deglaze the pan

Meaning

A cooking technique where a liquid (such as wine, stock, or vinegar) is added to a hot pan after searing meat or vegetables. The liquid helps loosen and dissolve the caramelized food particles (called 'fond') stuck to the bottom, creating a rich base for a sauce.

Examples

• Once the chicken is browned, remove it and use white wine to deglaze the pan.

  Once the chicken is browned, remove it and use white wine to deglaze the pan.

• Don't throw away those browned bits at the bottom; deglaze the pan to make a delicious gravy.

  Don't throw away those browned bits at the bottom; deglaze the pan to make a delicious gravy.

• You can use beef stock or even water to deglaze the pan after searing the steaks.

  You can use beef stock or even water to deglaze the pan after searing the steaks.

• The recipe says to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the caramelized onions from the bottom.

  The recipe says to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the caramelized onions from the bottom.

• Deglazing the pan is a simple way to elevate a basic weeknight dinner into something restaurant-quality.

  Deglazing the pan is a simple way to elevate a basic weeknight dinner into something restaurant-quality.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I unglazed the pan with some apple cider.

  ✓ I deglazed the pan with some apple cider.

  The prefix 'de-' is used in culinary terms to denote removal or extraction (e.g., deglaze, defat). 'Unglaze' is not a valid cooking term.

• ✗ After frying, deglaze the pan's bottom to get the flavor.

  ✓ After frying, deglaze the pan to get the flavor.

  The idiom is simply 'deglaze the pan'. Specifying 'pan's bottom' is redundant because the action of deglazing inherently targets the bottom of the pan.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Pour in a splash of dry sherry to ___ and release all those flavorful caramelized bits.

  💡 Add liquid to a hot pan to loosen stuck food particles.

  Show answer

  deglaze the pan

• If you don't ___, you miss out on the most flavorful part of the meat you just seared.

  💡 Dissolve the caramelized drippings at the bottom of the cookware.

  Show answer

  deglaze the pan