Cooking Methods,

1
Cooking Methods,
terminology
and how food cooks
2
You cook food because

• Cooking kills bacteria Some foods cannot be
  served raw, like poultry.
• Cooking makes food easier to digest.
• Cooking changes the taste, aroma and appearance
  of food.

3
Food is made up of

• Water, which evaporates when cooked.
• Fats, which melt when cooked.
• Proteins, which coagulate, or become firmer when
  cooked.
• Nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals which
  are destroyed by cooking.
• Carbohydrates
• sugars, which caramelize or become
  brown when cooked.
• starches, which gelatinize or absorb
  water and swell when cooked.

4
Heat transfer

• Heat travels to food from its source in a number
  of ways
• Convection which means currents of air, steam,
  water or fat carry the heat to food.
• Like when currents of hot air heat the food in
  an oven.
• Conduction which means something hot touches the
  food. Like when a steak is cooked in a hot
  frying pan.
• Radiation which means heat radiates from a heat
  source to the food. Like when heat radiates from
  the coals on a barbeque to the food.

5
Cooking methods

• Cooking methods are the techniques we use in the
  kitchen to get the results we want. For example,
  you could boil a steak but that would not get the
  result you want, which is probably a brown tasty
  crust with a pink interior.
• Cooking methods are classified as either
• Dry heat methods, which means no moisture is
  added
• Moist heat methods, which involve either water or
  steam
• Combination methods, which involve dry heat and
  then a moist heat.

6
Dry heat methods

• Dry heat methods mean cooking without any water
  or steam, although some kind of cooking oil is
  often used. Dry heat methods are for foods which
  are naturally tender.
• Sauteeing which means to toss quickly in a pan
  with very little fat and a fairly high heat.
• Pan frying which means to cook in a moderate
  amount of fat over a moderate heat. Usually
  breaded foods like cutlets are pan fried.
• Deep frying which means to submerge something
  completely in cooking oil, like french fries

7
Dry heat methods

• Pan broiling which means to cook something in a
  pan with no added fat.
• Roasting or baking which means to cook by
  exposing food to hot, dry air in an oven.
• Griddling which means to cook food on a flat, hot
  surface. This is very common because a griddle
  can cook many foods quickly.
• Grilling which means to cook food on metal bars
  over radiant heat.
• Barbequing is almost the same as grilling except
  that the food is cooked over glowing charcoal or
  wood coals.

8
Moist heat methods

• Moist heat methods mean cooking food in water or
  steam.
• Poaching, which means to cook food in water that
  is hot but not bubbling. Usually tender,
  delicate foods.
• Simmering means to cook in water that is bubbling
  very gently. Usually used for things that need
  to cook for a long time.
• Boiling means to cook in water that is bubbling
  rapidly.
• Steaming means to cook by exposing food to steam.

9
Combination methods

• Combination methods mean cooking food using first
  a dry heat and then with liquid or steam.
• Braising means to brown the surface of a food and
  then cook it covered with moisture added.
• An example would be pot roast.
• Stewing means exactly the same thing except that
  the food is cut into bite size pieces before
  cooking. An example is stew.
• Combination methods are used to tenderize tough
  cuts of meat.

10
Cooking terms

• Reduce means to simmer a liquid so some of it
  evaporates. This concentrates the flavors.
• Parcook means to partly cook food.
• Parboil means to partly cook by boiling.
• Parbake means to partly cook by baking.
• Blanch is to partly cook by boiling or steaming.
• Glaze means to add a shine to the food.
• Deglaze means to swirl a liquid in a pan to
  dissolve cooked particles of food.
• Sweat means to cook in fat over low heat.
• Sear means to brown the surface of a food
  quickly, usually by sauteeing or pan broiling.
• Season means to enhance the natural flavors.
• Flavor means to add a new taste to food.