When you talk about the most basic cooking techniques, broiling and cooking should be on your list. These two healthy methods often interchanged with other cooking techniques but yielded different results. Nevertheless, knowing the difference between baking and broiling is critical especially to those who are just starting their journey in the culinary field.
In this article, we will tackle the difference between broil and bake, and the advantages and disadvantages these two cooking methods offer.
What is Baking
Baking means the process of cooking food using hot air or dry heat without having the food exposed directly to a flame. Basically, baking involves cooking the food through applying heat encircling the area, usually using an oven, hot ashes, or hot stones. The hot air is slowly transferred from the surface of the food to its center. This technique is usually utilized to bake foods like bread, cookies, and cakes.
Baking uses lower temperatures to slowly cook the food. Foods are typically baked at a temperature of 375℉ which is suitable for foods with an unstable structure like cake, muffins, breads, and the likes — solidifying and cooking the foods without burning the outside part or getting them over cooked.
What is Broiling
Broiling is a cooking method where you expose the food directly from the infrared radiation in a broiler or a broiling pan making the foods crispy. Broil settings involve a significant amount of radiant heat in cooking food like meat, fish, and vegetables. Thus, this method yields similar results to grilling.
Broiling uses higher temperatures in cooking the foods at around 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, foods are cooked faster than baking. Broiling can also be used to provide finishing touch to cooked or baked foods like melting cheese on baked chicken, producing brown textures to some vegies, or add a fire-roasted touch to sautéed chili peppers.
Main Differences Between Broil and Bake
- Baking method cooks evenly through the center of the food.
- Baking and broiling are usually done with most ovens. However, the heat source for baking is at the bottom part while the broiler is at the top part of the oven.
- Baking also uses lower heat and broiling uses high heat or high temperatures to cook the food. The latter also sometimes requires turning the food one side at a time especially when cooking the dishes.
- Another difference between bake and broil is the heating elements or heat source. Broiling uses direct infrared radiation to cook foods usually in a broiler, oven, or griller. On the other hand, baking uses indirect dry heat to bake goods and form a solid structure, usually using an oven.
- Baking method needs a longer time to cook the dish compared to broiling.
Best Types of Foods to Bake
The baking method is suitable for dishes with large sizes like whole chicken, turkey, fish, beef, salmon, vegetables, pies, cakes, and other dishes with unstable structures before having them baked or cooked.
Advantage and Disadvantage of Baking
What is good about baking is that you have the control of the ingredients you want to use like the amount of sugar, fat, and flavor. You even have the option to modify the recipes of your baked goods.
But baking also has its downside. Baking is a slower process of cooking compared to broiling, roasting, and deep frying. It also tends to negatively affect the nutrient values of the baked foods as it requires longer cooking time.
Best Types of Foods to Broil
Just like grilling, broiling is best for smaller cut meats like pork chops, chicken breasts, and some vegetables like potatoes, zucchini or asparagus. You can also broil tender fruits like bananas and mango; seafood, and other thin-sliced meats.
Advantage and Disadvantage of Broiling
Broiling cooks food by exposing it from the direct heat, and so the use of oil is seldom necessary. Therefore, it reduces calories in your foods. It is also a fast and simple way of cooking as it uses high heat to cook the foods, but without having them roasted.
The broiling cooking method can lessen saturated fats from the red meats. But since broiling cooks food at a high temperature, there’s a great risk of destroying or eliminating the nutrients present in your broiled dishes.
There are also toxic substances produced when oil is heated over a higher temperature in certain foods. Thus, increases the risk of harmful diseases like cancer.
Wrap Up
Baking and broiling are still considered as healthy techniques in preparing food compared to roasting and other cooking methods. Both cooking techniques requires smaller amount of fats which minimize the formation of toxic substances unlike frying. Hence, these two methods are great options in making healthy and nutritious meals.
If you want to quickly cook thinly-sliced pieces of food, better broil them. Meanwhile, if you are planning to prepare a food or menu with a semi-solid or liquid structure that needs to be solidified, baking is your best cooking option.
Cooking methods affect the nutritional values of the cooked food. Whether it is cooked using hot air or infrared radiation, one should always remember that the longer you cook the food, the higher chance of losing the nutrients. Thus, it is important to choose the cooking techniques that produce the lowest amount of toxic substances and minimize the loss of nutrients on the cooked foods.
And that covers the difference between bake and broil. I hope we are able to give you good insights about these two food preparation techniques. Looking for a different food-related article? Please feel free to browse our website. Thank you for reading!