If you're less handy around the kitchen, you might find yourself wondering what's the difference between various cooking methods? I mean, aren't they all the same if they use an oven or are cooked over an open fire? Well, that's not quite the case as we'll soon see.
Roasting
Roasting is a generally healthy cooking method that typically takes place in your oven or over an enclosed open flame. It involves cooking your meal with dry heat or indirect heat (that is, not having your food touch the heating element directly) that envelopes it and cooks it more or less evenly from all sides.
Roasting technically requires temperatures of at least 150 degrees Celsius, but mor commonly uses 350-450 degrees. It's generally a slow cooking process (usually taking thirty minutes to several hours) that enhances the flavour of the dish by crisping, browning and caramelizing the exterior.
The most common types of dishes that are roasted are meats (often the complete animal) and vegetables. To prevent the ingredients from drying up, it helps to baste them beforehand or toss them with oil and dressing, which then gets absorbed during the cooking process.
Grilling
Out of all the cooking methods described here, grilling might be the most iconic for North Americans - after all, who doesn't immediately think of aprons, barbecues, and a pair of tongs ready to flip some meat or veggies?
Like roasting, grilling also involves high temperatures and dry heat. However, the difference is that grilling involves placing your food on a rack directly over the heat source - whether that be charcoal fires or gas flames. So, in some cases, the flame itself directly touches your dish, giving it a pleasantly charred and sometimes smoky flavour.
Unlike roasting which can take all day to prepare a dish, grilling is one of the fastest ways to cook food and imbue your dish with flavour. Also, by having the grill directly against your food, you come away with the pleasant and darkened grill marks that look and taste great on meat and veggies.
Baking
Technique-wise, baking is most similar to roasting. It involves placing your food in an oven, at a relatively high temperature, and letting it slowly cook for often thirty minutes to several hours. Generally, though, baking requires slightly lower heat than roasting, but the main difference is the kind of food you're preparing.
Baking generally refers to the preparation process for breads, cakes, pastries, and cookies. It often involves preparing your ingredients beforehand in a bowl and placing them either on a flat or shaped tray where they will fill in as they rise. That is to say, whatever you prepare beforehand and place into the oven becomes something very different by the time it's ready.
While it's not that common here in Canada, baking doesn't require a stove or an oven. People can also bake items by wrapping them and encasing them under hot ashes or even using heated stones. A lot of traditional dishes from Arabian countries and India are prepared this way, as well as some indigenous recipes from here in Canada.
