SC - Stirring (was SC - Re: European/USA terminology)

[Elysant at aol.com]

- -Poster: <Elysant at aol.com>

Nanna wrote:
 
>I was taught as a child to use both methods - stirring round and round for
>certain things, over and under for others, and a third method for things
>thickened with potato flour - they should be stirred back and forth, not
>with any circular motion. And I´m quite sure there is something I was told
>always to stir with a figure 8 motion but I can´t for the life of me
>remember what it is.
 
We were taught that the figure 8 motion was for quietly folding in 
ingredients like 
flour into a cake batter.  Another folding motion was a sequence of stirring 
once around the bowl and then do several chopping strokes across the batter.  
Could the original poster on this thread be talking about the figure eight 
method when stirring "over and under" was mentioned I wonder? 

Other than folding, In Britain we usually stir with a circular motion.  (I 
haven't seen anything different to this over here in the US). 

For thinner batters, we were taught to stir in a circular motion, but at an 
angle to the surface of the mixture, and to aim for making the batter produce 
a loud "glop" sound each time you stirred in order to insure that air was 
being introduced into the mixture.  
 
I think all different ways of stirring have, as mentioned, their place and 
purpose. :-)

Elysant