Task 90: Understanding Cooking Times

Estimated Time: 15 mins

Things you will need for this task:

Cs_Veges__Cooking_T3_HD1280.jpeg

Equipment

  • Stockpot

  • Ice bath

  • Slotted spoon or tongs

Ingredients

  • 10 to 15 green beans

Understanding Cooking Times for Vegetables

Overcooking vegetables is one of the most common mistakes with vegetable cookery. Part of the challenge is that there’s no exact time for how long to cook vegetables in water. They’re done when they’re done.

This is why it’s so important to understand how cooking time affects vegetables, especially green ones. And, as with anything you cook, you need to learn how to test for doneness.

Here’s an edible experiment to get you thinking about cooking times for green vegetables.

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

  2. Add a handful of green beans (about 10–15 of them) to the water and set a timer.

  3. After about 2 minutes, remove one bean and shock it in the ice bath, then transfer it to a plate.

  4. Continue to cook the beans, removing one bean as each minute passes. Chill each one in the ice bath and line up the beans from the shortest cooking time to the longest.

Once all of the beans are cooked, compare their color. Notice how prolonged cooking greatly affects the color of the beans. Next, go through the lineup and taste each bean, noting the flavor and texture of each. Once you know what to look for and the texture you prefer, you’ll know how to cook and test many types of vegetables.