Cooking regime

Dry heat, high surface temperature, evaporative

This is the environment several familiar methods share: the surface is allowed to dry and climb well above the boiling point of water while the interior lags behind. Roasting, grilling, baking and searing are all versions of it.

What defines it

Two things together. No water is added, so nothing keeps the surface at 100°C once its own moisture has evaporated. And the heat comes from outside, so a gradient forms — the surface is far hotter than the centre, and stays that way throughout.

That gradient is the whole character of the regime. It is what makes browning possible, because browning needs the surface above about 140°C. It is also what makes evenness difficult, because by the time the centre of a thick piece is done, the outer layers have had considerably more heat than they needed.

Every technique within the regime is a way of managing that trade: two-zone grilling, low-and-slow roasting, reverse searing, resting.

What it does well and badly

Excellent at

Browning, crust formation, crisping, concentrating flavour by driving off water.

Good at

Cooking thin and medium pieces through while browning them.

Poor at

Evenness in thick pieces. The surface is always further along than the centre.

Poor at

Keeping lean food moist. Evaporation is continuous and there is nothing replacing the water.

Cannot do

Convert collagen quickly — that needs moisture. Slow-roasted shoulder gets there only by taking many hours.

The characteristic failure

Black outside, raw inside. Managed by lowering the temperature, moving to indirect heat, or splitting the cook into two stages.

The methods that live here

• Roasting — an oven, moderate to high, with air circulating.
• Grilling and broiling — fierce radiant heat from one side.
• Baking — the same environment, applied to something that builds its structure during the cook.
• Searing and dry pan-frying — the same physics concentrated into a very hot surface and a very short time.
• Air frying — a small chamber with fast-moving air, which is this regime with the evaporation accelerated.
• Barbecue with the lid down — an oven made of a kettle, which is why it behaves like roasting rather than grilling.

Managing the gradient

Every technique in this regime is a way of dealing with the fact that the surface is always further along than the centre.

• Lower the temperature for thicker food. A big joint at 160°C is far more even than the same joint at 220°C, and it browns perfectly well over the longer time.
• Split the cook in two. Gentle heat to bring the interior up, then a short blast for the crust. This is the reverse sear, and it is the most reliable answer for anything thick.
• Use two zones on a grill, so food can be seared and then moved away from the fire to finish.
• Rest anything large. The gradient is still there when the food leaves the oven and it continues to even out.
• Cut it smaller where you can. Thickness, not weight, decides how long heat takes to reach the middle.
• Do not cover it to "help it along". Covering turns the whole thing into steaming and forfeits the browning that is the regime's entire purpose.

Common questions