Cooking---is-it-an-art--a-science--or-a-pain
By Bob Boeck
For me, has always been fun. I started cooking
in my younger day back in Nebraska. Luckily, my mother
was patient enough to teach me. For my wife, she's glad
I have fun doing it. What is your vote? Do you cook
for pleasure, or necessity?

If you have the right equipment, a comfortable kitchen,
and are willing to try different things, can be
fun. Having someone to clean up after you helps, too.
Most ovens are self-cleaning now, so being a little sloppy
pulling your cooked item out of the oven isn't quite so
critical. You just wipe up what you can, and self-clean
sometime in the future.

Cooking schools and Culinary Academies can give you
whatever level of education you want. You can take
only a Dim Sum class or get a degree in Culinary Arts.
There are online courses and courses by mail. The choice
is yours. There is a Catering and Gourmet class
which is online and through Penn Foster Career School.

There are many methods of cooking. Dry-heat
methods without fat are broiling, roasting or baking,
grilling, barbecuing, griddling, and pan-broiling.
Dry-heat methods with fat are sauteing,
pan-frying, and deep-frying. Moist heat
methods are steaming, boiling, simmering, poaching,
and blanching. Broiling is a method using high heat.
My favorite is outdoor cooking. There is also crock-pot
cooking, which is an easy way to prepare a full meal.

As I said before, having the right culinary equipment
makes the task of a lot easier. I use the
nonstick pans versus the stainless steel variety.
They are easier to clean up. Other materials

used for
cookware is copper, aluminum, stainless steel, cast iron,
glass, ceramics, plastic, and enamelware. Pans lined with
enamel should not be used for cooking. The enamel may
chip or crack. Having a variety of sizes for cookware
makes the process much easier. A good set of
kitchen knives is a must, also. They should be kept sharp
for both safety reasons and easier to use. Use the correct
knife for the specific job being done. A paring knife
wouldn't work to well trying to cut through bone.

Being educated in food safety should also be a
consideration. You don't want your family to get Vibrio
parahaemolyticus Gastroenteritis from eating raw oysters.
(Spelling or pronunciation is not a priority for cooking.)
You don't need to get a ServSafe Food Safety Manager
Certification, but a basic understanding of food safety
should be learned. Some foods are more likely to become
unsafe than others. Some potentially hazardous food would
be milk, eggs, shellfish, fish, baked potatoes, sliced
melon, meats, and poultry.

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info

About the Author:
Bob Boeck
Bob Boeck is a Premier Member of the United States Personal Chef Association. Visit http://cooking-info.net for more articles on and recipes.