Baking vs Roasting

Learning what different cooking terms mean can seem like an undertaking. Knowing the difference between them is really important. It can help you decipher the key fundamentals in a recipe you are trying to understand. While I am not new to the cooking scene like my partner Jeffrey, I am new to trying to convey my recipes and information to you dear reader.

Today’s culinary mystery words are “Baking” and “Roasting.” We’ve all heard these terms tossed around in the kitchen, but what do they mean? While both are dry heat cooking using an oven, that is about where the similarities stop.

The are two major factors in baking vs roasting.

1. Where the fat content is
2. What is the physical makeup

If you are baking the fat content will always be inside of whatever you are making. Like in the case of a batter, dough or casseroles with sauce. The physical makeup of  what you’ve baked will have changed in the process. Doughs and batters will become a more solid state while taking shape. In the case of a casserole, a sauce will warm or cheese will melt over it.

When roasting the fat content will always be on the outside as a coating. Something that is roasted’s physical makeup is meaty. Vegetables and chicken are a prime example of this. They have a skin and a meaty substance to them. You don’t change what they are, roasting just adds flavor and texture to them.

In closing does that mean you have to get every cooking term correct? Can you say you’re baking a chicken? Sure, and most will understand what you mean, but in the world of technical terms there is a different and sometimes it helps to know them!

Want to know the difference between sautéing and sweating? Check that out here.