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Dredge Cooking Definition | How to Dredge Chicken | How to Dredge Meat

Dredge cooking definition

Dredging or to dredge is a cooking technique used to coat wet or moist foods with a dry ingredient prior to cooking.

Put most simply, dredging involves little more than pulling or rolling the wet food through the dry material such as flour, to provide an even coating.

The flour can be seasoned with salt and pepper, curry powder, minced garlic or your preferred seasoning.

The technique is particularly common in the process of Crumbing foods, such as fried fish, sausages, chops or chicken fillets.

Advantages in dredging food

There are few good reasons to dredge food prior to sautéing or frying in the dredge cooking definition:

  1. The flour and other dry ingredients seal in moisture to prevent the food from becoming tough.
  2. The coating applied to the food acts as a barrier that keeps the food from sticking to the pan as it cooks.
  3. The coating helps to brown the food and provide a crunchy surface.
  4. The coating enables the exterior of the food to become crisp and darken evenly without burning.
  5. The seasoning in the coating adds flavour to the food.

How to dredge food

Here's how to dredge chicken or any other food that calls for this technique:

  1. Put the coating in a bowl.
  2. Roll the food around in the coating until the food is completely coated on all sides.
  3. Shake off excess.
  4. Cook as directed in your recipe.

So, when a recipe instructs you to "dredge in flour" or another coating, that's all you need to do!

How to Dredge Meat

This video is going to teach you what dredging meat is all about.
It's easy, and you need to know it if you want to make casseroles, soups and stews.

How to Dredge Chicken

To dredge means to lightly coat food with flour or breadcrumbs before frying or grilling.
Watch this video to get dredging tips from the pros and get the best coating, the best flavour out of your crumbed foods.

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