These two words, roasting and baking, are so interesting, and technically may mean the same, but there are many explanations of their differences.
One explanation is that roasting is usually when meat is cooked in the oven at a higher temperature while with baking, it is cooked in the oven at a lower temperature. But I like to cook my roast chicken or turkey at a lower temperature of 325 to 350 for a longer time for a juicier end product. So did I roast or bake my chicken? Some baked items like bundt cakes call for a higher temperature, like 400 degrees. So am I roasting the cake or baking it?
Another explanation of the difference is that roasting is solid food and baking starts off as a liquid. So when I cook an apple pie, which starts off as solid, am I roasting it?
One more explanation is that roasting is when you cover what you are cooking in the oven and baking is when you do not cover. But when I bake butter mochi and need to cover it with foil, do I roast or bake it?
I do not think that temperature, solid or liquid, or covering or uncovering should be a distinction of whether something is baked or roasted as much as what you are cooking. In general, I think chicken, fish, lamb, beef and others classified as meats, regardless of the temperature you cook it, are roasted. I think all desserts, no matter at what temperature, and whether they are covered or not, are baked.
It makes me think about when we were on a safari in Tanzania, Africa and our cooks baked a cake in a Dutch oven over an open fire. They put hot logs on top of the cover as well as under the pot for even cooking. The cooks definitely baked a cake, as well as roasted our dinner using that same wood-burning fire in the jungle.
The science behind an oven is to disperse heat throughout the oven compartment. The heating element inside the oven is designed to convert electrical energy into thermal energy in a process called Joule heating.
Since frozen ducks are so expensive with very little to eat, let’s roast a Peking chicken for a tasty main entree.
Five-Spice Peking Chicken
Serves 4-6
One 5-6 pound chicken
Rub the cavity of a whole chicken with:
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice
Mix together in a small bowl and marinate the chicken at least four hours or overnight in a sealable zip bag:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
6 slices fresh ginger, cut into ¼ inch slices
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice
The next day, remove the chicken from the marinade and place the marinade in a small pot and place on the stove. Add, then boil:
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Turn oven on to 350 degrees F, place chicken in a baking pan lined with either foil or parchment paper (as the marinade will burn) and baste every 20 minutes for one hour and 30 minutes.
Now let’s bake some breakfast muffins with Martha Stewart’s morning glory muffins with bananas. If the criterion for a dish to be roasted is over 400 degrees, this one would not fit in the roasted category because it starts as liquid and bakes at 400 degrees.
Morning Glory Muffins with Banana
Martha Stewart
Makes 12 muffins
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners
In a large bowl, whisk together until there are no lumps:
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add and stir until blended:
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup skim milk
4 medium carrots, shredded (2.75 medium carrots = 1 cup)
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin in the middle comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Serve muffins warm or at room temperature.
So I hope we are in agreement that we are going to roast a chicken and bake muffins.
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.