Fat Chef

Posted on Monday, November 1st, 2010 at 4:49 am

Fat Chef

4 Of The Most Common Cooking Methods Explained by Erin Brown

If you are preparing any kind of meals from a recipe, it's important that you understand the various methods of cooking. There are a number of terms for different ways of cooking, as follow.

Grilled

If a recipe calls for something to be grilled, it generally means it should be cooked over an open flame or heat. Grilling can be done by charcoal or gas - on a barbeque for example - or it can be done using a grill of some sort on the burners of your stove.

Broiled

Broiling indicates cooking by exposing directly to a heat source such as a flame or element. Most ovens have a "broil" setting, which heats an element at the top of the stove rather than the one at the bottom, which is used for baking.

When broiling items in the oven, they should normally be placed on the top rack to give them the proper heat exposure.

Frying vs Deep Frying

Both frying and deep-frying cook foods with a similar process, but the method is a little different in each case. Frying can be done over any heat source, such as a stove element or an open flame. Oil or butter is heated and the food is cooked by its heat.

Deep frying, on the other hand, also involves oil but in this case the food is completely submerged in the oil. Deep frying is used for foods such as french fries, breaded chicken and doughnuts. It can be dangerious, however, because you're dealing with boiling oil so proper equipment and safety precautions must be used.

Sauteing

Sauteing involved cooking food quickly in a small amount of fat. It is similar in process to frying, but because of the smaller amount of fat and faster cooking times, it brings out stronger flavors than frying will.

Knowing what is involved with the various terms will make it easier to plan when following a recipe. You'll know what equipment and ingredients you'll need that are unique to each method.

Erin Brown writes about how to become a chef and other cooking-related topics on the Cooking Parlor website. For more helpful information, visit http://www.cookingparlor.com

Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/4-Of-The-Most-Common-Cooking-Methods-Explained/100929