Cooking method of boiling, blanching and steaming An assignment in Hospitality management Submitted by Group 6 Cyrus Berne R-11-02 Sagar Devarker R-1106 Oswinda Gomes R-11-17 Sahil Nerurkar R-11-23 Rincy Johnson R-11-31 Mohammad Ayaz R-11-36 Department of Bachelor of Business Administration Rosary College of Commerce and Arts Introduction Cooking makes many foods, such as tough meats and starchy vegetables, easier to eat, and often improves the taste. It may also make food more easily digestible. Cooking stops the action of enzymes and sterilizes the outside of the food particles, thus aiding in preservation. The method of cooking must be appropriate for the type and quality of the food in order to enhance its flavor and texture. All cooking destroys some of the nutrient value of natural food, especially the vitamins. In cooking, there are some basic methods of cooking that are used. These commonly used basic cooking methods are divided into two general groups. The groups are: Dry heat cookery methods and moist heat cookery methods. The methods of cooking are divided into these two groups because of the way food is cooked and the type of heat that is used. Dry heat Cookery Methods In dry heat cooking methods, the food being cooked does not use water to cook the food. The food is left dry and heat is applied to cook the food. Such methods of cooking are: baking, steaming, grilling, and roasting. When heat is applied to the food, the food cooks in its own juice or the water added to the food during its preparation evaporates during the heating process and this cooks the food. Heat is applied directly to the food by way of convection thus making the food to get cooked. The action or movement of air around the food cooks it. Moist Heat Cookery Methods is a moist heat cookery methods, liquid is used as a medium to cook the food. Such medium could be water, coconut cream or oil. These liquids are added to the food before heat is applied to it or sometimes heat is applied to the liquid before the food is added into the cooking utensils to be cooked. The moist heat cookery methods include: boiling, stewing, shallow frying, deep frying, barbequing and basting. Boiling This is the most common method of cooking and is also the simplest. With this method of cooking, enough water is added to food and it is then cooked over the fire. The action of the heated water makes the food to get cooked. The liquid is usually thrown away after the food is cooked. During the heating process, the nutrients can get lost or destroyed and the flavor can be reduced with this method of cooking. The liquid may be water, a seasoned liquid, wine, stock, or a combination. Boiling is usually reserved for certain vegetables and starches such as potatoes and pasta. Meats, fish and eggs outside the shell are never boiled. The higher temperature and agitation toughens protein and breaks up delicate foods. Boiling water's temperature is 100° C. The method of boiling may look easy and simple, but one has to take consideration of the time and care must be taken to prepare. Cooking in a lot of liquid at a temperature of about 100° C (212° F). Methods There are two ways of boiling. Boil the liquid before putting in the food and continue to heat until the mixture is re boiled. Then reduce the heat and simmer for a longer time .This is known as simmering. Place the food in the liquid with room temperature, then increase the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the head afterward and allow simmering. In both cases, it’s advisable to add salt to the water. If you cook food for too long, it loses its colour, texture and flavor. Advantages Older, tougher, cheaper joints of meat and poultry can be made palatable and digestible Maximum colour and nutritive value is retained when cooking green vegetables, provided boiling time is kept to the minimum It allows for the food to cook evenly. Since Boiling uses the element of water, it completely covers the food item to heat it. Therefore, unlike Baking, it cooks the food evenly without any other particular handling necessary. It blends various ingredients into one. It is a very effective way to effortlessly blend various ingredients into one just by adding the right amount of ingredients and water. The ingredients are soaked into the water, which allows all the flavors to spread all throughout. It is easy to manage the temperature. Since it uses the element of water to cook, it is fairly easy to check and control the temperature in which the food is being cooked compared to other methods. Therefore it is easy to learn this cooking method. You can cook in bulk. As long as you have a pot that's big enough to contain the water and ingredients, it is much simpler to cook in large quantities compared to other methods. This is one of the biggest benefits of Boiling. You can disinfect any remaining bacteria left on the ingredients Even in the cleanest environment, there is always bacteria lurking around that can cause illness. By Boiling, it gets rid of any bacteria that might've been added while handling the food. Disadvantages Foods can look unattractive It can be a slow method There is a loss of soluble vitamins in the water The problem of cooking temperature limit and time. Since Simmering uses water as the primary conductor of heat, cooking time can take longer than other methods since the capacity of the cooking temperature is limited by the temperature of the water. Loss of nutrition .If food items are cooked in water for a long period of time, some of the nutrition in the ingredients are dissolved in water and some are destroyed by the long duration of applied heat which allows for the food to lose significant nutritious value. Examples of foods which you might choose to cook by boiling: beef, mutton, chicken, fish, pasta, noodles, Vegetables, e.g. carrots, cabbage, potatoes, Eggs Tips: Generally use as little water as possible to minimize the loss of vitamins and minerals. When practical, save the cooking liquid for use in stocks, sauces and casseroles. To add vitamins, sprinkle some fresh herbs onto the cooked food. Blanching Blanching is a cooking process wherein the food substance, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water. The meaning of blanching is "to whiten", but this is not always the purpose of blanching in cooking. Food is blanched to soften it, or to partly or fully cook it, or to remove a strong taste (for example of bacon, cabbage, or onions). Blanching is generally applied to foods which need to be partially or completely cooked. Blanched recipes include dishes such as blanched greens, blanched almonds and blanched vegetable salad. How to blanch: 1. Prepare an ice bath: put water and ice into a large bowl or into a clean sink. 2. Heat a large pot of water to a rolling boil, about 1 gallon per pound of food to be blanched. 3. Add salt to the water; the water should be very salty. 4. Immerse the food into the boiling water for the specified amount of time. 5. Remove food to the ice bath to cool quickly. 6. Once cool, remove food from ice bath and pat dry. For example, root vegetables or tubers such as potatoes or turnips may be blanched in boiling water until barely cooked through before being sautéed, grilled or roasted. Slow cooking root vegetables would otherwise overcook on the outside before the intense heat of the sauté pan or grill penetrate the dense flesh to the interior. Large root vegetables are blanched starting in cold water so that the heat penetrates them gradually and they cook more evenly. Advantages Blanched vegetables can be used in salads and other cold dishes. It will brighten the color of some vegetables (green and yellow ones). It allows the vegetables to hold the essence of the dressing better. They can be frozen for later use. If vegetables are not blanched, the enzymes in vegetables continue to grow during frozen state causing toughening of vegetables. Color and flavor also suffers. It is especially important if vegetables are to be stored for longer time. To finish cooking the vegetable only quick sauté or stir fry is needed. Less stir-frying time means less oil is used which is good for health. Blanching removes excess water from the vegetables with high water content. This prevents loss of taste of a sauce. It's a great way to loosen the skins of garlic, almonds, tomatoes, peaches etc.; making them easier to peel. Blanched dishes are healthy as there is minimal loss of nutrients because of the short cooking time. Blanching also enhances the color of green vegetables, and the time taken is also lesser than other moist heat cooking methods. Disadvantage One disadvantage is that blanching cannot be used for every type of food item. Blanching often needs to be coupled with another cooking process so as to provide more flavor to the final dish. Techniques Similar to Blanching Boiling is a technique that is very similar to blanching, as blanching itself includes boiling the food in order to cook it, and the difference lies in the duration of time required, which is much less for blanching, and it also requires immediate cooling of the food, which is not so in the case of boiling.