In this article, we are going to examine the different types and techniques of dry heat cooking. Dry heat cooking generally uses higher temperatures to cook foods than moist heat cooking methods because air, fat, and metal can be heated to temperatures much higher (300°F or more) than the boiling point of water which is 212°F. While moist heat cooking methods transfer heat to food through a liquid, dry heat cooking methods transfer heat to foods through air, fat, metal, and/or radiation. For more information regarding moist heat cooking methods, check out my article on our blog Moist Heat Cooking methods.
Meats, vegetables
and seafood cooked using moist heat techinques may get light
applications of salt and pepper before cooking, but for the most part
the flavor and seasoning for the dish comes from the sauce or juice
in which it is cooked, or the accompanying sauce in which they are
served. Foods cooked using dry heat techinques on the other hand, get their flavor and
seasonings from a variety of different applications depending on the
specific technique employed.
Roasted and baked meats tend to get liberal applications of salt and pepper and are basted during the cooking process to not only help keep the meat from drying out, but to evenly distribute seasoning on the surface of the meat, whereas broiled meats are more likely to marinated before cooking. Grilled meats may be marinated or rubbed with wet or dry spice rubs and or mixes prior to cooking and finished with a sauce during the last 15 minutes of grilling. Foods that are deep fat fried may be marinated or seasoned with dry spices before the application of the batter. In addition, the dry portions of the batter (flour, bread crumbs, cereal, etc...) as well as the wash or dipping liquid may be seasoned as well. On top of all that, fried foods such as 'chicken hot wings' may be coated with a sauce after frying to add an additional flavor component to the food.
Roasted and baked meats tend to get liberal applications of salt and pepper and are basted during the cooking process to not only help keep the meat from drying out, but to evenly distribute seasoning on the surface of the meat, whereas broiled meats are more likely to marinated before cooking. Grilled meats may be marinated or rubbed with wet or dry spice rubs and or mixes prior to cooking and finished with a sauce during the last 15 minutes of grilling. Foods that are deep fat fried may be marinated or seasoned with dry spices before the application of the batter. In addition, the dry portions of the batter (flour, bread crumbs, cereal, etc...) as well as the wash or dipping liquid may be seasoned as well. On top of all that, fried foods such as 'chicken hot wings' may be coated with a sauce after frying to add an additional flavor component to the food.
As with moist heat cooking methods, many of the dry heat
cooking methods are similar and may at times overlap or may be used in
combination in a particular recipe. In fact, even moist heat and dry
heat methods can be used in conjunction to cook foods such as pork
ribs which may be blanched or poached (moist heat) before being
grilled (dry heat). Having said that, it is important that the home
cook know the subtle differences of each technique to help them
employ the best cooking options for the food they wish to purchase
and prepare. The Dry heat cooking methods that we will be discussing today are generally broken down into
three primary categories 1) roasting and baking, 2) broiling and
grilling, and 3) frying.
Roasting and Baking
The
terms
roasting
and baking
are used interchangeably by
many chefs in that they both
describe a hot dry air method
method of cooking foods
generally inside your
oven at temperatures greater than 300°F. Despite
their similarities, roasting generally refers to the process of
cooking meats, poultry and vegetables, and baking generally refers to
bread, pastry, cakes, and cookies. Delicate
foods such as fish and other seafood are also considered to
be baked, as opposed to
roasted. When in doubt, just remember that roasted foods are cooked
at quite a bit higher temperature than baked foods. This higher
temperature causes the foods to not only cook faster, but have more pronounced
browning.
Both roasting and
baking cook foods fairly evenly as all of the food's surfaces are
exposed to the same air temperature. As mentioned previously, these two
dry heat methods use hot air to transfer heat to food yielding a wide
variety of results depending on the temperature, rack position, and
type of baking dish used. Unlike baking, foods that are roasted are
often basted with a fat or other liquid to prevent them from drying
out during the cooking process. Roasting differs
from pan-searing, a technique in which the surface of the food that
touches the hot pan gets much hotter than the side that facing up.
When roasting or baking, the food is cooked uncovered, so that the
hot, dry air cooks the food rather than the steam from the food.
Roasting of meats in dry heat allows the meat to not only brown, but
develop complex flavors that just cannot be attained using moist heat
cooking techniques.
Roasting and baking can be performed in a conventional or convection oven. The choice of the type of oven does not affect the technique, but it may affect the time necessary to cook the food. Cooking foods in a conventional oven uses uncirculated hot air, whereas a convection oven uses a fan to force air to circulate over and around the food as it cooks. Convection cooking transfers heat more quickly and efficiently to foods thereby decreasing the cooking time (20 to 30%) of foods compared to a conventional oven.
Roasting and baking can be performed in a conventional or convection oven. The choice of the type of oven does not affect the technique, but it may affect the time necessary to cook the food. Cooking foods in a conventional oven uses uncirculated hot air, whereas a convection oven uses a fan to force air to circulate over and around the food as it cooks. Convection cooking transfers heat more quickly and efficiently to foods thereby decreasing the cooking time (20 to 30%) of foods compared to a conventional oven.
Broiling and
Grilling
Broiling and
grilling, like roasting and baking are dry heat cooking techniques that rely on heat conducted
via the air to cook food. The difference being that foods that are broiled or grilled are cooked at higher temperatures. While they two techniques (broiling and grilling) are different,
they produce similar results. Because air is a relatively poor
conductor of heat, broiling and grilling require the food to be quite
close to the heat source, which may be an open flame or heating
element. Thus the surface of the food cooks very quickly, making this
type of cooking ideal for poultry, fish and the tenderest cuts of
meat. In fact, due to the extremely hot and dry nature of these
cooking methods, most meats that are broiled or grilled are marinated
prior to cooking. With both techniques meats and or vegetables are
typically cooked on a grid or grate of some kind and are turned at
least once during cooking which gives the food the distinctive
grill marks that are the hallmark of these cooking techniques. As with
sautéing, preheating the broiler or grill prior to putting the food
on it is essential to achieve the desired results.
As mentioned
previously, broiling is the technique of placing food in the oven
very close to a heat source located above the food that can attain
very high temperatures in a short period of time. Most home ovens
only have one temperature setting for broiling and the amount of heat
applied to the food is controlled by moving it closer or further away
from the heat source by adjusting the grates in the oven. In many
instances broiling is a finishing technique used to brown baked meats
or other casserole type dishes.
Grilling, like
broiling, uses very intense high temperatures to cook meats,
vegetables, and on occasion seafood. Unlike broiling however, the
heat source is located beneath the food to be cooked. The heat source
for grilling can come from either direct or indirect flames from
either gas, charcoal or wood, or direct or indirect radiant heat from
charcoal briquettes.
Pan and Deep Fat
Frying
Frying is a dry heat
cooking technique that uses fat (butter, oil or shortening) to
transfer heat to food. Because frying does not involve the use of
water or stock it is considered a dry-heat cooking method. Techniques
such as sautéing, stir-frying, and pan frying are all methods for
frying food that use a small amount of fat to give cooked foods a
brown and crispy texture. If you've ever seen the violent reaction of
hot oil when water hits the pan or deep fat fryer, you know full well
that oil and water just don't play well together. Getting a burn from
hot oil can ruin any aspiring cooks day, take it from me, been there,
done that, got the t-shirt. To minimize your chances of being burning
from hot oil splatter, make sure anything you place into the hot fat
is free from excess moisture before frying. For non-battered items, I
recommend that you pat the food dry with a paper towel before frying
it.
Deep fat frying is
one of those cooking techniques that at first glance appears to be a
moist heat technique. However, since deep frying requires food to be
totally submerged in a hot liquid fat, it is actually a form of
dry heat
cooking. Foods that are deep
fat fried are usually
coated in a simple batter to protect and seal in its moisture as
well as giving it that attractive golden brown color associated with foods cooked
using this method.
Optimum deep fat
frying is done in oil that has been heated to a minimum of 325°F and
a maximum of 400°F. Any hotter than 400°F and the oil may begin to
smoke, if the temperature of the oil drops below 325°F, the oil will
begin to soak into the batter as well as the food making it greasy. When cooked properly,
deep fat fried items actually have very little oil on or in them and
when used in moderation can be a healthy addition to any diet. The
most effective way to keep the oil hot is to fry items in small
batches, so that the oil does not cool off too quickly. Overcrowding
your frying vessel will cause the oil temperature to drop drastically
increasing the amount of oil the food absorbs (up to 2 to 3 times the
amount) making it soggy, greasy and extremely unhealthy. I am not
saying frying is healthy, rather the technique of frying can be
healthier when foods are fried properly.
Conclusion
Knowing how to use
the proper dry heat cooking method is an important skill for the home
cook or anyone who is cooking on a budget. Like moist heat, using the
correct dry heat technique allows you to properly cook meats which
are tender, juicy, and delicious that your family will surely enjoy.
Whether you are roasting or baking in the oven or using a faster
and higher temperature technique such as broiling, grilling or deep fat frying,
knowing which foods work best with each technique will serve you and
your family well. If you are looking to find additional ways to
stretch your food dollars, be sure and check out some of my other
articles on the subject on our blog.
And as always, if you have
enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't
forget to send us a friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that
you will not miss out on any of our new articles. If you want a good
reference copy of Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking, you can
download a free PDF copy by clicking on the following link 'Wayne
Gisslen's Professional Cooking 7th Edition'.
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References:
Labensky, Sarah, Hause, Alan. ON COOKING: A Textbook Of Culinary Fundamentals. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.
Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Cooking 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995.
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