Wait for it. Wait for it. The title of this blog could also be Part 7: Have Some Patience. Caramelization is an often neglected and/or misunderstood aspect of cooking. Why caramelize? It’s simple really. Do you prefer a nice steak stewed in water or grilled? Hopefully you said grilled. That’s the difference. Both steaks. Both edible. But very different. Think of caramel. Caramel is nothing more that sugar that is cooked to the 300+ degree range. It’s sugar, but it’s totally different than sugar. That’s what caramelization does.

Now, how do we get there? Achieving it is tough. It starts with allowing your pan or grill to really get hot. Smoking hot. If the pan is too cool caramelization won’t happen and your food will stick. So our pan/grill is ready now we gently lay the meat in, being careful not to overcrowd our cooking surface. Then we wait. And we wait. And we wait some more. When we have our customers here at the Monogram Experience Center we preach caramelization and patience to them for three days. The first day is the toughest. We lay the meat in the pan and then we step away and wait. We talk caramelization and we wait. After 30-45 seconds you begin to see the glances at the others in their kitchen wondering if we’ve gone crazy or simply forgotten. After 2 minutes they’re ready to knock us out of the way and get their tongs in there to save the meat before we ruin dinner.

It’s a process and there is no exact time to wait. Every range, every heat source, every cooking vessel is different so no strict guideline is available. You’ll know it when you see it. You’ll know it when you smell it. You’ll know it when you hear it. You’ll know it when you taste it. Caramelization.