Cooking Methods and Safety at the Stove

22 min

Let's begin

The same sweet potato can be boiled, roasted in the embers, fried as chips or baked. Each method gives a different taste, texture and nutritional value. It also brings a different danger: boiling water scalds, hot oil burns and catches fire, and gas can explode. A good cook chooses the right method and works safely.

In this lesson you will learn the main cooking methods, which Rwandan foods suit each one, and the safety rules for knives, hot pans and gas stoves.

Why we cook food

Cooking kills harmful micro-organisms, softens tough foods so they are easier to chew and digest, removes natural poisons (such as those in cassava and raw beans), and improves flavour, colour and smell.

Moist-heat methods (food cooked in water or steam)

Boiling: cooking in liquid at 100 °C with large bubbles. Examples: matoke, Irish potatoes, dry beans, eggs, rice.
Stewing: slow cooking of small pieces in a little liquid in a covered pan, below boiling. The liquid becomes the sauce. Examples: beans with tomato, goat or beef stew.
Poaching: gentle cooking in liquid just below boiling (about 70 to 80 °C), with the surface barely moving. Used for delicate foods: eggs, fish fillets, fruit.
Steaming: cooking in the steam above boiling water. Keeps more vitamins than boiling, because the food does not sit in the water. Example: matoke steamed in banana leaves.

Dry-heat methods (hot air, direct heat or fat)

Baking: cooking in the dry heat of an oven. Examples: bread, cakes, baked sweet potato.
Roasting: cooking in an oven or over an open fire, usually with a little fat. Examples: roasted maize cobs, roast chicken, groundnuts.
Grilling: cooking by strong direct heat from above or below, on a grill or over charcoal. Example: brochettes (meat on skewers), grilled tilapia.
Frying: cooking in hot fat or oil. Shallow frying uses a little oil (omelettes, sambaza); deep frying covers the food in oil (chips, mandazi). Fried food absorbs fat, so it adds energy and should be eaten in moderation.
Smoking: drying and flavouring food, especially fish and meat, in smoke from a slow wood fire. It also preserves the food for longer.

Worked example: choosing a method

Task: Choose a suitable method for (a) tilapia for a special guest, (b) vegetables for a child who needs vitamin C, (c) fish from Lake Kivu that must keep for a week without a fridge.

Solution: (a) grilling over charcoal: quick, tasty, and little added fat. (b) steaming for a short time: vitamin C dissolves in water and is destroyed by long heating, so less water and less time keep more of it. (c) smoking (or sun-drying): removing water and adding smoke slows the growth of micro-organisms.

Warning

Safety at the stove

Knives: keep knives sharp (a blunt knife slips); cut on a board that does not slide (put a damp cloth under it); curl your fingertips in ("claw grip"); cut away from your body; never try to catch a falling knife; carry a knife point down; never leave knives hidden in washing-up water.
Hot pans: turn handles inwards, away from the edge and from other burners; use dry oven gloves or a dry thick cloth (a wet cloth conducts heat and causes steam burns); lift lids away from your face; lower food gently into hot oil.
Oil fires: never pour water on burning oil. Turn off the heat, cover the pan with a lid or a damp cloth, and leave it to cool.
Gas stoves: check the hose and connections; light the match before opening the gas tap; if you smell gas, do not light anything or touch switches, close the cylinder valve, open doors and windows, and get help. Keep the cylinder upright and outside if possible.
Charcoal stoves (imbabura): use them only in well-ventilated places; burning charcoal gives off carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas with no smell.

Tip

Memory hook: "Moist = water or steam; Dry = air, fire or fat". Boiling, stewing, poaching and steaming are moist; baking, roasting, grilling, frying and smoking are dry.

Exam technique: when asked to compare two methods, give one point about nutrients, one about texture or flavour, and one about fat or time.

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Practice

What is the difference between boiling and poaching?

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Solution: Boiling cooks food in liquid at 100 °C with large bubbles; poaching cooks it gently just below boiling (about 70 to 80 °C) with the surface barely moving. Poaching is used for delicate foods such as eggs and fish.

Why does steaming keep more vitamin C than boiling?

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Solution: Vitamin C dissolves in water. In steaming the food does not sit in the water, so less vitamin C is lost into the cooking liquid.

Oil in a frying pan catches fire. State what you should do and what you must never do.

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Solution: Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid or a damp cloth to cut off the air. Never pour water on it: the water turns to steam instantly and throws burning oil out of the pan.

You smell gas as you enter the kitchen. List three actions.

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Solution: Do not light a match or use switches; close the cylinder valve; open doors and windows; leave and get an adult or technician to check the leak. (Any three.)

Summary

Moist-heat methods: boiling, stewing, poaching, steaming. Dry-heat methods: baking, roasting, grilling, frying, smoking.
Short cooking with little water keeps the most vitamins.
Knives: sharp, claw grip, board that does not slip. Pans: handles in, dry gloves. Oil fires: lid, never water. Gas: light the match first, and never light anything if you smell gas.

Sources and credits

Written by Ganzaa.

1Why we cook food

2Moist-heat methods (food cooked in water or steam)

3Dry-heat methods (hot air, direct heat or fat)

Worked example: choosing a method

Practice

Why we cook food

Moist-heat methods (food cooked in water or steam)

Dry-heat methods (hot air, direct heat or fat)