covered items(meats and veggies) will cook faster because the hot steam is helping the product cook as well as the heat from the burner.
when a pot is uncovered, the moisture will evaporate. when covered it will not. when you uncover a dish ou are cooking, it allows the flavors to concentrate, the liquid to thicken etc.
if you keep it covered, it "steams" your dish and allows it to stay moist.
slow cook----cover
time to thicken ----uncover
To save heat.
Open cooking to expediate reduction of liquid, closed cooking to expediate fast cooking by trapping steam.
you can save fuel and lower the heat in the kitchen by covering up the pot and lowering the fire