In simple terms, cooking is a process of preparing food by applying heat. The method used in applying heat varies from different countries, cultures, environment, and preference. Generally, these methods can be categorized into one of two categories – dry heat cooking methods and moist heat cooking methods.

Dry Heat Cooking:

Dry heat cooking refers to any cooking technique where the heat is transferred to the food item without using any moisture. Dry-heat cooking typically involves high heat, with temperatures of 300°F or hotter.

Ø Roasting and Baking are forms of dry heat cooking using hot dry air to cook the food.

Ø Grilling and Broiling rely on heat being conducted through the air from open flames.

Ø Sautéing and Pan-Frying are quick methods of cooking and almost similar in techniques with a few key differences. Sautéing uses a very hot pan with a small amount of fat, and the food is kept moving by tossing or flipping the food. The word sauté means “to jump” in French. Pan-Frying differs in that there’s no tossing of the food, uses slightly more fat, and slightly lower temperature than sautéing. When pan-frying larger cuts of meats, the cooking process if often finished in the oven after the surface is cooked to the desired degree. The reason for this is that the food isn’t in the pan for very long and finishing the cooking process in the oven would insure the food is cooked through on the inside as well.

Ø Deep-Fat Frying is a technique of cooking food by submerging in hot, liquid fat.

It's worth noting that cooking methods involving fat, such as sautéing and deep-frying, are considered dry-heat methods. If this seems confusing, remember that oil and water don't mix, so while fat can take a liquid form, in many ways it's the opposite of water — hence "dry" heat.

Moist Heat Cooking:

Moist heat cooking methods include any techniques that involve cooking with moisture — whether it's steam, water, stock, wine or some other liquid. Cooking temperatures are much lower, anywhere from 140°F to a maximum of 212°F, because water doesn't get any hotter than that.

Ø Poaching, Simmering, and Boiling are different moist heat cooking methods where food is cooked either in hot water or in some other cooking liquid such as broth, stock or wine. What defines each one is an approximate range of temperatures, which can be identified by observing how the cooking liquid behaves. Each one — poaching, simmering and boiling — has certain telltale characteristics:

o Poaching Cooking in liquid with a temperature ranging from 140°F to 180°F is called poaching and is typically reserved for cooking very delicate items like eggs and fish.

o Simmering is cooking in liquid that's a bit hotter than poaching — from 180°F to 205°F. Here we will see bubbles forming and gently rising to the surface of the water, but the water is not yet at a full rolling boil.

o Boiling is the hottest of these three stages is boiling, where the water reaches its highest possible temperature of 212°F. It's actually the least likely of the three to be used for cooking. That's because the violent agitation caused by the rolling boil can be too rough on food and will often damage it.

Ø Steaming is a moist-heat cooking technique that employs hot steam to conduct the heat to the food item. Once water is heated past the 212°F mark, it stops being water and turns into steam. Steaming has an advantage over methods such as boiling or even simmering is that there is no agitation involved, so it's gentler on delicate items like seafood. And because it doesn't require the food to be submerged, it avoids the loss of nutrients through leaching. It also cooks relatively quickly.

Ø Braising and Stewing are forms of moist heat cooking that are almost similar in process.

o Braising is a method of slowly cooking meat, poultry, or meaty vegetables in a heavy-based covered pan or covered casserole, using a bed of chopped vegetables, which can also include some diced ham or bacon added for flavor. Enough liquid, such as water or stock, is added to the pot to cover the meat or meaty vegetable halfway.

o Stewing is a method in which the added liquid (beer, cider, stock, water or wine) covers the meat and is heated to just under boiling point. This technique is reserved for the toughest cuts of meat which need long, slow cooking, and the meat is generally cut into chunks to aid the tenderizing process.

Choosing the Right Cooking Technique:

Using the appropriate cooking method for the type of food being prepared is a major part of the culinary arts. Tough cuts of meat like brisket or shank need to be cooked slowly, at low heats, for a long time, and with plenty of moisture. Prepared properly, these cuts can be incredibly tender and delicious. On the other hand, dry-heat methods typically involve very high temperatures and short cooking times. A piece of brisket cooked in this way — on a grill, let's say — would be tough, chewy and largely inedible. Interestingly enough, a beef tenderloin steak cooked using a slow, moist-heat method such as braising would also turn out tough, chewy and inedible — albeit for different reasons.