Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. It encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour and/or digestibility of food. It generally requires the selection, measurement and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools and the skill of the person cooking.

The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural and religious considerations that impact upon it.

Cooking frequently, though not always, involves applying heat in order to chemically transform a food, thus changing its flavor, texture, appearance, or nutritional properties. There is archaeological evidence of cooked foodstuffs (both animal and vegetable) in human settlements dating from the earliest known use of fire.

Effects of cooking

If heating is used, this can disinfect (depending on temperature, cooking time, and technique used) and soften the food. 4 to 60°C (41 to 140°F) is the "danger zone" in which many food spoilage bacteria thrive, and which must be avoided for safe handling of meat, poultry and dairy products. Refrigeration and freezing do not kill bacteria, but slow their growth.

Cooking techniques

Some major hot cooking techniques:

• Baking
  • Broiling
  • FlashBake
• Boiling
  • Blanching
  • Braising
  • Coddling
  • Double steaming
  • Infusion
  • Poaching
  • Pressure cooking
  • Simmering
  • Steaming
  • Vacuum flask cooking
  • Steeping

• Frying
  • Deep frying
  • Hot salt frying
  • Hot sand frying
  • Pan frying
  • Pressure frying
  • Sauteeing
  • Stir frying

• Microwaving

• Roasting
  • Barbecuing
  • Grilling
  • Rotisserie
  • Searing

• Smoking

• Stewing

Other (cool) preparation techniques

• Brining
• Drying
• Grinding (e.g. sesame seeds to produce tahini), chopping, slicing finely, grating, etc..
• Marinating
• Mincing
• Pickling
• Salting
• Seasoning
• Sprouting

See also

Specific techniques and ingredients are often regional. See Cuisine for information about the many regional and ethnic food traditions. Please see food writing for some authors of books on cookery, food, and the history of food.

• Cooking weights and measures (includes conversions and equivalencies common in cooking)
• Food and cooking hygiene
• Food preservation
• List of cookbooks
• List of food preparation utensils including saucepans, frying pans, woks and many others.
• Cuisine
• Recipe

For recipes, see the list of recipes and the list of cocktails. Also see staple (cooking).

External links

• Wikimedia Cookbook
• Culinary history timeline
• Recipes
• Foodgeeks.com Recipes
• Visual Recipes
• Mediterranean and Asian recipes
• Photos of home cooking
• RealCajunRecipes.com - includes Photo Album of Cajun Cooking