baste

An act of basting is when you moisten or coat food with its own juices while cooking. You do this often when roasting a big piece of meat like a turkey.

Basting is an essential step when cooking certain foods, especially bigger cuts of meat that take a long time to cook through. For example, if you're making a roasted chicken or beef, it's common to baste it every 20-30 minutes as it cooks in the oven. This means you use a spoon to pour some juices over the surface of the meat. The purpose is to keep the food moist and help it stay tender on the outside while staying juicy on the inside. Sometimes people also baste vegetables or potatoes to prevent them from drying out during cooking. When using the word 'baste', don't get confused with the verb "to bust", which means to break apart violently, or even a less common usage of 'baste' in sewing as an old-fashioned term for a type of stitching, it's mostly about food and moisture.