General Practical Skills

Test yourself

General Practical Skills

You should know the following skills for your exam:

Weighing and measuring

Measuring solids and dry ingredients - usually use a balance or electronic weighing scales.
- Example food products - sugar, margarine, butter, flour, icing sugar.
Measuring liquids - usually use a measuring cups jug and pour in the right amount of litres (or millilitres).
- Example food products - milk, water.
Measuring small quantities - usually use spoons (teaspoons or tablespoons).
- Example food products- baking soda, ginger, oregano, chili powder.

Preparing food and equipment

If you're baking cakes, you should grease or line your cake tins. For some other dishes, you may need to put oil, butter or flour on your equipment as lining.
Examples - lining a tray with grease-proof paper, flouring a surface before rolling dough when making bread, greasing a cake tin when making a fat lemon drizzle cake.

Choosing & changing cooking times

You'll need to choose an appropriate cooking time based on what type of food you're cooking and how big the portion size is.
Cooking is an art. You may need to cook things for longer or take them out sooner when things change.

Factors affecting cooking time

The size of what you're cooking affects how fast it cooks (this is linked to surface area: volume ratios). For example:
- Small chunks of diced chicken will be cooked through faster than a whole chicken breast.
- A thicker cut of lamb will take longer to cook than a thinner cut of lamb.
Some foods take longer to cook than other foods. For example:
- A pork fillet will take longer to cook than a fillet of fish.

How To Test If Food is Ready?

Techniques for testing if food is ready include:

Knife/skewer test

Technique - pierce foods like cakes with a knife or skewer. They're cooked if the knife/skewer is clean when you take it out.

Temperature probe test

Technique - pierce foods like meat with a temperature probe to check that they're hot enough.

Poke test

Technique - press on cakes. They're cooked if they bounce back.

Visual colour check

Technique - check the colour of baked goods like pastries. They should be golden brown once done.

Sound check

Technique - tap on a bread roll. You'll hear a hollow sound if baked through.

Bite test

Technique - taste foods like spaghetti or rice while cooking. You'll know they're cooked enough when they taste how you want them to.

Judge and Modify Sensory Properties

Techniques for judging and modifying sensory properties include:

Changing taste and aroma

Things you can use to change the flavour of food:
- Spices.
- Herbs.
- Salt
- Reduction.
- Pastes.
- Pepper.
- Infusions (e.g. herb infused oils).
- Jus (juices from cooked meats).

Changing the texture

Things you can add to change the texture of food:
- Crisp.
- Crust.
- Crumbs.
E.g. making goujons by coating chicken strips in breadcrumbs.

Changing the flavour

Browning - two processes that brown food are dextrinisation and caramelisation. You can also brown food surfaces using a blowtorch.
Glazing - you can brush foods with eggs to glaze them before cooking. The food will come out brown.

Presentation and food style

Garnishing - you can add a bit of colour or flavour by garnishing dishes.
- Examples - mint leaves, herbs like basil and coriander, edible flowers.
Piping - a decorative technique.
- Example - icing on a cake.

1Food Preparation Skills

1.1Food Preparation Skills

1.1.1General Practical Skills

1.1.2Knife Skills

1.1.3Preparing Fruit, Vegetables & Using Equipment

1.1.4Cooking Methods: Prepare, Shape & Combine

1.1.5Sauce Making, Tenderising & Marinating

1.1.6Dough & Pastry

1.1.7Shaping & Finishing Dough

1.1.8Raising Agents & Mixtures

1.1.9End of Topic Test - Food Preparation Skills 1

2Food, Nutrition & Health

2.1Macronutrients

2.1.1Proteins

2.1.2Proteins 2

2.1.3Fats

2.1.4Carbohydrates

2.1.5Carbohydrates 2

2.2Micronutrients

2.2.1Fat-Soluble Vitamins

2.2.2Water-Soluble Vitamins

2.2.3Minerals & Water

2.2.4Minerals & Water 2

2.2.5End of Topic Test - Macro & Micronutrients

2.3Nutritional Needs & Health

2.3.1Informed Choices for a Balanced Diet

2.3.2Informed Choices for a Balanced Diet 2

2.3.3Energy Needs

2.3.4Nutritional Analysis

2.3.5Diet Modifications

2.3.6Diet-Related Problems

2.3.7Diet-Related Problems 2

2.3.8End of Topic Test - Nutritional Needs & Health

3Food Science

3.1Cooking of Food & Heat Transfer

3.1.1Reasons for Cooking & Heat Transfer

3.1.2Water-Based Cooking Methods

3.1.3Fat-Based Cooking Methods

3.1.4Dry Cooking Methods

3.1.5Dry Cooking Methods 2

3.2Functional & Chemical Properties of Food

3.2.1Proteins & Carbohydrates

3.2.2Fats & Oils

3.2.3Raising Agents

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Food Science

4Food Safety

4.1Food Spoilage & Contamination

4.1.1Microorganisms & Signs of Food Spoilage

4.1.2Enzymes & Signs of Food Spoilage

4.1.3Food Poisoning

4.1.4Bacterial Contamination

4.1.5Microorganisms in Food Production

4.2Principles of Food Safety

4.2.1Temperature Control

4.2.2Ambient Foods & Food Labels

4.2.3Preparing, Cooking & Serving Food

4.2.4End of Topic Test - Food Safety

5Food Choice

5.1Factors Affecting Food Choice

5.1.1Factors Which Influence Food Choice

5.1.2Food Choices

5.1.3Religious Food Choices

5.1.4Food Labels

5.1.5Mandatory Food Labels

5.1.6Optional Food Labels

5.1.7Marketing Influences

5.1.8End of Topic Test - Food Choice

5.2British & International Cuisines

5.2.1British Cuisine

5.2.2Japanese Cuisine

5.2.3Japanese Ingredients & Dishes

5.2.4Spanish Cuisine

5.2.5Spanish Ingredients & Dishes

5.3Sensory Evaluation

5.3.1Taste Receptors & Olfactory Systems

5.3.2Sensory Testing Methods

5.3.3Sensory Testing Methods 2

5.3.4End of Topic Test - Cuisines & Senses

6Food Provenance

6.1Environmental Impact & Sustainability of Food

6.1.1Food Sources - Intensive & Organic Farming

6.1.2Food Sources - Genetically Modified Crops

6.1.3Food Sources - Reared Food

6.1.4Food Sources - Caught Food

6.1.5Food & The Environment

6.1.6Food & The Environment 2

6.1.7Sustainability of Food

6.1.8Sustainability of Food 2

6.1.9End of Topic Test - Environmental Impacts

6.2Food Processing & Production

6.2.1Primary Food Processing

6.2.2Primary Food Processing 2

6.2.3Secondary Food Processing

6.2.4Fortification

6.2.5Additives

6.2.6End of Topic Test - Food Processing & Production

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