How do you interpret "overnight" prep time?
For longer prep steps, such as proofing bread overnight, salting/brining meat overnight, do you interpret "overnight" as 8h? For slow fermenting breads I usually take "overnight" to mean about a night, and set up my baking to continue in the morning. But for something like salting a steak or chicken, I'm unlikely to eat it when I wake up in the morning! In that case "overnight" would turn into almost a full 24h. Instead, I prep the meat in the morning before I go to work to eat that evening. I'm just curious how other cooks/bakers interpret "overnight" steps, thanks!
Recommended by Food52
5 Comments
I see "overnight" as somewhere between 10-12 hours. Of course, this can depend on the recipe.
The better recipe authors will actually specify the number of hours if it makes a real difference. If there is a point where the preparation starts to degrade in quality or change in chemical nature, a good recipe author will explicitly identify that threshold.
That's how I see it.
Disclaimer: 95+% of my cooking is done without recipes and I gave up baking years ago.
If making the first time, I will probably check at the 8 hour mark to see if there's a need to stop the action.
Casual use of the term "overnight" to mean or suggest one day in fridge can be annoying & misleading.
Do the same as you with a meat dish asking for something "overnight" - start it morning of day intended to make for dinner.