Cooking methods - How to know which is best for my food?

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Cooking is the culinary process by which heat is used to physically and/or chemically change the appearance, texture, composition and nutritional value of food to satisfy the senses of sight, taste and smell, to make food more digestible and appetizing, and to increase its shelf life and safety.

But, do we really know all the cooking techniques and which foods are best suited to them? Let's find out:

Dry heat methods
Dry heat cooking works without any moisture, broth, or water present. Instead, it relies on circulating hot air or contact with fat to transfer heat to foods. Temperatures of 300 degrees or more create browning, a reaction where amino acids and sugars in food turn brown and create a distinct aroma and flavor. The unique scents of toasted bread or seared meat are examples of dry heat cooking at work.

Generally speaking, there are two different methods: direct and indirect. Direct methods include broiling, which cooks food by applying extremely high heat to the food, usually from a radiant source above the food, cooking one side at a time, and grilling, which is similar to broiling because grills use radiant heat to cook food quickly, but this time from below the food. Indirect methods include baking or roasting, which use this indirect heat to surround food and cook from all sides (roasting term is more suitable for vegetables and uses higher temperatures, while baking is more suitable for bread, rolls and cakes and uses lower temperatures); and  barbecuing, which is sometimes confused with grilling, because cooking is done on a grill or smoker. People tend to use the two terms interchangeably, but they are different. Unlike grilling, barbecuing uses low indirect heat for several hours. Food is cooked on a spit and surrounded by wood smoke or even smoke from coal. The process makes meat exquisitely tender. Use a marinade or a rub for a burst of flavor.

Fat-based methods
The fat-based techniques used are sautéing, which is the complete or partial cooking of a food in a small amount of fat at high heat, sautéing with little fat at low heat, and frying, which is the complete cooking of a food by immersion in a hot body of fat, resulting in the formation of a crust.

Sautéing vs. stir-frying: In sautéing food is cooked over a low heat in a pan with a small amount of oil or butter, with the intervention of the water provided by the food itself; while stir-frying, is almost a synonymous with the previous, except that only oil is used for cooking instead of butter (a little more) and the pan is not shaken to make the food jump as in sautéing. Sautéing is most popular in France, while stir-frying is most popular in China

For this type of cooking, it is important to use good quality oils (olive is the best choice) that can withstand high temperatures and have not been overheated. The smoke point of olive oil is around 210°C. Seed oils (e.g. sunflower, soy, corn, etc.) have a smoke point of around 170°C and those made from various animal fats (e.g. lard, butter, margarine, tallow, etc.) are between 80 and 120°C. As 180/190°C is the optimum frying temperature for most foods, it can be said that olive oil is the most convenient fat to use for frying. In order to prevent smoking, the oil should be heated over moderate heat, never over high heat. If the oil burns, irritating or toxic compounds may be produced. When removing the food from the pan, it is advisable to drain it well so that it retains as little fat as possible and remains crispy and appetizing.

Moist heat methods
An aqueous fluid (water, short broth, syrup or even steam) is used as the heat transfer medium for the thermal treatment of the food.

In culinary practice, there are six techniques for cooking in an aqueous medium: scalding or blanching, which is the incomplete cooking of a food by the thermal effect of boiling water for a very short time; boiling, which is the cooking of a food by immersion in water heated to near its boiling point (100°C) at sea level; poaching, involves immersing food in a hot liquid between 60-82°C (the low heat works well for delicate foods and retains moisture and flavor); simmering, that utilizes higher temperatures than poaching, usually between 82-96°C; bain marie, which is used for cooking delicate dishes such as custards, cheesecakes, mousses and terrines (it prevents the food from cracking or curdling by surrounding it with hot water to create an even, gentle heat); and steam cooking, where the food is placed in a steamer (rack or mesh container), strainer or basket and then placed over another container of boiling water. In this way, it is the vapours released when the liquid boils, rather than the liquid itself, that cook the food slowly and evenly. Can be done at normal or high pressure.

Mixed methods
There would be two cooking techniques in a mixed medium (water and fat): stewing, which is the cooking of a food with little fat (and sometimes a little water), always over a low heat and braising, where food is first browned in a hot, oiled pan and then transferred to a larger pot to cook in hot liquid. The food is then partially submerged in boiling water, broth or stock. The low heat softens the food and reduces the liquid over a longer cooking time, intensifying the flavors.

Other methods
Vacuum cooking (sous vide) consists of placing the food in a suitable hermetic and heat-resistant container from which the air is extracted. Cooking takes place at a temperature of less than 100 degrees in a humid environment and is necessarily followed by a rapid followed by a rapid drop in temperature in chillers.

Microwave cooking is a culinary process in which food is heated by the action of high-frequency electromagnetic waves due to the dielectric behavior of some of its components. It works thanks to an electromagnetic field that vibrates and rubs the water molecules contained in the food, generating internal heat that allows it to be heated or cooked. Once heated or cooked, the food does not emit any radiation.

Air fryers are devices that sit on your countertop you put the food you want to fry into a slide-out basket. If you want, you can toss it in a light coating of oil. A fan pushes heated air (up to 204ºC) around the food. It's a bit like a convection oven. The circulating air cooks the outside of foods first, which creates a crispy brown coating and keeps the inside soft, just like deep-fried foods. As the food cooks, a container below the basket catches any grease that drops.

Which cooking methods are best for each type of food?

Vegetables and fruit: It is better to eat them raw (always well disinfected) or steamed, microwaved, blanched, baked or sautéed. This way, the food spends little time in contact with water and is exposed to high temperatures for a very short time.

Legumes: Cooking them over a low and slow heat ensures that their starches are digestible and that their nutrients are retained in this network or transferred to the broth itself. Soaking for at least 24 hours and removing the foam during cooking improves the digestibility of pulses. Double soaking can even be recommended for people with certain pathologies.

Chicken: It is a meat with a high microbial load, so it must always be well cooked in all its parts. If you are grilling, baking or sautéing it, make sure that there are no pink parts in the deepest parts, as this is a sign that it is still raw and has not reached the minimum internal temperature of 70 degrees.

Eggs: Like poultry meat, this is a food that can carry pathogenic micro-organisms on the outside that can contaminate the inside during handling. Salmonella is the most important example and can only be avoided if the egg is well cooked, i.e. the whole white is well set. This applies to all fried, omelette, boiled preparations, etc.

Fish and meat: Steaming, microwaving, grilling or baking are the most respectful ways of cooking, as the juices remain in the food. When stewing or braising, some of the minerals and vitamins, as well as their juices, go into the broth or sauce that is consumed with the food. In this way, we make use of the nutrients that have gone into the juice.

With this group of foods (including seafood), we must ensure that the inside reaches at least 65 degrees. And why do we insist on heat 'inside' the food? Because the outside temperature can be much higher (for example, in the oven it can reach 150 degrees and in a stew it can exceed 100 degrees), but if it is a thick piece, the inside will be much colder. And we need the inside of the food to reach at least 65 degrees to ensure that potentially pathogenic micro-organisms are destroyed.

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