Home ∘ Next Lesson ➡️

<aside>

Getting Started

</aside>

Cooking is a process of transformation, and one of the most common tools we use to create that transformation is heat.

Many recipes will list very specific heat levels (high heat on the stove, 350°F in the oven, etc). While these can be helpful guideposts, the more important meta-skill is understanding different types of heat and how they affect your food. Once you know this, you’ll be able to pick and choose which techniques you use without having to rely on recipes.

Heat performs a lot of different roles in cooking. It makes food more digestible and safe to eat, it changes textures, it enhances existing flavors, and it creates entirely new flavors. Understanding the role heat plays (and how it works) is important because it helps you decide how to cook your food and it guides your decision-making throughout the cooking process.

My first professional cooking job was at an open-fire restaurant that didn’t have any stoves. We only had a grill and a wood-fired oven. There were no temperature dials, so all of our cooking was based on feel and intuition. This experience really elevated my cooking because I was able to move away from relying on specific heat levels listed in recipes and learned to rely on my own instincts. This is really important, because the directions listed in a recipe aren’t always correct! If a recipe tells you to cook something in a pan over high heat, but you notice that your food is burning, you need to turn the heat down. Heat management is a very important skill in cooking, and it’s something that requires you to pay attention and use your senses to do well.

Instead of thinking about the heat levels a recipe gives, you should think about the types of heat being used, what you’re trying to accomplish, and then use the sensory feedback you’re getting to adjust in real time.

In this lesson, we’ll cover two important topics:

• The different types of heat and the reactions they produce.
• The relationship between heat and moisture.

Let’s dive in!

<aside>

The Different Types of Heat

</aside>

There are two major categories of heat that you need to understand: direct vs. indirect, and wet vs. dry. Direct heat and indirect heat pertain to the relationship between the heat source and the food. Wet heat and dry heat pertain to the medium used to transfer the heat.

Direct Heat and Indirect Heat

As the name implies, direct heat is when the heat source is applied directly to the food.

• Grilling: Food is placed directly over wood or charcoal, which provides the heat source.
• Searing, Sautéing, Pan Frying: Heat from the stove is transferred to the pan, and the food is placed directly onto the hot pan.
• Broiling: Broiling acts like a reverse grill; when you broil, the heat element at the top of the oven heats up and cooks the food directly from above.

The advantage of direct heat is that it’s one of the fastest cooking methods, especially when high heat is applied. It’s also a great way to achieve a sear and/or browning.

With indirect heat, the heat source is not directly applied to the food – the heat surrounds the food and cooks it more evenly (and sometimes more gently).

• Roasting and baking: hot air surrounds the food on all sides, resulting in more even cooking.
• Slow-cooking: the liquid surrounds the food and cooks it evenly and gently.
• Smoking: smoke washes over the food, cooking it from all sides.

The advantage of indirect heat is that it provides gentle, even cooking. Because the heat is applied from all sides, the food is more likely to cook evenly than if it is applied directly to one side.