Roasting vs Broiling
Roasting and broiling show some difference between them though they use similar techniques in cooking food. Roasting is one cooking method that is perhaps the oldest of all methods. It started with the time when man learnt to produce fire. He placed meat on this fire and cooked the game, meat or the vegetables easily. Broiling is another dry heat cooking method that is popular to prepare fish and other tender cuts of meats. There are some differences between roasting and broiling that will be highlighted in this article for the benefit of those who want healthier foods without adding fat in the form of oil.
What is Roasting?
Roasting refers to a cooking method in which food item is engulfed by hot dry air at temperatures exceeding 300 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no steam involved as the food item is uncovered, and its entire surface gets even heat making it brown from outside and locking the juices inside, improving upon the flavors. Roasting can be done in open air directly upon heat source as well as inside an oven which has a good ventilation system. To roast a food item beautifully in a manner that saves the juice in the meat and turns the surface brown you have to cook using both low and high heat. If you roast only using low heat for a long period, the meat will be juicy but you will have to give up hopes of having a tasty and beautiful brown surface. If you use high heat for roasting, you will have the surface browning, but you will not have the juicy roast that you want to taste. Due to the high temperature, the roast will be dry. So, in order to have both the surface browning and a juicy roast you simply have to use both heats. Normally, you cook for the most part using low heat and add a short period of high heat cooking at the beginning of roasting or at the very end.
What is Broiling?
Broiling is similar to roasting in the sense that it depends upon cooking food item with heat that is conducted through air. As air is a poor conductor of heat, broiling requires placing food item very close to the heat source. Because the heat is intense and very dry, it is customary to marinate the food item (meat or fish) before broiling. Some call broiling as grilling, but there is a difference in that grilling requires food to be heated from below while broiling is just the opposite and involves heating from above. So we call it grill when cooking over a heat and broil when cooking under a heat source. Broiling temperature is normally about 500 degrees Fahrenheit. When you are broiling, you have to make sure that you turn the item you are cooking. For a moment think that you are broiling a steak. You let one side broil. That will take about two to three minutes. When that side is done, you have to turn the steak to the other side, so that the other side can also cook. Without turning you will not be able to cook the meat perfectly.
What is the difference between Roasting and Broiling?
• Surface browning:
Browning of the exterior of the food item can be achieved with both roasting and broiling. It is this browning that leads to development of flavors and a distinct aroma that is not found in other cooking methods.
• Flavor:
Roasting allows flavors to improve, which is not possible with broiling.
• Heat:
Roasting provides heat from all sides, while broiling is a method to provide heat from above.
• Temperature:
High heats are used in roasting and broiling. Roasting exceeds 300 degrees Fahrenheit. For broiling, the usual temperature is about 500 degrees Fahrenheit. So intense is the heat in broiling that it is better to marinate food items before broiling.
• Technique:
Roasting does not require you to turn the food item to different sides as heat comes from all sides. However, since broiling only uses heat from the top, you have to turn the food item from side to side.
Whatever method you use, you will have a tasty food item to savor once you have finished cooking.
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