Baking and grilling are two techniques of preparing recipes that are known to mankind since ages. In ancient times before civilization and when cooking oil was not there to cook food, man made fire and baked or grilled meat to make it palatable and tasty. Though both baking and grilling require the food to be heated, there are differences in the two techniques that will be talked about in this article.
Baking
In western countries, and now even in the eastern part of the world, more and more homes are using ovens that apply the principle of baking to prepare food items. In baking, heat is applied to the food item through convection. This type of cooking can be done in an oven or on hot stones. All types of biscuits, cakes and pastries are prepared by the process of baking. In Asia, breads known as Roti are prepared by the process of baking. Though baking is done at homes, baked products such as biscuits, pastries and cakes are also sold in bakeries.
Though meat items are commonly baked, even vegetables can be baked such as baked potatoes, baked beans and even baked pasta. Modern ovens come equipped with grills that allow a person to either bake or grill the food item. While convection is the type of heating used in baking, it is the heat of radiation that prepares food using grilling.
Grilling
When a food item is cooked by application of dry heat from either below or above, the process is known as grilling. A grill can be either an open grill or a fry pan with raised ridges to imitate the open grill. Radiation of heat from the heating source is responsible for raising the temperature of the food to be cooked when grilled. But when a grill pan is used, it is direct conduction that cooks the food. In some western countries like US and Canada, the process of cooking is called broiling when the heat to cook the food comes from above.
Direct grilling raises the temperature of food to more than 260 degree Celsius and induces a particular aroma which is why grilled food is loved by people all over the world. In Asian countries, grilled meat and kebabs are a delicacy and people relish the taste of such recipes.
One application of grilling is in barbeque where food item to be cooked is provided low and indirect heat from below with the help of smoking wood or hot coal or charcoal. This is a process that is very similar to the way food was cooked in India and Pakistan before cooking gas was introduced.
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In brief: Baked vs Grilled • Baking and grilling are two popular methods of cooking without the use of a cooking medium such as oil. • While baking involves heating a food item through convection, grilling applies heat through radiation • Baking is used to produce all sorts of biscuits, cakes and pastries, and oven is a good example of baked food items. Breads in all countries of the world are baked products. • Grilling is application of heat from below using an open grill to cook the food. Grilling is mostly used to cook meat, beef, and pork.
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