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                The Secrets To Successful Cooking  | 
             
            
              by: 
                cusine  dumatre  | 
             
            
              Cooking is the process of using heat to prepare foods 
 for consumption. Many common cooking methods 
 involve the use of oil. Frying is cooking in hot oil, 
 sautéing is cooking in a small amount of oil, stir-frying is 
 a Chinese technique of frying quickly in small amounts 
 of oil in a wok, deep frying is completely submerging 
 the food in large amounts of fat, etc. 
 
 As people have become more health conscious, 
 preparing foods in oil has become less desirable. With 
 the advent of nonstick cookware, sautéing can be done 
 at lower heats using vegetable broth and fruit juices 
 instead of oil. Stewing refers to cooking slowly in a 
 small amount of liquid in a closed container. Slow 
 stewing tenderizes tough cuts of meat and allows 
 flavors to mingle. 
 
 Another slow-cooking method is braising, in which meat 
 is first browned, then cooked slowly in a small amount 
 of liquid in a covered pan. Poaching is cooking food in 
 liquid below the boiling point, while steaming is cooking 
 food that has been placed above boiling water. 
 Roasting means baking in hot dry air, generally in an 
 oven. Baking refers to cooking in an oven and differs 
 from roasting mainly in its reference to the type of food 
 cooked-for example, one bakes a cake, but roasts a 
 chicken. Another form called broiling means to cook by 
 direct exposure to heat, while barbecue refers to 
 cooking marinated food by grilling. 
 
 Dining with others is one of the most common and 
 frequent social activities. It can involve a family dinner, 
 a meal with friends, or form part of a ceremony or 
 celebration, such as a wedding or holiday. More and 
 more people study cooking in schools, watch how-to 
 programs on television, and read specialty magazines 
 and cookbooks. In fact, cookbooks as a group outsell 
 any other kind of book except for religious works.
 
 Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. It 
 encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and 
 combinations of ingredients to improve the flavor and 
 digestibility of food. It generally requires the selection, 
 measurement and combining of ingredients in an 
 ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired 
 result. Constraints on success include the variability of 
 ingredients, ambient conditions, tools and the skill of 
 the person cooking.
 
 The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the 
 myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, 
 cultural and religious considerations that impact upon it. 
 Cooking frequently, though not always, involves 
 applying heat in order to chemically transform a food, 
 thus changing its flavor, texture, appearance, or 
 nutritional properties. There is archaeological evidence 
 of cooked foodstuffs (both animal and vegetable) in 
 human settlements dating from the earliest known use 
 of fire.
 
 While cooking if heating is used, this can disinfect and 
 soften the food depending on temperature, cooking 
 time, and technique used. 4 to 60°C (41 to 140°F) is the 
 "danger zone" in which many food spoilage bacteria 
 thrive, and which must be avoided for safe handling of 
 meat, poultry and dairy products. Refrigeration and 
 freezing do not kill bacteria, but slow their growth.
  
  
 About the author: 
 
  cusine dumatre is the owner of  N Cooking  which is a premier resource for Cooking information.  for more information, go to http://www.ncooking.com 
   
   
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