Cooking Stack Exchange
Cooking Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [reduction]

The process of thickening a liquid by evaporating water or alcohol by heat.

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How do I concentrate the flavor in orange juice?

I poured squeezed orange juice over my meatballs and I thought how well it complements them, but that it's too watery to enjoy with meat. I proceeded to reduce squeezed orange juice on the stove with and without starch and it just did not work -…
Bar Akiva
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How do you reduce a cream sauce?

My wife made a cream based sauce last night and the recipe said to "reduce" it. The cream sauce was comprised of some white wine, couple cups of heavy cream and chicken broth (my wife substituted water for the broth) I looked up how to reduce a…
Ovi Tisler
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My tomato sauce is very watery

It has flavor, but its consistency is too thin. Will letting sit over medium low heat evaporate enough to increase its density or is this useless? Would bringing it to a boil help more. I don't want to ruin its flavor and am afraid bringing it to a…
Matt
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What is "au sec"?

I am looking at making a variation of Alain Passard's egg, the Farm Egg with Corriander. The instructions are somewhat clear, with the key exception being the phrase "reduce until au sec". With a little googling, I can see that means "nearly dry",…
object88
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Is this Pomegranate Molasses rescuable?

I was trying to make Alton Brown's Pomegranate Molasses, but had trouble converting his "medium-low heat" to my electric (glass top) stove. I ended up with what commenters on the above link describe as "Pomegranate Candy" because I let it get too…
Moshe Katz
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Keep alcohol in spiced rum reduction?

I'm working on a new recipe and want to make a spiced rum reduction without losing the alcohol. Don't just want it thicker or I'd use xanthum gum I want less liquid with stronger flavor and the alcohol content to still be as high as possible.…
N0FaC3
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When should you season sauce that needs to be reduced?

I just thought about how seasoning a sauce is not a wise decision because if it needs to through reduction like marinara then the flavors would get too concentrated. But I always see people put salt and pepper into sauces before they are properly…
Bar Akiva
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How do I know when my sauce is reduced enough?

I followed this recipe over the weekend to try out something new: Eric Ripert's Red Snapper and Morels in Port Reduction My biggest issue was the sauce. It was very liquidy. I don't think it reduced properly and perhaps not enough butter? But I'm…
Ryan
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What if anything make a liquid a good candidate for a reduction?

What if anything makes a liquid a good candidate for a reduction? Often you see things like wines and fruit juices called to be reduced for recipes. Why are they so common? What specifics about them make them so? If I am wanting to play around…
jeffwllms
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How can I prevent reductions from turning into molasses?

Last night I attempted to make a reduced sauce out of equal parts soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar. I let it simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it got to a mildly viscous consistency where dragging my spatula briefly left a trail in…
user3002473
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Reducing sauce or gravy always forms a skin

Apologies if I've phrased this wrongly. I don't try to do this very often: that is, boil a sauce to evaporate the liquid (I understand this to be known as 'reducing the sauce'); however, when I do, I frequently end up with a skin forming on top of…
Paul Michaels
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Do sulfites cook out?

Do sulfites cook out when you reduce wine? The main cooking mode I'm thinking of is a braise: coq au vin or beef Bourguignon, but would also be interested in the shorter cooking time recipes, e.g. a wine reduction pan sauce.
Dave
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When reducing, why do you simmer instead of boil?

All recipes call for simmering a dish if you wish to reduce. I know that if for example if I wish to reduce wine, it will take me double the time or even more if I simmer instead of just cranking the heat up to a boil. But there must be a reason for…
Bar Akiva
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How should I add wine to the sauce for my duck?

I have some chicken stock that I've made, that I want to use as a base for a sauce for some duck. I am roasting the duck bones at the moment and will simmer them in the chicken stock for a while. If I want to add red wine to this should I reduce…
Sam Holder
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Why does my red wine reduction go 'grainy'?

After frying some meat, say beef or lamb, sometimes I want to make a red wine reduction. After lifting the meat out of the pan I turn the heat down to low and add the wine. The wine tends to bubble furiously and reduces quickly. I quickly try to…
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