How to Put the Ingredients Together
If you’ve ever baked a cake, chances are you’ve had to knead the egg whites into the dough without puffing them up too much. But most people don’t go to culinary school and never learn what mixing one ingredient with another really means . As a result, so many people end up doing it, with very different results.
Folding is not one of those culinary skills suitable for the “no technique, no thought, just vibration” approach. There is definitely a right way to put the ingredients together, which means that doing it any other way is definitely wrong. Learning proper technique can be very easy. The folding rules are simple and final – seriously, if you can trace the letter J, you’re already halfway there – and once you write them down, you’re ready for life. Here’s how to do it.
Start with a flexible spatula and a bowl containing everything you need to put together. Run the tip of the spatula along the inside of the bowl in a straight line from rim to rim, then rotate the bowl about a quarter of a turn. While turning the bowl, gently bring the spatula to the surface of the ingredients and rotate it towards the center of the bowl, as if you were turning a doorknob. Consider drawing a capital J with a spatula: drag it straight down, then curve around and up at the bottom. Repeat until everything works out to your satisfaction/as required by the recipe.
Here is a great visual representation of the flawless stacking of ingredients for my visual students:
Just joking! Sohla El- Waylly demonstrates the J technique beautifully in his Food52 soufflé video . You should always listen to Sohla:
Proper folding technique isn’t just for egg whites. It allows you to instantly blend dry and wet ingredients, spread delicate toppings and dressings perfectly throughout your salad, and even mix peanut butter a little faster (and not messier). Basically, any time you need to blend ingredients without worrying too much, folding is for you. Just remember to make your J’s and let the bowl do all the work.