Reduction: Fast vs Slow

Hi everyone I'm pretty new here and only been cooking for about a year so far so I guess I have tonnes of lingering questions I need help about

One of them I have now would be with regards to reduction.

Does it make an difference if I reduce on a simmer or I reduce with a rolling boil? From what I have studied so far, some of the issues I have learned about so far would be killing the freshness of the liquid, but I am not sure about how it works.

Could anyone kindly give me a little insights on topic? Greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Thad

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Comments

Brendan_Lee_56950

I'm not sure what you mean by killing the freshness. What kind of liquid would you be reducing? If it's something like a stock, it's already cooked so reducing will concentrate the flavors and viscosity over time but high heat has never hurt a stock reduction in my house.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

It is easier to skim fat and use a simmering stock, a rolling boil will reduce a lot faster.

"Fresh" I'm not sure I get either. Do you mean the clarity?

robmcquarrie

Serious eats sort of discusses it. http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/04/ask-the-food-lab-do-i-really-need-to-reduce-w.html

"A sauce reduced quickly will be flatter-tasting and less flavorful

than a sauce reduced slowly. Try it side by side with two pots of stock

or two pots of wine and you will see.

Moral: When reducing any liquid for a sauce, it's best to go low and slow."

Thaddeus_37740

Hi thanks for the responses guys. Yes @Rob1234 pretty much confirms my worries about using a rolling boil to reduce my liquid, lets say, a red wine jus which had been flavoured with aromatics like onion and bay leaf.