Dry-heat cooking
Cooking with hot air, fat or direct heat: roasting, searing, grilling, frying and the rest.
- Air-fryAir-frying cooks food in a small, fan-driven oven that blows very hot air around it, giving a crisp outside with a spoonful of oil instead of a pot.
- BakeBaking cooks food with dry, hot air in an enclosed oven. It is how bread, cakes, cookies and casseroles go from raw to set, risen and browned.
- BarbecueBarbecue is cooking meat low and slow over indirect heat and wood smoke for hours, until tough cuts turn tender. In the UK the word also means grilling.
- BlackenBlackening coats fish or meat in butter and a spicy herb rub, then sears it in a very hot cast iron pan until the spices form a dark, flavorful crust.
- BroilBroiling cooks food with strong, direct heat from the top element of the oven. It browns cheese, chars peppers and cooks thin cuts in a few minutes.
- BrûléeBrûlée means burnt in French. To brûlée is to melt sugar on top of a dessert with a torch or broiler until it sets into a thin, glassy caramel shell.
- CharCharring cooks food over intense heat until parts of the surface turn black and blistered, adding smoky flavor to peppers, corn, onions and meat.
- Deep-fryDeep-frying cooks food fully submerged in hot oil, usually 170 to 190°C (340 to 375°F), for a crisp shell and a moist inside. Here is how to do it safely.
- Dry-fryDry-frying cooks food in a hot pan with no added oil. It toasts spices and nuts, renders fat from bacon and ground meat, and gives green beans a blistered skin.
- FlambéTo flambé is to pour spirits over food in a hot pan and light them, burning off some alcohol and adding a caramelized note. Here is how to do it safely.
- GratinateTo gratinate is to brown the top of a dish under a hot broiler or in a hot oven, usually under cheese or breadcrumbs, until it forms a golden crust.
- GriddleA griddle is a flat, heavy cooking surface, and to griddle is to cook on it. It makes pancakes, flatbreads, burgers and grilled cheese with an even brown.
- GrillGrilling cooks food on a grate over direct, high heat from charcoal, gas or wood. It gives a browned, smoky crust and those dark stripes in minutes.
- Pan-fryPan-frying cooks food in a skillet with a thin layer of hot fat over medium to medium-high heat, so it browns on each side as it cooks through.
- PlanchaA plancha is a thick, very hot flat-top used in Spanish cooking. Cooking a la plancha sears seafood, meat and vegetables fast with only a little oil.
- Reverse searThe reverse sear cooks a thick steak slowly in a low oven first, then sears it hot at the end, for even pink meat from edge to edge and a dark crust.
- RoastRoasting cooks meat or vegetables uncovered in a hot oven, so dry heat browns the outside and concentrates flavor while the inside cooks through.
- RotisserieRotisserie cooking turns meat slowly on a spit beside or above a heat source, so it bastes itself and browns evenly. It is classic for whole chickens.
- Salt-bakeSalt-baking seals whole fish, beets or potatoes in a crust of coarse salt and egg white before baking. The crust traps steam and cooks the food gently.
- SautéTo sauté is to cook small pieces of food quickly in a little hot fat over fairly high heat, tossing or stirring so they brown lightly and cook evenly.
- SearSearing browns the surface of meat or fish in a very hot pan to build a deep, flavorful crust. It adds flavor but does not seal in juices.
- Shallow-fryShallow-frying cooks food in about 1 cm of hot oil in a pan, so it comes halfway up the sides. You turn it once for a crisp crust on both sides.
- SmokeSmoking flavors and cooks food with smoke from smoldering wood. Hot smoking cooks meat and fish as it flavors them; cold smoking only flavors them.
- Stir-fryStir-frying cooks small, evenly cut pieces of food in a very hot wok with a little oil, stirring constantly so they sear and cook through in minutes.
- ToastTo toast is to brown food with dry heat until it turns golden and smells nutty. Bread, nuts, seeds, spices and coconut all gain flavor from toasting.