Those of us who cook on a regular basis are constantly looking to educate ourselves in the kitchen and find hacks to add to our cooking repertoire. Be it a different tool, technique, or ingredient. What if I told you that there was a way to level up your cooking in less than 5 minutes? And what if I also told you that all it takes is a pair of scissors and a piece of paper? Sign you up right?!
Enter the parchment paper lid. Or cartouche if you’re feeling particularly fancy. Its yet another great addition to the culinary world brought to you by who else, the French! Let’s take a look at why and when you should consider using one.
Not your grandma’s lid
Of course you could just use the lid that fits you’re pot, right? Well yes and no. A conventional pots lid can obviously be used in a few ways. Leave it off, on, or cracked. But there are pros and cons to these options. When the lids on you’re unable to reduce whatever it is your cooking as the condensation drips right back in. A reasonable fix would be to crack the lid, however this begs the question, how much? Too wide and your reduction happens too quickly, not enough and the steam doesn’t have a wide enough opening to escape. To fix the condensation problem you could leave the lid off entirely, which will then present the issue of a skin forming on top of your dish.
This is a moot point if your simply boiling water or quickly reducing a sauce. But if the goal is a slow braise or reduction of a stew or soup, then the parchment lid is where you want to be. Not to mention one less thing to clean! It’s as easy as folding up a piece of parchment paper, cutting a hole, and trimming to fit your pot.
Simple origami
Cut a piece of parchment paper a touch larger than your pot.
Start by folding your parchment in half and then fold in half once again.
Next take the corner with the two sides that are folded and fold diagonally to the other corner.
Fold the triangle in half the same direction once more.
Hold your soon to be lid over your pot aligning the tip to the center and cut off the excess paper which overlaps the side. Then cut about 1/2 inch off of the tip to make the vent hole.
Unfold the lid and size it up to your pot, ideally the lid will fit snugly inside or will be slightly smaller. If not trim it up a bit to fit.
That’s it! once you’re ready to use, simply place your lid directly onto whatever you’re cooking, pat it down gently so it’s flush with the surface, and adjust the temperature to maintain a simmer. And there you have it, just like that, the parchment paper lid. You can now hold your head just a little bit higher knowing that whatever it is your cooking, its going to come out that much better!
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