Educator Dr. Timothy (TJ) Leonard has worked as an adjunct instructor of education and literacy education at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. Timothy Leonard current serves as a consultant for Woodbury Brewing Company in Woodbury, CT. His hobbies include writing and cooking. Two widely used methods in the culinary arts are dry heat and moist heat cooking.
Dry heat cooking doesn’t involve the use of water, broth, or moisture. However, cooking methods that use fat, like deep-frying and sautéing, fall into the dry heat category, since fat is not water.
The dry heat method relies on hot air circulation or the transfer of heat to food through fat. This method uses temperatures of 300 degrees Fahrenheit or more to create browning, a reaction when sugars and amino acids in the food turn brown to give a distinct flavor and aroma. Other examples of dry heat cooking are roasting, baking, broiling, grilling, and pan-frying.
Moist heat cooking uses water, steam, broth, stock, or wine for cooking food. The cooking temperature ranges from 140 degrees Fahrenheit to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Among other uses, moist heat cooks legumes and vegetables rich in fiber to perfect tenderness by softening the food. Examples of moist heat cooking are braising, poaching, stewing, steaming, boiling, and simmering.
