Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I think what she's saying is to get all over the bottom of the pan so the sauce doesn't stick. Of course figure eights doesn't do much better than around and around unless you turn the pan so the eight is in different places as you turn. I teach my granddaughters to do circles and also go back and forth in both directions when sticking is an issue.

Your first problem is you are watching RR. Your second problem is you have told us that!

I usually run for the remote the second I hear her voice - her yelling and baby talk get under my skin. Today, I caught the last few minutes of her show and the menu was really interesting and she wasn't screaming - maybe she is toning down her act? She made a broth with saffron that she added to spaghetti carbonara, she was cooking scallops that had sesame seeds and herbs as a side crust and she seared them and put over a fennel and orange salad. I was intrigued by the broth and didn't yell at the tv even once. Miracles happen!

Regarding Joan's question - I agree with Blue Iris. It's a method to keep food from sticking, but you need to rotate so every square inch is scraped while stirring constantly.

@love2cook ~ no meanies here. RR is hard to love if you are serious about food and cooking.

izatryt is absabloominlutely NOT a meanie in my humble estimation. Daily, she makes me smile and sometimes LOL out loud. I wuv her.

@izatryt ~ ******whispering.......how's that?????******

don't worry iz- i love your posts :)

rr is fluf we all need a little fluff-i agree her voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

@Joeanpieroni2...

Like the planetary motion of a stand mixer... e.g. a kitchen-aid...the figure eight motion is more efficient at breaking up clumps and mixing the ingredients together. It also moves ingredients from the side of the bowl to the center to better integrate everything....as opposed to simply stirring in a singular circle.

I remember in Junior High Home Ec class being taught to do a "figure 8" when mixing pancake batter to avoid flour clumps. Also, Look through vintage cook books you'll see this technique...many times as a little HINT in the margin next to the recipe.

I realize that with whisks, silicon spatulas, and all the other accouterments of our modern kitchens this seems like a very simplistic technique. Personally, when I make cheese sauce en masse I use my kitchen aid with the hot water bath....

However, The RR audiences of today.....were the betty crocker/better homes & garden housewives of yesterday. While I don't like her or watch her, I realize that she is the only Home Ec class some latch-key kids will ever get.

It does put her into perspective though....She's teaching culinary techniques that in 1983 was taught to this then 7th grader!