Points to keep in mind while choosing cooking method

There are various cooking techniques is available which we use as per our convenience but we should consider a few nutritional facts before choosing our cooking method.

Boiling

• Helps to minimize the addition of fats, favoring the use of herbs and spices
• Use little water to avoid the excessive loss of vitamins and minerals
• Continuous boiling leads to damage in the structure, texture of food
• Loss of heat-labile nutrients like Vitamins B and C if the water is discarded
• Reduces Vitamin C content of food more than any other cooking method    

     

Steaming  

• Reduced loss of nutrients, organoleptic qualities of foods preserved
• No cooking fats required
• Limited to the preparation of selected foods 
• Cooking time is less and fuel wastage is less
• The texture of food is better as it becomes light and fluffy
• Nutrient loss is minimized
• Steamed foods are easily digested

 Simmering/Stewing 

• The long cooking times required lead to a significant loss of vitamins and minerals which, can be collected in the cooking liquid to avoid nutrient loss
• possible to limit the addition of cooking fats by using non-stick pans
• Loss of nutrients is avoided as the water used for cooking is not discarded
• The process is time-consuming and there is wastage of fuel  

     

Frying

• Use less amount of oil and always keep the oil at a constant temperature
• Avoid reusing oil as it is full of free radicals
• Repeated use of heated oils will have ill effects on health
• The calorific value of food is increased since fat is used as the cooking media
• Very quick method of cooking
• The food may become soggy due to too much oil absorption
• Fried foods are not easily digested

       

Grilling/Griddling - Barbecue

• Prevent foods from coming into direct contact with the flame
• Opt for non-stick griddle pans which allow you to control the temperature
• Do not salt food before cooking it
• Enhances the flavor, appearance, and taste of the product
• Requires less time to cook
• Minimum fat is used    

       

 Microwave  

• Reduces cooking time 
• Limited loss of nutrients 
• Little cooking fat required
• Enhances the flavor of food because it cooks quickly with little or no water
• Preserves most nutrients due to short cooking times
• About 20-30% of vitamin C in green vegetables is lost during microwaving, which is less than most cooking methods 
• Short cooking times and reduced exposure to heat preserve the nutrients in microwaved food    

Baked    

• Vitamins can be lost through baking, thiamine and vitamin C is the most unstable at heat  
• Baking vegetables with skins intact minimizes the contact with air, therefore, reduces the loss of nutrients
• Baking can make protein in meat and eggs easier to digest
• Due to long cooking times at high temperatures, B vitamins in roasted meat may decline as much as 40%

Pan-fry 

• Takes less time
• Minimum oil is used
• The end product is slightly moist and tender but without any liquid or gravy
• Cooking for a short time without water prevents loss of B vitamins, and the addition of fat improves the absorption of plant compounds and antioxidants 
• Improve the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and some plant compounds, but they decrease the amount of vitamin C in vegetables

      

 Shallow fry    

• Quick method of cooking
• No loss of soluble nutrients
• Add different texture to food through browning  
• Not suitable for tough cuts of meat, poultry on vegetables 
• Requires supervision  

       

 Roasting    

• Requires less oil, which reduces the fat and calorie content of the food 
• Dry roasting won't significantly change their nutrition facts  
• In some cases, however, roasting veggies or cooking them in another fashion may improve their nutrition values
• According to "The Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition" you can minimize nutrient loss with roasting by avoiding overripe vegetables, roasting them with peels, keeping pieces large, minimizing added water.