to cook evenly
2
2.5
- phrasal verb
:
cocinar uniformemente
- Make sure to stir the sauce regularly so it cooks evenly without burning.
- vegetables cook evenly
- rice cooks evenly
Examples
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If you want the cookies to cook evenly, space them apart on the baking sheet.
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I've also started roasting my birds breast-side down and turning it partway through; it helps make sure it cooks evenly and crisps the skin on the bottom, too.
Blog text (27) -
Get them the same circumference; that way, they cook evenly.
Fiction book (1991) -
Shirley, what we like to do is we get just enough chicken in there so that it's not too much, so that it all cooks evenly, OK?
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The technique of cooking them in milk and then placing them in the baking dish makes them cook evenly; the herbs took it over the top.
Blog text (20) -
They're sliced evenly, they're cooked evenly.
-
To ensure the steak cooks evenly, let it sit at room temperature before grilling.
How Even
2
2.5
8
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'cook' (prepare food by heating) with 'evenly' (in an equal, balanced way); together they mean to heat all parts at the same rate. This is a regular verb + adverb composition found across languages and follows a common English modifier pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Cook evenly comes from the simple idea that the word cook means to heat food and evenly means 'the same on every part'. Cooks spread food in a single layer or turn a roast so every piece gets the same heat, so the phrase means 'no undercooked or overcooked areas'.