Water bath Is a method of cooking food, in which the liquid is boiled (heated) without direct contact of the container with fire. This method is used when the temperature of the prepared solution is required, which does not exceed 100 ° C.

Basically, in a water bath, it is customary to cook some types of tender creams for cakes, certain sauces that are served with fish and meat dishes. In addition, a water bath is used to melt or soften chocolate, honey and butter. Thus, medicinal herbal decoctions are often prepared.

There are two types of water baths, which directly depend on such indicators as the name and quantity of the products used, as well as the place of their preparation. Thus stands out water bath cooking and cooking in a water bath.

In this case, cooking is carried out on the stove using the so-called double pan mari, which is considered the most ancient. Water is poured into the lower container of the dishes, and the product is placed in the upper container, which will be cooked for water bath.

In reality, this cooking method is quite simple. Structurally, it looks like two larger and smaller containers, which are inserted into one another. At the same time, small dishes should be less in height in order to leave room for boiling water. During the boiling process, the water in the first container heats the liquid in the second. Moreover, the water in a larger container should not boil - ideally, cooking in a water bath involves boiling a little at moderate heat.

Second way or cooking food in water The bath is suitable for baking in the oven or heating on the stove, when a slightly different design is used. Outwardly, this is a container (or containers), which are placed in a large-sized form, preferably on a grate, which ensures the necessary circulation of water under the bottom of the inner container.

When cooking in a water bath, hot water is poured into a large container, which should reach the middle of the height of the inner mold. It is noteworthy that this entire structure can remain open on top, but it can also be closed (for example, with foil) - it depends on the requirements of the recipe. Sometimes the water bath itself is left open and the inner mold is covered with foil.

The large bain-marie dish is selected so that its height is more than 2/3 of the height of the inner container. Too high a form is also not suitable, since its walls will not only block heat flows, but the water temperature may not even rise to 83 ° C, which will not allow the product to reach readiness.

For cooking in a water bath, the material from which the large form is made is also important. For example, glass is a poor heat conductor, while thin steel is characterized by high heat transfer. Thick cast iron, on the contrary, is capable of storing heat. So, the most suitable form for cooking food in a water bath is a rather thick aluminum one.

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What does it mean to heat up in a water bath, because many recipes require this, but do not explain how to do it? It's easy and you don't need to buy anything special, below we will tell you how you can do it.

What is it and how does it work?

This technology is used in many areas where you need to cook something. It can be cooking, making medicinal broths, cosmetics.

The principle of the technique is simple: water is taken into a larger dish and brought to a boil on the stove, when it boils, a smaller container is placed in it and the necessary product is already prepared in it. It turns out that it is heated evenly at a constant temperature of 100 degrees.

This is the maximum useful method of processing, the products do not burn, do not stick to the walls, retain a maximum of useful properties.

In this way, they usually prepare:

• Cake creams;
• Sauces;
• Melted chocolate, honey, wax;
• Medicinal herbal teas.

If you often have to resort to this cooking method, buy yourself a special unit, and these are now on sale. However, it will take up extra space in the kitchen and is not cheap, and the result is the same as from ordinary pots. So think carefully before spending money on it.

How to make a water bath at home?

As you already understood, there is nothing complicated here, the main thing is not to burn yourself and observe some subtleties:

1. Take dishes with thick walls, it will heat up more evenly;
2. If the recipe says that you just need to heat the substance - do not bring it to a boil, it is enough for its surface to hover a little;
3. Sometimes it is required to build a structure in the oven. The principle is the same, there are only some differences - in this case, the inner dishes should be closed or wrapped in two layers of foil and do not take a very high container, you risk not cooking the contents;
4. Position the inner pot so that it barely touches the bottom of the outer one.

You can lower the dishes intended directly for the broth only when the water has boiled. And be careful if there is too much liquid - it may spill out when another vessel is immersed in it, let it be slightly less - estimate how voluminous you will lower the cup with the substance and how much it will displace water, leave the required amount of free space for it.

Melting honey and wax in a water bath

Many beauty masks require liquid honey or wax in the formulation. This is understandable, honey is good for the skin, like nothing else smoothes it, cleanses and nourishes it, besides it acts as a moisturizer due to the fact that it tightly clogs the pores and the moisture evaporates more slowly.

And if your skin is prone to inflammation, honey will soothe it, because it has long been used as an anti-inflammatory agent. To prepare a honey-based mask, it must be melted, while it is important to try to preserve the maximum usefulness, here's how to do it:

• We put the required amount of the product in a small mug or bowl (preferably metal);
• We heat up (exactly we heat up) the water in a larger saucepan and put honey there;
• We drown it in this way until ready.

Do not boil in this case, it is enough to heat the honey a little, and it will melt, and the useful ingredients will retain their properties.

Wax is often added to medical masks, for example, for arthritis or for foot care - hair removal. It is necessary to heat it, as described above - the main thing is to heat it slightly, and it will retain the maximum of nutrients.

Chamomile decoction: how to cook it?

Not a single herbal collection can do without chamomile, it disinfects and soothes, and also eliminates spasms, allergies, cramps. All its advantages cannot be enumerated. But in order not to lose all the useful properties, it is better to prepare tea from it using the named technology. For this:

• Pour 2 tablespoons of dry matter into a mug, pour water there;
• Cover with a lid;
• We put on a water bath, as usual, for about 20 minutes;
• Then remove and let it brew under the lid;
• We filter and that's it.

If, after cooking, the container with chamomile is very empty due to evaporation of the liquid, you can dilute the medicine by adding a little boiled water to it.

Use the finished product as directed - it is good for them to rinse your mouth, throat, wipe your face before going to bed, or heal wounds. If you suffer from stomach problems, drink 2 times a day.

In this way, brew other teas based on medicinal herbs.

How to heat oil in a water bath?

And if you need to warm up the oil, can you do it this way, because it just won't work in another way? Warm sunflower oil or any other oil is often required, for example, burdock oil for cosmetic purposes. You can put the bottle in a mug of hot water, but in this way you will only slightly make it warm, and heating it means bringing it to a temperature of at least 40 degrees:

• Pour some liquid into a mug;
• We put it in boiling water, here it is better in boiling water, since the oil is very thick, a higher temperature is required to heat it;
• Make sure that no water gets into the inner container;
• We are waiting for it to begin to be covered with small bubbles;
• Then turn it off.

All is ready. Why is this necessary, why cold is not suitable? If you want to use burdock oil as a hair mask, it works best if it is warm. Regular application to hair will make it strong and thick.

So, almost anything can be heated in a water bath, the process does not take much time and effort. Therefore, if the recipe requires - do not hesitate and do not look for other methods. Some advise using a microwave in this case, it is difficult to prove it will be beneficial or harmful, but the option we have described will definitely keep all the nutrients intact, which the microwave cannot guarantee.

Video: how to melt honey and preserve nutrients?

In this video, Polina Makarova will show you how a water bath works and how to melt honey with it:

Actually, it is a simple and effective way to create an automatically controlled environment of a certain temperature... It is said that the ancient alchemists invented the creation of conditions for gentle heating of any particularly delicate ingredients.

What it is?

The design principle is to transfer heat through an “intermediary”.

The first container filled with water is heated over an open fire.

In a container of a smaller diameter placed in it, the contents are heated due to the temperature of the surrounding hot water - the very "mediator".

Since boiling water is physically incapable of heating above + 100 ° C, the temperature in a small container, naturally, will not exceed this indicator either.

Here you will not burn anything a priori - contact with an open fire is excluded.

This principle is widely used in the food industry. This is exactly how milk and canned food pasteurizers work. The water jacket of cheese machines transfers strictly limited heat to the cheese mass during the preparation of some gourmet types of cheese.

But after all, you, probably, have more than once pasteurized jars with home preservation in boiling water? This simple procedure is also a water bath.

Why and when?

What is a water bath in cooking is not difficult to understand if you know where and how to use it. The "bath" method is quite troublesome, such a procedure is rarely undertaken - when, according to the recipe, the product requires a temperature not exceeding + 100 ° С.

Gourmets have come up with many such recipes.

These are the most delicate creams for cakes, and spicy sauces that accompany no less spicy dishes (meat, mushroom, fish).

There is a recipe for cheeses, pates and even sausages, which cannot be made without gentle uniform heating.

For example, cooking is easier if you use a simple design of 2 pots - this will melt butter and chocolate faster and easier.

This method allows you to gently heat and melt the candied honey without fear that its beneficial properties will decrease from the high temperature.

Also, this gentle heating method is in demand in the preparation of medicinal herbal decoctions. In this procedure, temperature rise is excluded, which means that useful components will not be destroyed. By the way, how to prepare medicinal decoctions is described in the writings of Hippocrates.

Instructions

The simplest water bath at home is easily constructed from two pots of different diameters.

Pour water into the larger one.

The smaller one is inserted into the first container.

Select the pots so that the lugs of the inner container rest on the edges of the outer container.

Pour water in moderation, up to about half the height of the inner saucepan.

Important, so that boiling water washes its bottom and walls, but does not overflow over the edge.

A thick-walled saucepan is the best choice. In general, it is better to take the one with a double bottom - the heating will be more even.

That's all. Send the structure to the burner.

Warm up in a water bath, and not just on gas or in a microwave, any cooled food is healthier and safer, since everything will be warmed up evenly, nothing will burn, and the effect of microwaves is excluded, the danger and safety of which is still debated.

Crockery - which one is right?

A more convenient bathhouse will be obtained from a wide, stable pot and a hemispherical WOK Chinese frying pan, which exceeds the diameter of the pan. You can use a bowl or deep ceramic dish of a suitable diameter.

It is these food grade stainless steel water baths that are made in kitchenware factories and sold for use in "advanced" home cooking.

The inner container is made in the form of a saucepan or bowl with a lid.

Imported these sets are called "Bain-marie".

"Bath" is easy to organize and in a multicooker - this is quite suitable dishes:

1. pour water into a multi-bowl;
2. if the set of accessories does not include a special stand, install something suitable in the center of the bowl (for example, a low tea cup);
3. place the form with the product on the stand;
4. close the cover, turn on the unit.

The "Baking" mode is suitable for cooking.

Advantages

In Istanbul, in the Topkapi Sultan's Palace, tourists are shown medieval cuisine turned into a museum. Among the many huge boilers, pots and other utensils, there are also water baths. Especially delicious dishes were prepared in them.

But at home you can cook real masterpieces.

The low temperature allows you to cook, for example, egg creams or sauces without destroying the delicate proteins.

If necessary, a dish in a "bath" container can stay hot for several hours. You can serve it in portions, and the main part will always be hot, but will not burn.

One of the secrets of a culinary bath is that it doesn't have to be water bath. The heating fluid can be oil or brine. Such heat transfer fluids are capable of transferring practically any desired temperature to the prepared product. You just need to experimentally select the liquid.

However, not a liquid, but a solid component can serve as an intermediary coolant.

For example - ordinary sand.

This is how Turkish coffee is prepared: they immerse cezve in hot quartz sand.

Another alternative to water is air or steam.

There are also such Bain-marie designs on sale.

Useful video

Uniform heating in a structure of two containers is indispensable if you need to prepare marshmallow mastic, which is so convenient for decorating different ones, for example. This video shows how to heat the mastic components:

Sometimes, after reading a recipe in a cookbook, one gets the impression that he read some strange encryption for the special agents. Blanch, simmer a little with butter, cook until the test "soft ball" - and these are not all the terms used by chefs. But, perhaps, the most popular among them is the "water bath". How to do it, many do not know, and therefore refuse such recipes. And completely in vain. It is easy to make, and dishes cooked in a water or steam bath are tasty and healthy.

It is used in cases where delicate cooking and heating of the dish is needed to no more than 100 degrees. The easiest way to make a water bath is to put water in one pot and put a smaller one in it. This is where the foods that need to be cooked are put. Typically used for melting butter and chocolate, as well as making custards and hot biscuits. Homemade cottage cheese is also made on a similar

Another option for how to make a water bath is an impromptu double boiler. To do this, you need to pull gauze on a pot of water at a height of 3-4 centimeters from the last. In this way, you can cook steamed dishes - vegetables, fish and even meat. In fact, electric steamers work according to this principle, which today can be bought at any home appliance store. Before their appearance, they used special pots with a double bottom. This method of cooking is considered the most dietary and healthy.

Many, however, believe that the steam menu is only suitable for children or for those on a strict diet. In fact, you can steam many original and delicious dishes. It can be a variety of soufflés, omelets and even muffins. Cooking in a water bath saturates them with additional moisture and makes them juicy, while retaining all the benefits of the food. So the steam menu can be very varied and not only dietary.

But this does not exhaust all cases when you need to know how to make a water bath. To make a cheesecake, cake, or soufflé in the oven, this method is often used. This is due to the fact that for delicate baking, you need to soften the high temperature of the oven and prevent the top from cracking. To do this, pour water into a deep baking sheet so that it reaches the middle of the baking dish. If a split form is used, it must be wrapped in foil to prevent moisture from entering. It is advisable to wrap in several layers and overlap and, of course, do not rush.

Knowing how to make a water bath at home, you can diversify your menu not only with dietary dishes. The preparation of many cakes, soufflés and cheesecakes will become very common thanks to her. This means that you can arrange small holidays for your family every day. And steamed cutlets, fish and vegetables often look much more attractive than fried or stewed ones. And most importantly, they combine a delicate taste and benefit, as they are prepared without adding oil.

Folk recipes are full of advice on body and skin care. And many of them mention a water bath. Many are perplexed: what is this water bath? Not understanding the meaning, few people dare to try to cook a miraculous recipe.

Let's figure out what is meant by a water bath, where it is used, what is the use of it.

A water bath is a useful and really very necessary device used for heating various mixtures, products and their subsequent melting, preparation. In such a (water) bath, nothing burns, all useful properties are perfectly preserved. We are talking about two pans in which ingredients for home cosmetics and medicines are prepared.

Water bath: when is it needed?

There are a variety of cases when there is a need for a water bath. Someone melts butter, honey, chocolate in this way, and someone needs this bath to make a soap base. In a water bath, you can prepare a delicate cake cream, sauce for meat and fish dishes. Often a similar device is used to prepare medicinal broths. In a water bath, face masks, hair masks, nose warmers (for example, honey cakes), and infusions are prepared.

Advantages of a water bath:

• It retains all the properties of the ingredients being prepared.
• You can achieve the necessary manipulations with food: melt, reheat.
• Nothing sticks to the pan. Products in such a bath do not burn.

It is important to note that it is in the water bath that excessive heating (overheating) of the ingredients does not occur, which is especially important for the preparation of high-quality products.

If you look carefully, it is not difficult to find special devices on sale. We are talking about structures that are specifically designed for the convenience of preparing various products in a water bath. Not all housewives decide to buy a ready-made device for two reasons: firstly, any kitchen unit takes up a lot of space in the kitchen; secondly, the need for a water bath does not arise very often. That is why many people get by the old fashioned way with two pans of different diameters.

Water bath: how to do it at home

Interested in how to make such a wonderful bath? Everything, in fact, is simple. The main thing is to know the nuances and subtleties. Take two pans, insert the smaller one into the larger one. Pour water into a large one and heat it up. In a small one, put the necessary products, ingredients for heating.

It is important to use a large saucepan with a thick bottom to avoid boiling. To reduce boiling, you can lay a linen, cotton napkin on the bottom of the pan. When placing the second pot, make sure that the bottom just barely touches the water in the large pot. This is how a water bath is made: the ingredients are placed in a small saucepan and are heated by the hot steam from the water in the large saucepan.

Pay attention to the following important points:

1. If you don't want to spoil your product, do not put a small saucepan in a large one until the water boils in it.
2. You can and should use the lid to cover the second small pot.
3. In order to avoid burns when lifting the upper saucepan from the lower one, it is worthwhile to come up with additional handles in advance.

Make a water bath at home several times, and you will definitely succeed. Experience comes with time. The main thing is to try and do. Using a water bath, you can create a variety of cosmetics and folk remedies.