ASK SAM - Equipment and Techniques

Amazing Deglazing

Q: What is deglazing and how do you do it?

A: Deglazing is chef talk for adding liquid to a pan in which you just sauteed some kind of meat, like chicken cutlets, in oil or butter. The deglazing liquid can be wine, stock, almost any liquid, even water. The idea is to loosen up any bits of meat that have stuck to the pan and incorporate them into the liquid because they have lots of flavor. The resulting liquid could eventually be the broth in a stew or a braised dish like lamb shanks. Sometimes the pieces of meat have been dusted in flour before being sauteed. Then, when you deglaze the pan with some white wine or chicken stock, the flour combines with the liquid and the cooking fat in the pan to form a quick sauce. A good example that you may have had in a restaurant is veal piccata.