Baking

Baking is a method of preparing food or clay that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most commonly baked food is bread. Heat is gradually transferred from the surface of unbaked goods to their center, typically at elevated temperatures surpassing 300 °F. Dry heat cooking imparts a distinctive richness to foods through the processes of caramelization and surface browning. As heat travels through, it transforms batters and doughs into baked goods and more with a firm dry crust and a softer center. Baking can be combined with grilling to produce a hybrid barbecue variant by using both methods simultaneously, or one after the other. Baking is related to barbecuing because the concept of the masonry oven is similar to that of a smoke pit.