METHODS OF COOKING

Mr. Rey Anthony Beniga, RN

Instructor
 Introduction
• Food preparations help in combining food
ingredients in various ways with delicate
flavour. Textures and colour with appeal to
eyes.
• Food has to be pleasing in appearance and
tastes so that it can be consumed.
Understanding the behaviour in specific term
helps in choosing best method of cooking.
 Introduction
• The preparation is an important step in
meeting the nutritional need of family. Foods
like fruits vegetable and nuts are eaten raw
but most of the food are cooked to bring
about desirable changes.
• The process of subjecting food to action of
heat is termed “COOKING”
OBJECTIVES OF
COOKING
 OBJECTIVES OF COOKING
1. Improve the taste and food quality
Cooking improves natural flavours and textures of food Ex-
roasting groundnut, cooking rice and roasting coffee seeds
improves flavour.
2. Destruction of microorganism
They are present everywhere and some are useful in making
curd, cheese and bread. Some are harmful and causes
infection or produce toxins.
3. Improves digestibility
Cooking soften the connective tissues of meat and the coarse
of cereals, pulses and vegetables so that digestive period is
shortened and gastrointestinal tracks is less subjected to
irritation.
 OBJECTIVES OF COOKING
4. Improves variety
By cooking same food can be made into various
dishes.
5. Increases consumption of food
Cooking improves the textures and make food more
chewable.
6. Increases availability of nutrients
Raw eggs contain avadin which binds biotin making
biotin unavailable to the body.
 OBJECTIVES OF COOKING
7. Concentrates nutrients
This mat be due to removal of moisture or using
combination of food due to cooking procedures.
8. Increase antioxidants value
Cooked tomatoes are associated wit greater
health benefits, compared to uncooked because
the heating processes make lycopene more
easily absorbed by body.
 BASIC
PRINCIPLES OF
COOKING
 BASIC PRINCIPLES
• In cooking there is a transfer of energy from a
heat source to food and this energy alters the
food molecules,
• Heat brings about chemical, physical and
microbiological changes.
• In kitchen, mainly 3 types of devices are used to
cook food:
1. Stovetop
2. Conventional oven
3. Microwave oven
PURPOSE OF
COOKING
 PURPOSE OF COOKING
• Make its maximum valuable in palatable form.
• Make it easily digestible.
• Improve its flavor, texture and appearance.
• Develop and enhance flavors.
• Destroy pathogenic organism acid substance
found in raw food.
• Make the food tasty and nutritious.
• Variety of dishes can be prepared from the same
item of food.
PREPARATIONS
OF COOKING
 PRELIMINARY PREPARATION
1) Cleaning-the term cleaning is applicable ta
vegetables, fruits and many other food
products.
2) Peeling and stringing- Both these methods
involves the removal of non edible or fibrous
portion of fruits and vegetable.
Ex- peeling of banana and potato; stringing of
beans.
 PRELIMINARY PREPARATION
3) Cutting and grating- This is dividing food into
smaller pieces, thus helping in easy cooking apart
from knife, various other machines are used to cut
like food slicer, chopper, grinder and vertical cutter.
4) Sieving- It is done to remove coarse fibre and
insects. It is also done in preparing cakes for
blending of flour with baking powder.
5) Soaking- Done in water, either plane or salted
with sodium chloride or sodium carbonate.
METHODS OF
COOKING
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Moist methods
(A)BOILING
It is cooking method by just immersing them in
water at 100 degree C and maintaining the
water at the temperature till the food is tender.
Water is said to be boiling when large bubbles
are seen raising constantly on the surface of
liquid and then breaking rapidly.
BOILING
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Moist methods
(B) SIMMERING
When food are cooked in a well fitting lid at
temperature just below the boiling point. The
temperature of liquid is 82-90 degree C in which
they are immersed the process is known as
simmering. It is useful method when foods have
to cooked for a long time.
SIMMERING
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Moist methods
(C) Poaching
This requires cooking in minimum amount of liquid
at temperature of 80-85 degree C that is below the
boiling point. Foods generally poached are egg, fish
and fruits. For poaching eggs, the addition of little
salt or vinegar to cooking liquid lowers the
temperature of coagulation. Eggs get cooked
quickly by the process.
Poaching
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Moist methods
(D) STEWING
This is gentle method of cooking in a pan with a
tight fitting lid, using small quantities of liquid to
cover only half of food. The food above the
liquid is cooked by steam generated within the
pan.
STEWING
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Moist methods
(E) STEAMING
This method requires the food to be cooked in
steam. This is generated from vigorously boiling
water or liquid in a pan so that the food is
completely surrounded by steam and not in
contact with water or liquid.
STEAMING
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Moist methods
(F) PRESSURE COOKING
A relative small increase in temperature can
drastically reduced cooking time and this fact is
utilized in pressure cookers. In this the escaping
steam is trapped and kept under pressure so
that the temperature of boiling water and steam
can be raised above 100 degree C and reduced
cooking time.
PRESSURE COOKING
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Moist methods
(G) BLANCHING
This is plunging food into boiling liquid and
immersing in cold water. This destroys enzymes
presents in food hence used as preparation for
preservation. Food products normally blanched
are tomatoes, potatoes, almonds, carrots and
beans.
BLANCHING
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Dry heat methods
(A)Grilling or broiling Grilling
It consists of placing the food below or above or
in between a red hot surface. When under the
heater, the food is heated by radiation only.
Food cooked by grilling are corn, papads,
brinjals, phulkas, sweet potatoes. Barbeques are
also may be this methods.
Grilling or broiling Grilling
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Dry heat methods
(B) Pan broiling or roasting
When food is cooked uncovered on heating
metal or a frying pan method is known as pan
broiling. Ex- groundnuts and chapattis.
Pan broiling or roasting
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Dry heat methods
(C) Baking
Here food gets cooked by hot air basically it is a
dry heat methods of cooking but the action of
dry heat is combined with that of steam which is
generated while the food is being cooked. Foods
baked are generally brown and crisp on the top,
soft and porous in the center as in cakes,
pudding and breads.
Baking
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Fats as a medium of cooking
(A)Sautéing
This method involves cooking in just enough of
oil to cover the base of pan. The food is tossed
occasionally or turned over with a spatula to
enable all pieces to come in contact with the oil
and get cooked evenly.
Sautéing
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Fats as a medium of cooking
(B) Shallow fat frying
Here the food is cooked in fat or oil but not
enough to cover it. Heat is transferred to the
food partially by conduction by contact with the
heated pan and partially by convection currents
of foods. This prevents local burning of the food
by keeping away the intense heat of frying pan
Shallow fat frying
 METHODS OF COOKING
• Fats as a medium of cooking
(C)Deep fat frying
Food is totally immersed in hot oil and cooked
by vigorous convection currents and cooking is
uniform on all sides of the foods. Cooking can be
rapidly completed in deep fat frying because the
temperature used is 180- 220 degree C.
Deep fat frying
MICROWAVE
HEATING
 MICROWAVE HEATING
• Electromagnetic waves from a power source
magnetron are absorbed by the food and food
becomes hot at once. Does, microwaves do
not requires any medium of transfer of heat in
cooking? The microwaves can be absorbed,
transmitted or reflected. They are reflected by
metal and by food.
 MICROWAVE HEATING
• When food is kept in the cavity of the
microwave oven for cooking, the microwaves
generated by the magnetron strike the food
and the metal walls of the oven. Microwaves
that strike the metal walls are reflected and
bounced back so they dispersed throughout
the oven and accomplish uniform heating of
the food.
 PRACTICAL
HINTS IN USING
MICROWAVE
OVEN
 PRACTICAL HINTS IN USING
MICROWAVE OVEN
• Do not use the oven for home canning or the
heating of any closed jars. Pressure will build
up and jars may explode.
• Small quantities of food with low moisture
content can dry out, burn or catch on fire.
• Do not dry metal, herbs, fruits and vegetables
in the oven.
 PRACTICAL HINTS IN USING
MICROWAVE OVEN
• Do not attempt to deep fry in microwave
ovens. Cooking oils may burst into flames.
• Do not heat eggs in their shells in microwave
oven pressure will build up and the eggs will
expload.
• Do not use paper bags or recycled paper
product in the microwave oven.
 PRACTICAL HINTS IN USING
MICROWAVE OVEN
• If the food is wrapped, the wrapper should be
perforated or otherwise allow for steam to
escape to prevent it from bursting
• Always cook food for the minimum cooking
time. Once over cooked, nothing can be done
EFFECTS OF
COOKING
 EFFECTS OF COOKING ON FOOD
• If vegetables are cooked in water containing
salt & the cooking water discarded . This
results in loss of minerals like sodium,
potassium and calcium.
• Cutting vegetables into small pieces and
exposing them to air may result in loss of
Vitamin C.
• .
 EFFECTS OF COOKING ON FOOD
• Water soluble vitamins are lost during excessive
washing as in repeated washing of legumes, rice,
etc. Washing may remove as much as 40 %
thiamine & nicotinic acid.
• Cooking for long periods results in vitamin loss. If
fat is repeatedly used in frying, it may contain
toxins due to peroxidation and rancidity.
• Excessive heating of milk with lactose & other
foods with Jaggery may affect protein quality as it
may lead to browning.