Food Technology

Cooking Choices

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Learning objectives
How does cooking affect food?
Learning objectives

What are the different methods of cooking?

Why is the correct choice of cooking equipment important
in the preparation of food?

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How does cooking affect food?
When food is cooked, it is made more digestible – heat
softens the cell structure of vegetables and fruit.
Cooking also improves the flavour, texture and smell of a
wide range of foods.
There are many different ways of cooking food.

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What is convection cooking?

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Different types of convection cooking

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What is conduction cooking?
Conduction cooking is when heat is in direct contact with the
food. Most cooking where conduction takes place also involves
some convection cooking such as baking a cake. The different
types of conduction cooking are:
frying
baking – foods (e.g. cakes, bread, biscuits, baked potatoes
and fish) are cooked on their own in the oven
roasting – the food is basted with fat during cooking, giving a
crispy coating and improving the flavour of foods such as meat,
poultry and potatoes
casseroling – the food is cooked in liquid in the oven at a
gentle and even heat.

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What are the different ways to fry food?

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What is radiation cooking?
Radiation cooking involves using electromagnetic waves (infrared
or microwaves) which pass through the air until they come into
contact with the food and heat it up. The different types of
radiation cooking are:
grilling – a quick method of cooking using infrared radiation
which can be used to cook sausages, fish and toast
barbequeing – using infrared radiation outdoors
microwaving – involving microwave radiation of high frequency
and short wavelength, which heats up the food as the energy is
absorbed by the water in the food.

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Pros and cons of microwaves

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Can you describe each type of cooking?

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What method of cooking would you use?

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What does food preparation involve?
The preparation of food involves one of three manipulative
processes:
mixing (e.g. creaming a cake)
cutting (e.g. grating cheese)
or forming/shaping (e.g. rolling pastry).
There are different tools and equipment to help with these
processes. The correct piece of equipment must be selected so
that the task is completed safely, hygienically and quickly and a
quality and consistent outcome is achieved (the same shape and
size).

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Mixing by hand
A number of different pieces of equipment can be used for
mixing by hand:
For creaming together fat and sugar (for
cakes like victoria sponges), use a
plastic or wooden mixing spoon. For
folding in flour, it is better to use a metal
spoon because it keeps more air in.
Balloon whisks are good for getting the
maximum air into eggs, but make sure
the bowl is clean and dry.
You can also rub cubes of fat into flour
for pastry and cakes by using your
fingertips.

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Mixing by machine

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Choosing the right piece of equipment
Food mixers come in all different shapes and sizes. Hand-held
blenders will mix one portion of cake mixture while industrial floor
standing mixers can have a bowl size of 30 litres and make
11.5kg of cake.
Deciding on the right piece of equipment to buy depends on:
the quantity being made
the skill of the workers
the type of food being made
the space available for equipment
and the money available.

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What cutting tools are there?

There are lots of

cutting tools. Do
you know what
they all are?

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Using specialist equipment
Knives are the most versatile piece of equipment to
use for cutting but they require a certain amount of
skill by the user in order to produce quality-consistent
results. Often a piece of specialist equipment can be
used in place of a knife.
For example, a knife can be
used to slice egg but will they
be thin and equal slices? An
egg slicer can be used instead
and will produce consistently
thin slices of egg as well as
slicing in several ways.

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What types of knives are there?

Chef’s knives are heavy

and tapered for chopping.

Paring knives are smaller and

used for fruit and vegetables.
Carving knives are flexible
with a pointed end.

Utility knives are used for

general peeling and slicing

Bread knives have

a serrated edge.
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Which is the right knife to use?

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Forming and shaping
There is also a choice of equipment for forming and shaping
food.

Do you use a fork to shape the mashed potato or a piping

bag?
Do you shape meatballs and burgers by hand or do you use a
burger press or meatball maker?
You need a rolling pin to roll out pastry… or do you? A milk
bottle will do the job just as well!
Other types of forming and shaping equipment include a
pasta maker, a sausage maker and different shaped cake
tins.

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Cooking equipment quiz

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Key points

Cooking makes food more digestible and

improves its flavour, texture and smell.
Key points

Different cooking methods affect the flavour,

texture and nutritional value of the food.

The correct choice of equipment for mixing,

cutting and forming/shaping food helps to achieve
a safe, quick, consistent and quality food
product.

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