炖，灼热，烘烤，煮沸 - 显然是在做饭，但是每种技术都会产生独特的美味效果。问题是，为什么？

烹饪,通过简单的定义,是应用程序of heat to food. But all heat is not created equal. In the kitchen, there’s a big difference between moist heat and dry heat. Whenever you add a water-based liquid to the pot or pan—for instance, when you simmer, boil, steam, or braise—you’re cooking with moist heat. If you don’t add water—when you sear, sauté, fry, roast, or grill—you’re cooking with dry heat. And when you understand the different effects moist and dry heat have on food’s flavor and texture, you’ll be that much closer to getting the results you want from whichever cooking technique you choose.

干热产生新的颜色和口味

If you want the exterior of your food to be browned or crisp, dry heat is the only way to go. Dry, relatively high heat spurs molecular changes in the amino acids and sugars on the surface of food, turning them brown, sweet, and crisp. Allowed to progress unchecked, these browning reactions can take the exterior of your food from deliciously golden brown to bitter and burned. So the challenge of all dry-heat cooking methods is getting food cooked through before the exterior overcooks. The key is to choose the right dry-heat technique for your ingredients (see the table below), or to combine two methods, such as searing first and then roasting.

灼热，炒和锅油炸。当食物碰到一个非常热的油锅时，食物上的表面水分很快就会蒸发，并且食物表面上的棕色外壳开始形成。这些干加热方法的常见陷阱是使锅过度拥挤，这阻碍了蒸发，导致食物在自己的果汁中而不是棕色。

The ideal foods for these stovetop techniques are fairly thin, tender cuts of meat (chicken breasts, steaks and chops, or fish) or uniformly chopped or sliced vegetables. If the food is too thick, you risk burning the outside before the inside is done—the surface of the food receives intense heat (up to 450°F) by being in direct contact with the hot pan, but heat travels comparatively slowly to the center of the food. Tony Rosenfeld tackles that problem in his story烤，烤和酱, where he sears thicker steaks, chops, chicken breasts, and salmon fillets on the stove and finishes cooking in the gentler heat of the oven.

烘烤和烘烤. When we bake or roast, we surround food with hot, dry air (300° to 500°F), which heats the surface, evaporates moisture, and allows browning to occur. It takes much longer to roast or bake food than to sear or sauté it because air is a poor heat conductor (you’ve probably noticed that you can put your hand in a 400°F oven but not in 400°F oil or in boiling water). This makes roasting ideal for cooking large cuts of meat or whole vegetables.

Deep-frying.这似乎很像沸腾，但是将食物浸入热油中实际上被认为是一种干热烹饪方法。热油比沸水要热得多，因此它能够将食物表面干燥并褐色。

烧烤和烤。When you grill over glowing embers or slide food beneath a fiery broiler, infrared heat cooks the food. The temperature of glowing coals and broiler elements can be off the charts—from 2,000° to 3,000°F—so you can quickly achieve amazing browning and flavor. But as with searing and deep-frying, if you’re not careful, your kebabs or steaks will be charred outside and raw inside, so these techniques are best for thin, tender cuts of meat and quick-cooking vegetables.

Moist heat brings out foods’ natural colors and flavors

潮湿加热烹饪方法的最明显特征是没有褐变，这是由干热量触发的。考虑煮沸和烤土豆之间的差异。当您吃在潮湿的热量中烹制的食物时，您会品尝食物的内在品质，而不是烹饪方法本身所产生的风味。

Cooking in water: boiling, simmering, poaching.一旦水达到沸点，它就不会变得更热（除了压力锅外）。尽管212°F的水很热，可以通过分解植物细胞和复杂的蛋白质分子来嫩化食物，但它的热量不够热，无法点燃引起褐变的化学反应。水中烹饪的一个重要优势是速度。水很好地进行热量，并迅速烹饪食物。煮几分钟的沸水需要煮浓密的蔬菜，例如胡萝卜或花椰菜小花（在400°F烤箱中，它们需要更长的时间）。

有了湿热，燃烧并不是问题，但仍然可以过度煮食物，尤其是通过沸腾。将花椰菜煮沸太长，细胞壁会塌陷，使您呈苍白的糊状。

Most food is considered cooked when its interior temperature reaches somewhere between 125° and 170°F. In his book, The Curious Cook, Harold McGee demonstrates that if you can keep the cooking liquid’s temperature at the food’s ideal cooked temperature, there’s no risk of overcooking. That’s why it’s kinder to simmer some foods in water at 180°F or even poach at 160°F. If you drop a chicken breast into boiling water, the exterior will be tough and dry by the time the meat is cooked through, but if you poach the breast, it can become succulent. Unfortunately, it’s easier to maintain a rolling boil than a 160°F poach, so stove-side vigilance and a thermometer are required.

在水蒸气中烹饪：蒸汽是212°F或更热的蒸汽，将食物包裹在水分中，并快速但轻轻地烹饪。蒸汽可以提高蔬菜的自然品质，并且可以煮熟精致的鱼，而无需洗净它们的口味或使片状肉在沸腾或沸水中搅动搅动的气泡。而且，如果您希望米饭或蒸粗麦粉异常蓬松而不是潮湿，请尝试用蒸汽烹饪。

How moist and dry heat affect food

	影响	Works well with…
Dry Heat
灼热	食物表面上的美味棕色外壳（不会榨汁）	宽阔，平坦的食物：嫩牛排和排骨，鱼片，扇贝；烤蛋糕
saute, pan-fry	great flavor and texture on exterior of food; doesn’t tenderize; can be drying	均匀的小嫩肉和蔬菜
grill or broil	强烈调味的褐色或烧焦的外观	thin, tender cuts of meats and vegetables
deep-fry	酥脆，褐色的外观；潮湿的内饰	统一的小块坚固的淀粉蔬菜
roast	褐色的外观；多汁的Interio	poultry; large tender cuts of meat; root vegetables and squash; fruits
Moist Heat
偷猎	潮湿，嫩	蛋;鱼;虾;龙虾梨；鸡胸肉
simmer	潮湿，嫩	dried grains and legumes; hearty greens
steam	丰满，潮湿，嫩	delicate protein; vegetables; dumplings; couscous
熬	再水合；招标	dried pasta; firm vegetables

Braising and stewing: the best of both worlds

干热和潮湿的热量对食物的影响非常不同，当您两者都用来烹饪一道菜时（例如，当您制作炖肉或炖菜时）会发生美好的事物。您可以通过灼热或锅油炸肉和蔬菜开始炖或炖。然后，您加入液体并小火煮，直到食物变软并煮熟为止。最终的结果是两全其美的结果：干热烹饪的所有美味褐色口味和融化的口中的融化，只有低，潮湿的热量才能哄骗食物。这些组合烹饪方法可用于从肉切成薄片到各种蔬菜的任何事物。