Cooking is a lot fun! Well, I don’t know about you, but nothing gets me as excited as cooking.
Do you know that there are different ways you can make your food? You will be surprised to learn the different types of cooking method I have covered in this article.
If you are used to one particular way of cooking and will be willing to try other methods, then this article is for you.
16 Popular Types of Cooking Methods
Are you ready to change up your cooking style? These 16 methods will help you understand other ways you can make your food. Let’s look at them:
| Cooking methods | Popular application |
| Boiling | Eggs, teas, rice, meat, corn, soups, pasta, vegetables. |
| Roasting | Meat, fish, chicken, turkey, vegetables. |
| Baking | Bread, cake, cookies, meat, nuts, pizza, pastries. |
| Grilling | Seafood, meat, chicken, fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables |
| Broiling | Seafood, meats, fruit, vegetables, poultry |
| Frying | Chicken, meat, hot dog, samosa, spring rolls, chips, plantains |
| Braising | Meat, vegetables |
| Steaming | Vegetables, pork or beef, fish dumplings, seafood, tamales |
| Simmering | Rice, eggs, meat, vegetables, grains, pasta, legumes, beans |
| Poaching | Eggs, fish, vegetables, grains, poultry, fruit |
| Blanching | Vegetables |
| Sautéing | Veggies, meat and poultry |
| Stir-frying | Fried rice, noodles, chicken, fish, meat, beans |
| Air Frying | Chips, chicken, meat, french fries, bacon, bread, cakes |
| Pressure Cooking | Stews, red and black beans, pasta, meat |
| Slow Cooking | Chicken, beef, meat, vegetables, stew, soup, roast |
1. Boiling
Boiling is by far one of the popular methods of Cooking. With this method, a beginner in cooking can have something ready to cook in minutes. Boiling involves submerging your ingredients in a pot of water, milk, stock, or bouillon and allow it to cook. Preferably, you can add the ingredients to already boiling water. The temperature of the water should be about 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Foods that I use boiling methods the most includes eggs, teas, rice, meat, corn, soups, pasta and some root vegetables.
2. Roasting
There are some arguments that roasting and baking are the same thing. While they may share some similarities, they still have their various peculiarities. Roasting can be done in different ways. Here are 2 major ways:
a. Oven roasting
In this instance, the roasting is done in an oven. You place whatever you want to roast, which in most cases is usually meat and chicken in the oven tray. Before placing your meat or chicken in an oven to roast, it’s important you first spice it and allow it to marinate. Then place it in the oven tray, sprinkle some oil on it and set the cooking time and temperature to cook. If your oven comes with a rotisserie or rotating rod, then you won’t need to turn the meat every 7 minutes. If it doesn’t have one, then ensure you keep turning the meat every 7 minutes until all sides are properly cooked and brown. If you are adding aromatic vegetables to it, wait for 15 minutes before adding them to the roasting meat.
b. Pot roasting
This is another way of roasting, but the roasting happens in a pot. Here, I first tie my meat with cooking ropes to retain the shape before wrapping it in a foil. Next, I place skewers at the bottom of the pot to protect the meat from sticking to the pot. I then place the tied meat inside the pot and pour over some cooking fat or oil. I then cover the pot and cook on low heat.
3. Baking
Although any food (including meat and vegetables) can be cooked in the oven, however, baking is commonly associated with foods that have to do with flour, sugar and eggs. The baking method of cooking dates back to many years ago. It was in existence even before conventional ovens were developed. Baking involves making use of dry heat like roasting. However, roasting is usually for things in solid form like meat, nuts and root vegetables like potatoes. Baking, on the other hand, turns a liquid or soft food into a solid or firm state. Think of bread, cake, cookies and you will have a clear picture of a baked food.
4. Grilling
Have you noticed those charred black lines on your steak or veggies before? Those are marks from grilling. Any time you expose your food to a high heat or open flame, you are grilling the food. The heat usually comes from the coal underneath the griller. You will need a griller or fire pit to be able to grill your food. Some people refer to the griller plate as a griddle.
It’s important that you check the temperature of the heat while grilling. You don’t want to char your food so much, or burn it in the process. You will need to continuously flip your food to get an even browning.
You can grill just about any food like seafood, meat, chicken, fish, veggies and even fruits. Now, for a little tip – choose fatty meats when grilling for a more yummy tasting meat.
5. Broiling
Some say broiling is related to roasting and I couldn’t agree more. Both of them are done in the oven. The major difference between the two is that while roasting has its heat coming from beneath the food, broiling has its heat coming from above. When broiling, you start off with a very high temperature like 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The aim is to get your food crispy on the outside and yet juicy and tender on the inside.
Best foods for broiling are seafood and meats. Thin pieces of meat like steaks, pork chops, and hamburger patties make excellent choices. Some people have tried broiling fruits like peaches and grapefruits and succeeded. Let me know if you will be willing to try it.
6. Frying
This is by far my favorite method of cooking my foods. But because it’s not so good for my weight loss efforts, I try to minimize it. But you would agree with me that nothing tastes as good as fried chicken, meat, samosa, spring rolls, chips, plantains to mention a few. Nothing beats that crispiness you get from frying. Deep-frying involves emerging your food in hot oil. Shallow-frying is when you fry your food with little oil.
7. Braising
Braising involves two steps where you first sear the food in an oiled pan and then transfer to a pot with liquid to finish off the cooking. The liquid can be broth, milk or butter. Braising is mainly for veggies and meat.
8. Steaming
Steaming is related to boiling, but unlike boiling, you don’t make use of direct water. The heat or steam from the boiling water is what cooks the food. There are special pots that come with a steamer which prevents the food from having direct contact with the water. Vegetables like leafy greens and fruits are great for steaming to retain their nutrients.
9. Simmering
Simmering is like boiling your food. But instead of bringing your food to a boil, you allow the moist heat to do the cooking. Ideally, to simmer your food, you allow the water in the pot to get a little bit hot but not up to a boiling point. Then you add your food ingredients and reduce the heat/temperature. Common foods that go through simmering include eggs, vegetables, grains and pasta.
10. Poaching
Poaching looks like simmering because it involves making use of hot water below boiling point. You can also make use of juice, wine or broth. This method of cooking is used when you don’t want your food to disintegrate and for quick coagulation. It’s also a great way to retain flavor and texture. The liquidused should be between 140 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
11. Blanching
Have you seen where veggies are put in hot water to cook for few minutes and then they are removed and put into an ice water bath? That is called blanching. Blanching is a little advanced because you need to know when to remove the veggies to avoid overcooking them. This method also retains texture and flavor of the food.
12. Sautéing
Originally a French word, sautéing is a cooking method that entails oiling a pan with oil or butter, letting it heat up and then adding your food. You need to keep flipping it continuously. This method is one of the fastest ways of cooking because it gets the food evenly cooked and brown. Veggies, meat and poultry do well with sautéing.
13. Stir-frying
A favorite of the Asians, stir-frying is similar to sautéing because it requires cooking your food with spices in a round, wide oiled pan and stirring with a spatula or chopsticks from time to time. When I think of stir-fry foods, Chinese fried rice, noodles, chicken, fish and meat comes to mind.
14. Air Frying
This is a new method of cooking that was introduced around 2010. Air fryers work like a conventional oven because it cooks food by circulating hot air to get the food cooked. It uses very little or no oil to get foods like chips, chicken and meat taste as if they were deep-fried. And it cooks food in lesser time. The air fryer itself has different temperature settings so that you can do other things like baking bread and cakes in it.
15. Pressure Cooking
Pressure Cooking reduces the time it takes to cook strong foods like meat, red and black beans. Pressure Cooking is done inside a pressure cooker or pot and makes use of high pressure steam. It’s the fastest method of cooking.
16. Slow Cooking
After mentioning pressure cooking, it’s only fair we mention the opposite which is slow cooking. You will need a crockpot for this method of cooking. All you need do is to add all your cooking ingredients into the pot before leaving the house in the morning and when you get home, you will have a warm cooked food waiting for you. Slow cooking is often referred to as”set it and forget.” You can make varieties of recipes in a slow cooker. It is popular for making casseroles and stews.
Phew! That was a long list of cooking methods, right? There are still others like searing, microwaving (originally for heating up cold food) methods that I didn’t mention because they are not popular or common as others on this list. But they are still part of cooking methods.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cooking Methods
Here are two basic questions I get about cooking method and the answers I provided.
Which method of cooking is the healthiest?
There are more than one method of cooking healthy. Steaming, blanching, baking are all healthy ways of cooking food. Other methods can also be healthy except for frying which makes use of oil or fat.
Why is grilling/barbecuing not regarded as a healthy method of cooking?
It’s because the foods are exposed to high heat or flame from the charcoal or gas when cooking. Some research claims that the black burnt parts can dispose one to serious health issues. While others insist that it’s a healthy method of cooking because it melts all the fat in the food, especially meats.
Conclusion!
Now, that you know the various ways you can cook your food, which one do you use more often and which will you be willing to try? Please, let me know in the comment section.