In this video, learn how to make a basic pan reduction sauce using stock. A pan sauce works great for any number of pan roasted meats including steak, poultry, lamb and pork.
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Red wines...
Do you have a varietal that you use more often than others?
At the restaurant I use a
At the restaurant I use a burgundy blend that's made specifically for cooking. At home, I like to use red table wine that comes in glass jugs. What you're really looking for is a wine that isn't noticeably tannic or acidic. As the wine reduces down, these flavors will concentrate and effect the overall flavor of your sauce.
Straining pan sauces
Hi Jacob,
I watched the pan sauce video using stock. With what type of food would you strain a pan sauce if any?
Pan sauces are rarely
Pan sauces are rarely strained only because they're usually made a la minute. You could do something on a larger scale just like the pan sauce, strain it through a chinois into a sauce pot and mount with butter and lemon right before serving.
The reason for straining a pan sauce is purely textural. By the time my stock is ready to be used for a pan sauce, it's been reduced, reinforced and strained quite a few times.
I happen to like the roasted shallots in my pan sauce. If you don't want that extra textural element, you can strain before serving.
Pan reduction sauce not thickening
Hi Jacob,
I tried to make this pan reduction sauce 2 times and it didn't thiken looking very ugly with the butter separating from the wine reduction. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Tulio
@Teixierat, What type of
@Teixierat,
What type of stock are you using? Are you making your own or using store bought? It sounds like your stock doesn't shave enough gelatin in it.
Also, when you add in the butter, you want to do it over low heat and then turn the heat off right before the butter is completely melted into the pan sauce, swirling or whisking constantly. However, if your sauce doesn't thicken properly before you add the butter, then it's extremely hard to keep the butter emulsified in the first place.
If you don't have a good stock with gelatin, then you need to reduce your wine until it's almost dry, and then mount with butter. But then at that point you'd be making more of a beurre blanc.
Thanks! I think it is the the
Thanks! I think it is the the stock, but not the brand. I just remembered that I always forget to reduce it to a Demi-Glace prior to the sauce. Will try again.
Yes, the bitterness could
Yes, the bitterness could have come from the wine. This happens if the wine is a little acidic or tannic to start with. Also, at any point in the reduction process, if you happened to "scorch" either your stock, wine or shallots, that could also have contributed to the off flavor.
Classic demi-glace is half
Classic demi-glace is half veal stock and half brown stock, combined and reduced by half. It is usually reinforced with some roasted meat scraps and/or vegetables. I don't have an exact video on it yet, but we do have an extensive lecture on the subject: SCS 13| Sauce Espagnole (Brown Sauce and Demi-Glace).
In modern terms, when a chef refers to demi, it usually refers to a roasted veal stock that is then reinforced with additional roasted vegetables and meat scraps and reduced by up to 1/4 of its original volume. Unlike a its classic counterpart, modern demi usually does not contain a starch thickener (like a roux), but is instead thickened by reduction which gives it an extremely concentrated flavor.
Watch this video on reinforcing and reducing chicken stock; if you use this exact technique but start with a roasted veal stock instead of chicken, it will yield a "modern" demi-glace.
Because you're removing the
Because you're removing the milk solids from the butter, clarified butter will hold at room temperature much like regular cooking oil. Just store the clarified butter in a dry, cool place out of direct sun light and it should be fine for a couple of months.
@ Zubinfishcer, My method
@ Zubinfishcer,
My method would be;
- Make a reduced and reinforced chicken stock.
- Pan roast chicken breast.
- Allow chicken breast to rest after pan roasting, and then make a pan sauce as demonstrated on this page. I would use white wine for a lighter dish, and red wine for a heavier dish, and use the reduced and reinforced chicken stock instead of the veal stock as demonstrated in this post.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
@ Mogs, Great question. The
@ Mogs,
Great question.
The real thing you want to avoid is heating the butter past it's breaking point. This causes the fat and water in the butter to separate, instead of emulsifying into your sauce.
So melting over high heat is fine, and is what I do during dinner service because it's faster, as long as you know when to pull the pan from the heat so the butter doesn't break.
When people are first learning this technique, I always recommend they swirl the butter over low to no flame because it's more forgiving than high heat.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Yes, honey will work, as well
Yes, honey will work, as well as any sweet ingredient such as agave nectar, white sugar, etc. However, any sweetner you use will add a flavor to your sauce as well, so you want to make sure it's complimentary.
If you're looking for a neutral sweetner, I'd recommend white sugar.