AY Honors/Cooking/Answer Key

Cooking

1. Know how to properly operate the kind of stove you have in your home. Know how to put out an oil or grease fire on your stove. Know how to prevent such a fire. Know safety precautions while cooking, including consideration of small children.

Operating a stove

There are two major classes of stoves in common use in the United States today, the gas stove and the electric stove. Gas stoves burn either propane or natural gas and cook with an exposed flame. Most have automatic ignition so you do not need to strike a match to light a burner. Simply turn the knob and set the flame to the desired level. Electric stoves cook with a heating element which converts eletrical energy into heat. Like gas stoves, the cook must turn a knob, but unlike gas stoves, there is no flame, so its level cannot be directly observed. Instead, the knobs are marked with numbers generally ranging from 1 to 9 or 10. The settings 1-3 corresponds to low heat, 4-6 correspond to medium heat, and 7-10 correspond to high heat.

Putting out a grease fire

In case of a grease fire in a pan, cover the pan with its lid. This will deprive the fire from oxygen and it will go out. If the cover is already on the pan, you may need to use a fire extinguisher.

Safety considerations

Stoves with knobs along the back of the unit are more appropriate in households with small children because the children cannot reach the knobs and turn the stove on. This does present a lesser danger to the cook, as he or she must reach across the burners to adjust the knobs - don't wear loose clothing when cooking with such a stove.

Another hazard to children involving stoves are pot handles. These should always be turned such that they to not overhand the edge of the stove where a child could grab it or run into it. An overturned pot of boiling water can cause severe burns.

Do not place flammable items on the stove, ever. This includes paper or plastic plates, or food packaging items (boxes and bags). It is easy to accidently turn on the wrong burner, and if a flammable item is on that burner, tragedy may ensue.

Remember that the burners stay hot for several minutes after they have been turned off.

Many foods (especially pastas) are boiled in water and the water is then drained. Use a colander for this purpose. When transporting a pot full of boiling water from the stove to the sink, so not lift the pot over the head of a child who may be underfoot - clear the area first. While cooking, dishes and cooking implements pile up in the sinks of even the cleanest of kitchens. Remove any dishes from the sink before pouring boiling water into it. The sudden temperature increase can shatter glass, and you do not want boiling water to pool up in any dishes in the sink.

3. What is meant by boiling, broiling, frying, baking, simmering, waterless cooking, and if available microwave cooking? Which are the most healthful ways of preparing common foods? Which are the most unhealthful ways?

Cooking Methods

Boiling

Baking is the technique of cooking food in an oven by dry heat applied evenly throughout the oven or only from the bottom element.

Broiling

Frying

Baking

Simmering

Waterless cooking

Microwave cooking