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What Is The Difference Between Baking, Roasting And Broiling

Nidhi Nangia
By Nidhi Nangia. Updated: January 16, 2017
What Is The Difference Between Baking, Roasting And Broiling

Most people confuse baking, roasting and broiling together, as all the three methods use dry heat to cook things in the oven. But have you ever wondered why the results of all the three cooking methods are always different. Why one method is more appropriate for a recipe, and not for the other? To understand this concept, you will have to know what is the difference between baking, roasting and broiling in particular. Here at OneHowTo.com, we will explain the differences to you.

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The method used

An oven has two heating elements in it, one at the top and other at the bottom. If you have a convection oven, it will have fans to circulate the air too. In the roasting and baking methods, both the heating elements, as well as the fans are used for cooking, but in broiling, only the top element of the oven is used to brown the food properly. This usually gives the effects similar to those of grilling. If you are baking a food, you will need to heat it evenly and cook it throughout, but if you are roasting, you will need to brown it quickly using high heat from the starting itself. The heat is lowered afterwards to finish off the cooking. So, the major difference between baking, roasting and broiling lies in the way the food is cooked inside the oven.

Foods to be cooked

Baking is the method traditionally used for cooking cakes, breads and pies. In these foods, you need a golden brown outside, and a tender crumb inside. This can be achieved only through even cooking, which can come only with constant heat coming from the oven. Meats are also baked sometimes, in addition to fish, meatloaf and skinless poultry, as you don’t want them to dry out due to excessive heat of roasting. Skinned poultry, chicken, dense vegetables like carrots and potatoes need a soft interior and crispy exterior, which can be achieved only by having a high heat in the starting, and low heat in the end. So, roasting is the best cooking method for such foods. Tender meat cuts, like pork chops and steaks, are cooked better with broiling method. It can also be used to finish baked or roasted foods, such as melting cheese on the chicken, fire-roasting chili peppers, etc.

What Is The Difference Between Baking, Roasting And Broiling - Foods to be cooked

Time consumed

Baking takes the longest time as compared to roasting and broiling. If you are baking food, it is not exposed to high heat, and it is cooked slowly and gradually. Roasting is a faster method than baking, as high heat is applied to the food right in the beginning. Broiling is done quickly, as the oven is preheated and prepared in advance, and food is placed on top rack of the oven only 3-4 inches away from the element. As a food is broiled quickly, you will have to constantly monitor it to prevent burning.

What Is The Difference Between Baking, Roasting And Broiling - Time consumed

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