Introduction
The revolution in cooking has resulted in a huge evolution of cooking techniques. Cooking has been practiced throughout history since ancient times. Previously, an ancient man consumed only raw food; nevertheless, once, a piece of flesh fell into the fire and was roasted (Harold 6). The man ate the portion and declared it delicious. Thus, the cooking process began and evolved. Cooking food is critical because it facilitates digestion, enhances the appearance, flavor, color, texture. In addition, cooking adds taste of the food diversity to the meal, thus the food stays fresher and lasts longer.
Cooking also requires an understanding of products and equipment and the ability to plan and organize meal preparation within time limits. Not to mention that traditional cooking techniques are more superior and healthier than newer ones such as microwave cooking (Harold 4). There are numerous cooking techniques such as boiling and steaming, the majority of which date back to ancient. Microwaving is a more recent innovation (Harold 784). Various methods employ varying degrees of heat and moisture and require varying amounts of time to cook. The method used significantly impacts the overall result, as certain foods are more suited to certain processes than others.
Cooking Techniques
Cooking is the art of preparing food for consumption, most typically by the use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary significantly across the globe, reflecting distinct climatic zones, economic conditions, cultural traditions, and trends (Harold 777). Cooking techniques also vary according to an individual’s skill level and type of training. Conduction, convection, and radiation all contribute to the transfer of heat to the food during cooking (Harold 782). The method of cooking is determined by the way heat is applied to the meal. Certain foods, such as leafy greens such as spinach and fenugreek, contain high moisture. These foods are prepared in a way that takes advantage of this moisture. However, rice, wheat, and pulses have a low moisture content; they are cooked with more water (moisture) (Mwale et al. 1056). There are additional methods of cooking that do not require any water; in fact, these methods assist the food to remain crisp after completion. As a result, cooking techniques are classed as either moist heat, dry heat, or frying.
Classification of Cooking Methods
Cooking by Moist Heat
Moist-heat cooking refers to cooking that uses watery substances as the primary cooking medium. The liquid is used for cooking food in moist heat (Bernhardt, Simone, and Elmar 328). The medium used during moist cooking include coconut cream, water or oil. Usually, the above liquids are included in cooked food or heated before the addition is done. Moist-heat cooking involves cooking at a lower temperature, often between 140 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit (which is, of course, the point at which water boils) (Lobefaro et al. 100381). In this research, we will discuss steaming, blanching, and boiling, as braising and poaching are often utilized for meat and fish preparation. This method includes submerging meals in boiling liquid or exposing them to steam to cook them. This highlights the food’s natural flavor and aroma. It is critical to understand the many forms of moist cooking to determine the most appropriate approach for a particular dish. Steaming, boiling, blanching, simmering, and poaching are all moist-heat cooking methods.
Cooking by Dry Heat
Dry heat cooking methods do not require the use of water to cook the meal. The meal is let to dry and then cooked using heat. In order for food to cook, it must either be heated in its juice or heated in a liquid that was added to it during cooking and evaporated, cooking the food. In fact, dry-heat cooking refers to any method of cooking that uses hot air, hot metal, a flame, or hot fat to transport heat to the meal without the need for moisture. Fat is an excellent medium for cooking on low heat (Mwale et al. 1056). At first, glance, because the fat in a deep fryer is liquid, it appears to be moist-heat cooking. Bear in mind that dry-heat cooking brown foods, whereas moist-heat cooking does not. As a result, it’s easy to see why fat is considered a dry-heat method, as dishes cooked in fat drippings turn golden and crispy when prepared correctly.
Broiling, baking, roasting, grilling, pan-broiling, griddling, sautéing, pan-frying, and deep-frying is examples of dry-heat cooking methods. The ideal meats for dry cooking are extremely soft, have little connective tissue, and be served medium-rare.
Moist Heat Cooking Techniques
Braising and Stewing
Searing or sautéing the food before partially covering it with liquid and simmering at a moderate temperature is the first step in braising. With braising, food cooks more evenly because heat is uniformly distributed throughout the pot, making it possible to cook it on the stovetop or in an oven (Mwale et al. 1056). Briskets from older animals or those with a larger percentage of connective tissue might benefit from being braise-cooked. The procedure is more widely utilized in current food preparation methods than in traditional ways. Braising technique is commonly used to cook modern foods as they require uniform distribution of heat.
Poaching
In poaching, food is immersed in a liquid such as wine, stock, or water and cooked at a low temperature. Poaching is distinguished from other “wet heat” cooking techniques, such as simmering and boiling, by its low temperature (about 160–180 °F (71–82 °C)) (Mwale et al. 1056). This temperature range is ideal for delicate foods like eggs, poultry, fish, and fruit, which can easily fall apart or dry out when cooked in other ways. Poaching is frequently seen as a healthy cooking method due to the absence of fat in the cooking and flavoring process (Roncero-Ramos et al. 294). Poaching is a simple way of cooking that requires no extra equipment and so saves fuel. Poached foods are easily digestible due to the absence of fat.
Simmering
Simmering is a cooking method in which food is cooked at temperatures between 180°F and 205°F. When a chef looks at the water, he or she will see bubbles forming and slowly rising to the top, but the water is not yet boiling over. Simmered food cooks pretty evenly since it is surrounded by water that keeps a reasonably constant temperature (Harold 784). It is the classic method for making stocks and soups, as well as starchy foods like potatoes or pasta dishes. The downside of simmering is that it leaches vitamins and other nutrients from the food into the cooking liquid. It is a fantastic choice for a variety of culinary preparations, including as stocks or soups, starchy things like potatoes or pasta, and many more. One disadvantage of this method of cooking is that it might lead the food to lose vitamins due to high temperatures of cooking involved.
Steaming
Steaming is a cooking method that involves exposing food to steam in a pressured steam cooker or heating it in a securely covered pan or other container. When cooking delicate foods like veggies, steaming is best. The cover of the pan traps the steam, creating a hot, moist atmosphere in which the food may cook. Steaming is not only wonderful for light meals like steamed pieces of bread, but it also helps maintain nutrients. When water is heated over 212°F, it ceases to be water and becomes steam (Harold 785). Steaming is quite gentle in physical agitation, making it perfect for preparing shellfish and other delicate things.
Additionally, it offers the significance of cooking faster while reducing nutrient loss that may be caused by high temperature ranges. Interestingly, like water, steam has a maximum temperature of 212°F (Roncero-Ramos et al. 290). Unlike water, however, steam can be compelled to surpass this natural temperature limit through the use of pressurization (Harold 786). When the pressure is increased, the steam grows hotter with time. However, since cooking with pressured steam needs specialized equipment, the ordinary home chef would not use it. The steps involved in steaming include:
- In the bottom section of a steamer, let the water boil.
- Arrange veggies in a steamer or perforated pan large enough to fit on top of a double boiler.
- Lid and steam until the vegetables are soft. Leave the lid slightly ajar if the vegetables are green to help keep their color.
Dry heat cooking method
Roasting and Baking
While roasting is comparable to baking, the technique is more commonly associated with meat and poultry. Roasting food is usually doused in oil or other fluids to prevent it from drying out during cooking as opposed to baking. Roasting and baking are virtually synonymous. Both terms refer to a method of cooking an item by surrounding it in hot, dry air, typically inside an oven at temperatures of at least 300°F (but often much hotter) (Harold 784). This method cooks food pretty evenly, as all of the food’s surfaces are exposed to approximately the same amount of heat. This is in contrast to pan-searing, in which the surface that comes into contact with the hot pan becomes significantly hotter than the side that faces up.
Both roasting and baking require that the food is cooked uncovered so that the heat is provided by hot, dry air rather than steam from the food. Despite these similarities, roasting and baking might signify slightly different things to different people (Lobefaro et al. 100381). Certain chefs reserve the term “baking” for bread, pastry, and other bakery dishes. Some people use the phrase “roasting” exclusively to refer to meats, poultry, and vegetables, but “baking” refers to fish and other seafood (Harold 784). Another contrast is possible in terms of temperature, with “roasting,” meaning increased heat and thus a more rapid and dramatic browning.
Broiling and Grilling
Broiling is a way of cooking that is very similar to grilling but is done in the oven. Broiling is the process of bringing food very close to an intense heat source to cook it quickly at a high temperature. Broiling is another type of dry-heat cooking that relies on heat conduction via the air (Harold 783). Broiling, similar to grilling, can also be done in the oven as a low-fat, direct-heat cooking method. Due to the fact that air is a poor conductor of heat, broiling and grilling require the food to be extremely close to the heat source, which is most frequently an open flame. Grilling is a quick and healthful form of cooking that preserves vitamins and minerals. As a result, the food’s surface cooks quickly, making this cooking method suitable for chicken, fish, and tender pieces of meat.
Essentially, because this way of cooking is exceedingly hot and dry, it is normal to marinade foods that will be broiled or grilled. Usually, there is one crucial difference between broiling and grilling: grilling entails heating the meal below, and broiling requires heating the food from above (Harold 783). In both circumstances, the food is normally flipped once while cooking, and a grid or grate of some form is utilized to impart the distinctive grill marks characteristic of this cooking method. As with sautéing, preheating the broiler or grill prior to placing the food on it is crucial.
Deep-Frying
Another common form of cooking is the deep-fat frying technique. As strange as it may sound, deep frying is not a moist-heat approach but a dry-heat method. The temperature difference between deep frying and boiling is significant. Boiling water temperatures must never exceed 100C (212F), although deep frying temps can reach 200C. (400F) (Harold 784). These high temperatures enable the product to cook more quickly and to brown. Because deep-frying entails completely immersing the meal in hot, liquid oil, it may take some time to adjust to the fact that it is essentially a sort of dry-heat cooking (Harold 786). However, if one has ever witnessed the dramatic reaction of heated oil to even a tiny drop of water, they know that oil and water are opposed. The chef should ensure that anything they set in the hot fat is completely dry to avoid this. This may require patting an object dry with a paper towel prior to cooking.
Deep-frying needs maintaining an oil temperature of 325°F to 400°F. If the oil gets any hotter than that, it may begin to smoke, and if it gets any cooler, it begins to seep into the food, causing it to get greasy. Deep-fried products should have very little oil on them after cooking, providing they were cooked properly (Harold 786). The trick to maintaining a hot oil temperature is to fry stuff in tiny batches, as adding too much food to the oil can cause it to cool. Another indicator that deep-frying is a sort of dry-heat cooking is the delicious golden-brown hue of items prepared this way. Frequently, foods are covered in a basic batter to protect them and retain their moisture.
Pan-frying
Pan-frying is a cooking technique that involves cooking food in an uncovered pan with a small amount of fat. It is comparable to sautéing but requires more fat and frequently lower heat. Pan-frying is a quick and easy cooking method comparable to frying but without the fat; it is sometimes referred to as sautéing (Harold 786). To achieve the greatest results, choose beef cuts that are 3/8′′ to 1/2′′ thick. Season the meat with salt and pepper while heating a skillet to medium-high heat for a 1/2-inch thick or less cut. Cook the meat in batches, flipping occasionally, but do not cover the skillet during the cooking process.
As a cooking method, pan-frying relies on oil/fat as a heat transfer medium and on the proper temperature and timing to avoid overcooking or burning the food. Pan-frying can help preserve the moisture in meals like meats, fish, and seafood (Harold 786). Due to the partial covers, food is usually flipped at least once to guarantee even cooking on both sides. A pan-fry cooks lower than a sauté (Bernhardt, Simone, and Elmar 330). This is because the food to be pan-fried is not sliced into little pieces before cooking, such as chicken breasts, steak, pork chops, or fish fillets. Pan-frying demands a lower heat to prevent the exterior of the dish from overcooking before the interior reaches the right temperature, and it can help retain moisture in foods (Harold 786). The same amount of oil as in a sauté – just enough to coat the pan – is used in a pan fry, but the temperature should be reduced. The oil should constantly be heated enough to allow steam to escape from the food. Steam’s power prevents the oil from soaking into the meal.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are various cooking techniques categorized as either moist cooking or dry cooking techniques. In a review, the paper has demonstrated that moist cooking techniques include steaming, boiling, blanching, simmering, and poaching. Moist-heat cooking involves cooking at a lower temperature, often between 140 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit (which is, of course, the point at which water boils). On the other hand, dry cooking techniques entail broiling, baking, roasting, grilling, pan-broiling, griddling, sautéing, pan-frying, and deep-frying are all examples of dry-heat cooking methods. The ideal meats for dry cooking are extremely soft, have little connective tissue, and be served medium-rare.
Works Cited
Bernhardt, Simone, and Elmar Schlich. “Impact of different cooking methods on food quality: Retention of lipophilic vitamins in fresh and frozen vegetables.” Journal of Food Engineering 77.2 (2018): 327-333. Web.
Harold, McGee. “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.” Scribner, New York, NY, USA, 2004.
Lobefaro, Sabrina, et al. “Cooking techniques and nutritional quality of food: A comparison between traditional and innovative ways of cooking.” International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 25 (2021): 100381.
Mwale, Tasila, Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman, and Debapriya Mondal. “Risk and benefit of different cooking methods on essential elements and arsenic in rice.” International journal of environmental research and public health 15.6 (2018): 1056. Web.
Roncero-Ramos, Irene, et al. “Effect of different cooking methods on cultivated mushrooms’ nutritional value and antioxidant activity.” International journal of food sciences and nutrition 68.3 (2017): 287-297.