Types Of Cooking Methods vary from Boiling to many other types such as baking, steaming, poaching, frying, saute, and many more. So before we go further let’s understand first what is cooking?
What do we mean by cooking?
- Cooking or preparing food is the art of food, diet, technology, science and preparing food for consumption Or
- Cooking is the art or practice of cooking using heat or cold. Or
- The cooking methods we are using in the kitchen to get the desired results. For example, you can eat a piece by boiling it or boiling it, but it will not give the desired result, which is probably a delicious brown crust with a pink inner layer.
Why cooking is done
- Cooking changes the taste, aroma and appearance of food
- Cooking makes food easier to digest.
- Cooking kills bacteria: Some foods cannot be served raw, like poultry.
Types Of Cooking Methods
BAKING
This involves adding a dry convection heat to your food in an enclosed environment. The dry heat involved in the baking process makes the outside of the food go brown and holds the moisture locked in. Baking is often used for preparing pastries, cookies and desserts.
FRYING
This means cooking your food in fat. Frying is one of the quickest ways to cook food, with temperatures typically reaching between 175 – 225ºC. There are several variations of frying:
- Deep-frying, where the food is completely immersed in hot oil • Stir-frying, where you fry the food very quickly on high heat in an oiled pan
- Pan-frying, where food is cooked in a frying pan with oil;
- Sauteing, where the food is browned on one side and then the other with a small quantity of fat or oil.
ROASTING
Roasting is basically a high heat form of baking, where your food gets drier and browner on the outside by initial exposure to a temperature of over 500F. This prevents most of the moisture from being cooked out of the food. The temperature is then lowered to between 425 and 450F to cook through the meat or vegetables.
GRILLING
This is a fast, dry, and very hot way of cooking, where the food is placed under intense radiant heat. You can use various sources of heat for grilling: wood-burning, coals, gas flame, or electric heating. Before grilling, food can be marinated or seasoned. A similar method to grilling is broiling, where the heat source originates from the top instead of the bottom.
STEAMING
This means cooking the food over boiling water in water vapour. For this, a steamer, consisting of a vessel with a perforated bottom mounted on top of containing water, is convenient to have. When the water heats, steam rises, heating the food in the perforated vessel above.
POACHING
It requires a small volume of hot liquid, preferably at 160-180F temperatures. The cooking liquid is usually water but you can use broth, stock, milk, or juice as well. Common poached foods include fish, eggs, and fruit.
STEAMING
It involves cooking liquid in a bowl or saucepan on top of a stove. This should be done at low heat, and when your dish cooks, you’ll see bubbles forming on the liquid surface.
BROILING
Same as grilling, the source of heat comes directly from above. You should be able to change your oven setting to broiling, but be careful as this method of cooking works quickly and your meal may easily get burned. Chicken, beef, and shrimp are favorite dishes for broiling.
BLANCHING
Here the food is partially cooked, then submerged immediately in ice-cold water to avoid the cooking process. We will blanch all sorts of vegetables, including green beans, asparagus, and potatoes. BRAISING The food is sauteed or Seared first, then cooked in liquid for a long time until tender.
STEWED
The food is sauteed or seared first and then cooked in liquid, but normally uses smaller ingredients such as chopped meats or vegetables. Pot roasts, stews, and casseroles can be cooked in this way if they contain larger food items such as poultry legs.