Shortcuts to Bring Ingredients to Room Temperature

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Shortcuts to Bring Ingredients to Room Temperature

What is room temperature: it is 65 – 70 degrees F (18 – 21 degrees C) usually your refrigerator is 40 degrees F (4 degrees C)

Why bring ingredients to room temperature:

When room temperature ingredients are used, they behave differently from when they are cold. They are easier to mix when baking. It also allows proteins to relax. In baking, they produce an emulsion that traps air, resulting in lighter, more evenly baked goods.

For meat, you cannot raise the oven or grill temperature if the meat is cold. Thus, the outside can be overcooked while the center remains raw or very rare.

If the ingredients are left at room temperature for 30 minutes, thus in a 70oF room, the eggs and milk will take 40 minutes to prepare. We have all been there when you forget to take things out before cooking. Here are some shortcuts.

Butter: cut into 1/2 inch cubes and let it stand for 15 minutes OR coarsely grate your butter.

Whole eggs: fill small bowl with warm (not hot) water. Carefully place the eggs in the water, let them sit for 5-10 minutes

Meat: double bag your meat with zip seal bags and put the meat in a large quantity of very warm water in a larger container or your sink. Squeeze out the excess air from your bags (before sealing). To prevent the meat from floating, put a heavy pot or some heavy cans on top. Let it warm for about 15 to 30 minutes. There are some people who dispute bringing meat to room temperature.

Milk/Cream/Half and Half: Pour into a microwave safe measuring cup and heat in 10 second intervals, stirring half way through. 1/2 cup should take about 20 seconds depending on the power of your microwave.

NOTE: If you don’t have a microwave pour the milk into a glass and set it in a bowl filled with warm water just like eggs. Let it sit for 5-30 minutes (depending on how much milk you are warming), stirring every couple of minutes so that it warms evenly. Use this for buttermilk since microwaving will cause it to separate.

Cream Cheese: remove it from the cardboard container but leave it in the foil wrapping. Treat like eggs putting it in a bowl of warm water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.

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