Understanding All Types of Cooking

Humans have come a long way since we discovered cooking our food was a good idea. We've gone from sticking hunks of dead animal in a fire to crafting recipes of layered pastries and jellies and caramelized sugars complicated enough to have schools dedicated to their craft. Cooking food breaks down its structure and makes it easier for our bodies to process and absorb vital nutrients, but cooking does more for us than that. Meals have become an expression of community, an act of sharing, and a momentary joy in the midst of a hectic, stressful world. In the modern world, cuisines from all corners of the globe are available in most cities as aspects of different cultures are shared.

Heat Over Time

Cooking, in its most basic definition, is the application of heat to food over time. The differences between each method – and the artistry ¬– are found in exactly how much heat we use over what period of time. Heat takes time to transfer between the source and the food regardless of how hot you turn the stove eye. High temperatures cook the outside of food much more quickly than the inside. This is how you end up with bread with a crust or a steak that has a seared exterior and a juicy red interior.

• High temperatures create a greater differential between the outside and inside of the food.
• Low-temperature cooking creates a more uniform exterior and interior.

This difference in temperature determines how your food looks once it's cooked. Specific temperatures are vital in achieving a desired result: If the temperature is too hot, the outside will burn before the inside is cooked, but if it's too low, food can end up soggy or tough before it's cooked all the way. Some foods have to be cooked to a certain temperature to kill potentially harmful microorganisms that live inside them, while others are cooked to change their original texture or flavor to something more palatable.

Dry or Wet Heat

The many different cooking types, from grilling and roasting to braising and boiling, can be divided into two major categories: dry and wet. Dry cooking refers to any style that doesn't use water, including deep frying food in liquid fat. Wet heat, of course, refers to heat transferred through water, whether that be steam or direct contact with water. Dry and wet heat produce very different results because dry heat can reach significantly higher temperatures than liquid water. Once water reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit, it becomes steam and escapes, meaning the maximum temperature you can get at any point is close to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Pressure cooking stretches this number somewhat, but wet cooking can't reach the 300- to 400-degree mark that dry cooking frequently does. The differences in cooking styles enable chefs to prepare the huge variety of foods that we enjoy today.

Wet Heat Cooking

Wet heat cooking methods include boiling, steaming, braising, poaching, and simmering. These utilize water as a medium to transmit heat to the food, which cooks efficiently without getting a crisp or seared exterior. Because of the method's relatively low temperature (212 degrees compared to more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit in dry cooking), the interior and exterior of foods cooked with wet heat are usually similar. We'll go over the different types of wet cooking below.

What is boiling?

Boiling refers to submerging food in boiling water, which transfers heat from the water – or other water-based liquid, such as wine or broth – into the food. Water holds incredible amounts of heat and transfers that heat into cooking food very efficiently, which makes boiling a simple and fast way to cook certain items. Boiling water constantly churns, with bubbles roiling across the surface, and as such is not a good way to cook delicate foods. Boiling transfers massive amounts of heat rapidly, making it great for cooking tough or dense items quickly. Because of the high amount of heat in boiling water, boiling can result in a tough exterior before the inside of the food can be completely cooked.

What is steaming?

Steaming is very similar to boiling, but instead of food being submerged in boiling water, it is placed above boiling water and cooked with the steam that rises off of it. Steaming is a gentler process that cooks more slowly as the heat from the boiling water dissipates into the air around the food. Because there are no roiling bubbles like in boiling, steaming is great for delicate food items, including vegetables, doughs, and proteins such as fish. Steamed food retains more of its natural qualities than food prepared with most other cooking styles. Steamed vegetables retain more nutrients¹ than with many other types of cooking, which has made steaming the method of choice for health-conscious diners.

What is poaching?

Poaching is very similar to boiling, except the water has not yet reached boiling temperatures. Poaching is performed by submerging food in water that is held between 160 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit.² This provides a similar result to boiling without the violent movements that can destroy delicate foods, such as eggs. Water still imparts the intense heat but without the harshness of boiling water.

What is simmering?

Simmering is the middle point of wet heat cooking between poaching and boiling. Unlike poaching, simmering reaches a high enough temperature to break down the connective tissue in proteins. Often, chefs will simmer food in a broth, stock, or even wine. Simmering imparts the flavor of the liquid as it cooks the food, enabling chefs to create intricate flavor combinations. Rice is usually cooked at simmering temperatures, as well. Simmering is achieved by bringing the water to a full rolling boil and then lowering the temperature until there are only a few tiny bubbles rising intermittently.

What is braising?

Braising combines simmering and steaming in one method. Usually, large cuts of meat are braised in a stock, wine, or their own juices with a small amount of liquid in the bottom of a pan covered by a lid to keep the steamed liquid inside. Braising attempts to hit a middle point of heat that tenderizes meat without overcooking it and making it tough again. When braising meat, many chefs prefer to sear the outside of the meat first to achieve a browned outer crust that helps develop the flavor of the meat, especially if you sear it in some type of fat.³

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Dry Heat Cooking

In wet heat cooking, all the heat is transferred through water, whether that be in a broth, steam, or just the liquid itself. In dry heat cooking, food is cooked by heat transferred through air, metal, fat, or radiation.⁴ All of these methods can reach higher temperatures than wet heat cooking. This makes dry heat cooking the best method for achieving textured exteriors, such as the crust on bread or the browning on meat.

All heat transfer works from the outside in, but the high temperatures of dry cooking will cause the exterior to cook much more quickly than the interior. High temperatures create different textures more effectively than the relatively low temperatures of wet cooking. The crispy outside on fried chicken and the grill marks on a steak are the result of this inside/outside disparity. Dry heat cooking also runs the risk of drying your food out, so chefs have to take steps such as basting a food with fats to prevent this. We'll discuss many of the popular dry heat types of cooking below.

What is baking?

Baking is a cooking method in which heat is transferred through the air inside a closed baking cavity – usually an oven. Baking is the main method for preparing a wide range of doughs. The high temperatures of an oven can create a distinct crust while also cooking the center of dough. Air does not transfer heat as efficiently as water does, and unless you use a convection oven, baking can result in hot and cold spots that create an unevenly finished product. Baking can be used for any number of other foods, but there is always a risk of the food drying out because there is no moisture in the oven to keep it moist.

What is roasting?

Roasting is very similar to baking in that the heat source radiates warmth into the air of an oven, which then transmits the heat into the food. In the roasting process, food is first basted with a fat or oil that gives it flavor while preventing it from drying out as much as it would in standard baking. Chicken is often roasted in a rotisserie oven, which roasts multiple pieces of meat slowly. Even slow radiant heat will crisp the outside of protein in a way wet cooking does not.

What is grilling?

Grilling is the application of intense heat to food – usually meat – from below over a short period of time. Grilling is often done with an open flame from any source, though gas or charcoal are the most common. This high-temperature, short-duration cooking method leaves the outside of a piece of meat textured while the inside remains moist and tender. Grilling on a slatted grill leaves distinctive lines on the finished product that diners find appealing – so appealing that chefs will fake the marks to give their steaks the right look.

A flat, seamless grilling surface is called a griddle. The terminology is iffy, but most commonly you'll hear that griddles grill food since they apply intense heat from below.

What is broiling?

Broiling is grilling from above and is usually done in an oven or underneath a salamander broiler. Broiling is often used as a finishing technique for already cooked foods since the great disparity in heat can end up with a burnt top before the inside is safe to eat. Broiling is not employed as widely as baking or grilling, but it can produce distinct, interesting, and appealing foods when used properly.

Toasters are a style of broiler that uses radiant heat to create a crust on the outside of the bread quickly without cooking the inside.

What is frying?

Frying is cooking food with some sort of fat or oil. Deep-frying involves submerging the food in the oil, while pan-frying uses less oil and does not submerge the food. While cooking oil is a liquid, it does not contain water and is classified as dry heat cooking. Frying oil also gets much hotter than wet cooking methods, producing some of the same characteristics as other dry cooking methods: a crusted, crispy exterior and a tender interior. Overfrying can lead to oily, soggy food, while underfrying can produce unsafe, uncooked products.

What is stir-frying?

Stir-frying also uses oil to transmit heat into the food, but it does not utilize nearly as much oil as deep-frying. Instead of submerging the food, stir-frying uses a bit of oil in the bottom of a pan, with food placed into the oil to cook. Stir-frying is usually a quick, high-heat process that produces pleasantly contrasting textures on food and imparts the flavor of whatever oil mixture is used as the cooking base. Stir-frying does not require expensive specialized equipment, either. A stir-fry pan or wok and commercial range are all you need to use this cooking style. Stir-frying is the same as sauteing.

What is searing?

Searing is usually part of other dry cooking methods. In grilling and broiling, searing refers to sudden, high-temperature cooking of the outside of a piece of food. Most commonly used in meats, searing leaves a brown crust on the outside of the protein that is very flavorful and provides textural contrast to the rest of the cut.

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How Do Microwaves Cook?

Microwave ovens cook by generating microwaves, which are a form of electromagnetic radiation. Microwaves cause water molecules to vibrate, which generates heat through friction to cook food. Microwaves are particularly useful for cooking because they are reflected by metal and pass through glass, paper, and plastic before being absorbed by food. These properties enable us to trap microwaves inside the cavity of a microwave oven and heat food efficiently and quickly. There is a common misconception that microwaves cook food from the inside out, but microwaves are absorbed by water molecules on the surface of food and do not reach the center. Instead, the heat created on the exterior of the food cooks down into the center of the food.

Microwaves create different results than other forms of cooking, so we've classified it differently from dry cooking. Microwave cooking is often combined with other styles, such as in a speed oven, to take advantage of the benefits of both.

Different Types of Cooking

Creative chefs are constantly innovating these basic cooking types. By combining them in interesting ways, chefs can create unique, interesting takes on traditional food items or even create something completely new. There are a few things to remember when deciding where to start creating your recipes:

• Cooking slowly at low temperatures will result in a more uniform interior and exterior.
• High temperatures and short cooking times yield a very different texture outside and inside.
• Wet cooking won't dry your food out as quickly as dry cooking but can still result in tough, dry food if cooked too long.

Sources

1. Cooking Affects Nutrient Content. Healthline. Accessed January 2021.
2. Moist Heat Cooking Methods. The Spruce Eats. Accessed January 2021.
3. Braising and Stewing. The Spruce Eats. Accessed January 2021.
4. Cooking with Dry Heat. UnlockFood CA. Accessed January 2021.