• Broiling
• Grilling
• Roasting & Braising
• Sautéing
• Stir Frying

Roasting and braising are a little more complex and time consuming. To be precise, roasting is cooking—usually in an oven—without liquid, and braising is cooking with. Baking is what you call roasting when you’re making cakes, cookies, pies and other, well, baked goods. Stewing is what you call braising when you cut the meat into small pieces and totally immerse it in a liquid.

The earliest roasting was done on a spit over an open fire. Nowadays our spit is a motor-driven rotisserie, which usually comes with the more expensive styles of outdoor grills and indoor ovens. Like spit roasting, rotisserie roasting cooks the meat evenly and makes basting easier since the cook has access to all of the meat surfaces.

The biggest thing to happen to roasting over the past few years has been the convection oven. Cooking in a convection oven is both more energy efficient and faster because air is circulated continuously around the food being cooked.

If you’re using a convection oven, make sure you adjust your recipes for the difference in time and temperature. Most recipes (including the ones on this site) assume you’ll be using a regular gas oven. If you want to try the recipe in a gas convection oven, remember to follow the 25/25 rule which says to reduce the oven temperature called for in a recipe by 25°F and reduce the cooking time by 25 percent for starters. You may have to experiment a bit to get to the right combination of time and temperature.

For both roasting and braising, be sure to have a meat thermometer on hand. Insert it into the thickest part of the meat, and be sure it’s not touching any bone. Follow this chart to determine the best temperature for various meats and poultry.

To avoid overcooking roasts, take the meat out of the oven when it is between five and ten degrees away from the desired temperature and let it stand covered loosely with aluminum foil or a clean dish towel for at least 15 minutes. This accomplished two things. While it is sitting, the juices—which have been pushed to the outer edges of the roast—will be reabsorbed back into the meat, and the temperature will continue to rise about five to ten degrees and reach the desired level of doneness.

When it comes to roasting beef, the most elegant choice is a tenderloin roast, which is lean and tender but very expensive. This is where filet mignon comes from. Another good choice would be a rib-eye roast, also called prime rib or a Delmonico roast. This is where rib-eye steaks come from.

More reasonably priced candidates for a simple roast beef are a top loin roast, top sirloin butt roast and a tri-tip roast. Round roasts and rump roasts can work, but they can be a little tougher. Chuck roasts, arm roasts, blade roasts and pot roasts are best for braising which is discussed later.

For pork, the best cuts for roasting are the Boston butt roasts, picnic roasts, fresh ham roasts, loin roasts, crown roasts, leg and tenderloin. A center cut loin roast is one of the best cuts for roasting. It’s from the middle of the loin and contains part of the backbone. Cooking with the bone on adds flavor, but be sure to ask the butcher to “break’ or cut through the bone to make carving easier. This is the cut that’s used to make a rack of pork, in which the ends of the bones are frenched (all the meat and fat is removed).

Naturally, whole chickens and turkeys are great for roasting as well.

Although we are all trying to eliminate as much fat—particularly animal fat—from our diets, it’s a good idea to leave a thin layer of fat on a roast and the skin on a chicken or turkey to help keep the meat moist. Most of the fat on the outside just melts into the bottom of the pan anyway, but without it, the meat could dry out. If there is any left on the outside, you can always trim it off when you carve the meat.

Before roasting, it’s a good idea to brown the meat on all sides in a few tablespoons of oil to caramelize it. This gives it a better flavor. Some recipes call for cooking a roast at 425°f for 15 minutes or so as a way of browning it.

Make sure you put the meat, fat side up, in an open roasting pan. Pick a roasting pan that is well-constructed with good handles to make it easier to lift out of the oven. Although you can put the meat directly on the bottom of the pan, consider using a metal rack or a bed of vegetables (called a mirepoix) so the meat sits up off of the pan which allows air to circulate and more evenly cook the meat. The mirepoix also adds flavor to the meat drippings for better, richer gravy or sauce. Just coarsely chop an onion, two carrots and two celery stalks and scatter them on the bottom of the roasting pan, then place the meat or fowl on the vegetables.

Don’t cover your roast or add liquid or you’ll be actually braising it instead of roasting it. You can, however, rub your roast with your favorite seasonings—salt, pepper and thyme seem to go particularly well with a beef roast.

You can also roast meat in your outdoor grill either using an electric rotisserie or by placing the chicken, roast beef or slab of ribs right on the grill. Just remember to put whatever it is that you’re cooking to one side so it’s not getting direct heat (you may have to turn off a burner) and turn the meat from time to time.

Keeping the temperature constant can be tricky. Even if your grill has a built-in thermometer, it’s a good idea to purchase one that can stand on the grill. The built-in ones usually measure the heat at the top of the closed grill which can be several degrees cooler than the down on the surface where your chicken is roasting. A gas grill gives you the best control over the heat, but even with a gas grill, if you are slow roasting your chicken or ribs (see our recipes in the recipe section) you may need to prop open the hood slightly to keep the temperature low enough.

Braising is the best way to cook tough cuts of beef from the parts of a cow that got a workout when the cow was walking around—like the shoulder or the rump. Braising is what you do for chuck roasts, arm roasts, blade roasts and pot roasts. They’re tougher than the other roasts because they have more connective tissue. And connective tissue, which consists mainly of collagen, is tough to chew if not cooked right.

For pork, the best cuts for braising are smaller cuts such as ribs, steaks, chops, and sausage. Chicken and turkey can also be braised. Coq au vin, which is French for chicken with wine is just that: chicken braised in wine.

Braising allows the meat (and the connective tissue) to slowly get to a certain heat where it melts into a more of a gelatin that is absorbed by the rest of the meat. Voila! The meat is tender. Braising demands some liquid, which not only helps cook the meat, but becomes the flavorful base for a sauce or gravy. Crock pot cooking is just braising for a long time.

As in roasting, you’ll need a roasting pan that is well-constructed with good handles to make it easier to lift out of the oven. Since you’ll be adding some sort of liquid, you don’t want to use a rack since you’ll want the meat to sit in the liquid. You can, however, use a mirepoix or a bed of vegetables. As in roasting, they will add flavor to the meat drippings for better, richer gravy or sauce. Just coarsely chop an onion, two carrots and two celery stalks and scatter them on the bottom of the roasting pan, then place the meat or fowl on the vegetables.

It’s a good idea to brown the meat or poultry before adding the liquid. Browning caramelizes the surface of the meat and makes it more flavorful. For poultry, try putting the bird on a rack (as if your roasting it) and cooking it for 20 minutes at 425°F to brown the skin. (See the Roast/Braised Chicken recipe in the recipe section.) Then remove the rack and put the chicken on a bed of mirepoix and add the liquid.

Some braising recipes call for covering the pot or the roasting pan to keep the liquid from evaporating. A Dutch oven is perfect for braising smaller roasts. Other recipes call for frequent basting and replenishing the liquid at intervals to keep the meat from drying out.

Don’t forget your favorite seasonings. These can be rubbed directly on the meat or mixed into the braising liquid.