Food & Cooking (Q&A)

Answer: Deglazing is a cooking technique for removing bits of food from a pan in order to make a sauce with them. When a piece of meat is roasted, pan fried or prepared in a pan with another form of dry heat, a fond, or deposit, is left at the bottom of the pan with any rendered fat. Usually, the meat is removed from the cooking vessel and the majority of the oil is poured off, leaving a small amount with the dried and caramelized meat juices. The pan is returned to the heat, and a liquid is added to act as a solvent. This liquid can be plain water, vegetable or meat stock, a spirit, some wine, verjuice, or any other liquid. This allows the cook to scrape the dark spots from the bottom of the pan and dissolve them, creating a rich sauce. This method is the cornerstone of many well known sauces and gravies. The resulting liquid can be seasoned and served on its own (sometimes called a jus), or with the addition of aromatic vegetables such as onions or shallots. The sauce can also be thickened with a starch such as flour, cornstarch, or arrowroot, or reduced with a steady heat to form a richer concentrated sauce.

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