What is the difference between caramelization and sauteing

So we talked to senior associate food editor Claire Saffitz in the test kitchen to figure out the common mistakes people make when they try to make this deeply flavored accoutrement. Thinly sliced onions will burn faster and stick to the bottom of your pan. You definitely want the flavor of butter in your onions—but butter has the tendency to burn.

For insurance, use a combination of butter and oil, which has a higher smoking point. But how much do you use? Depending on the consistency you want your onions, you can use more or less fat. Just cover the bottom of your pan for jammy, soft caramelized onions, or add a little more for more structured, slightly charred caramelized onions.

The more fat in the pan, the more the onions will fry rather than soften. Okay, you can fry them a little. You can use just oil, or a combination of butter and oil—the choice is yours! Sauteing a vegetable is when you quickly cook the vegetable at a high heat to provide for a more concentrated flavor.

The concentrated flavor comes from the quickly evaporated water that is already contained in the vegetable. For this you will again use either butter or oil in your pan.

For this I would recommend oil as it has more tolerance to t heat the butter does and wont burn as quickly. At a high temp place the vegetables in a preheated pan with oil. You will immediately hear a sizzling sound and that is the difference between sweating and sauteing a vegetable. The sound will tell you which one is occurring.

A sauteing vegetable will have no sound. Chai Seed Pudding by Dennis Amo. More from Cooking Techniques. Guilty Eats 1 day Outback Steakhouse offers one of their most iconic menu items for free this Veterans Day. Guilty Eats 1 day Red Lobster is honoring veterans and military members with a freebie on Veterans Day. Guilty Eats 1 day Denny's offers their own Veterans Day deal for More NFL Rumors ».

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