Table of Contents
Before you get into the article, you should ask yourself this one question, “What do I know about baking?” Then you are ready to get into this article.
What is baking?
Baking is a cooking method that involves the use of dry heat, this is mostly done by placing it in an oven.
The degree of dryness is completely dependent on the amount of moisture produced from the food being baked.
Image from Pinterest.com
There are some examples of baked foods like;
- Cake
- Meat pie
- Cookies
- Biscuit
There are several ways food can be prepared and eaten, and there are only a few you would be familiar with, but it is important you know other means of cooking asides from your regular method.
There are different methods of cooking, it is only right you know the different types of cooking so you would be able to try them out at your time and see what works best for you.
Different Methods Of Cooking
- Poaching
- Stewing
- Braising
- Frying
- Boiling
Amongst all these methods of coking, did you know have good information about baking and the benefits of baked goods? No? Not to worry, that is why the African food network is here for you.
You are going to get familiar with the health benefits of baked food, the types of baked food, and the disadvantages of baked food.
So get ready to be blown away with African baked food and the wonder of baking. Before we get right into it, what do you know about baking?
What Do You Know About Baked Food?
Baked goods can easily be described as foods that are made from batter or dough, then prepared by baking.
Baking is a method of cooking that makes use of dry heat, usually prolonged, the heating is also normally done in an oven.
Baking with an oven is not the only means of baking, there are also some other means like; The use of hot stones and the use of hot ashes.
There is so much other food that can be baked, but the most popular baked food in the world is bread.
There are so many baked goods out here to try, especially in Africa where there are thousands of food, you are going to get a view of the different kinds of baked goods but before we get into the types of baked food, you should know a little bit about what you’re getting into right?
What are the advantages of baked food?
- You Would Be Getting So Much More Nutrients
Image from: Pinterest.com
There are some essential nutrients the body needs to be able to function properly, and most of these nutrients can be gotten from eating different types of food and drinking water or some healthy drinks.
But did you know that you can also get so much more nutrients from eating baked food? Get ready to be excited.
Vitamins and minerals are water-soluble hence the nutrients and vitamins can be lost through boiling, some of the nutrients of food are reduced due to excessive cooking.
Baking makes use of dry heat, and the process of using dry heat ensures that a good amount of the nutrients would be retained. Which leaves you and your body happy because you would be getting so much more nutrients that would have been lost through boiling.
When the vitamins are retained due to the dry heat, a lot of the nutrients that are essential for your body would be retained like; Vitamin C and Vitamin B. These are nutrients that your body needs to function properly.
Another plus to baking is that it makes use of little oil, which also means that baking allows the preservation of fat-soluble vitamins.
Some of these fat-soluble vitamins are;
- Vitamin K
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
Unlike frying, baking would keep in these nutrients and have you nourished and healthy, but frying would make these nutrients “fall” into the oil, hence reducing the nutrient content of your meal.
With this one advantage you should already know by now that baked food is the right choice for you, or do you need some more convincing? That is what we are here for, to convince you to try new things that would be great for you and your health.
Let’s look into other advantages of baked food.
- Great Look, Great Taste, You Would Want More (Increased Appetite)
Did you know that the better the look of a dish, the more your appetite is increased?
What other food is more appealing than baked food? The scent, the look, and the taste would have your appetite increased and ready to eat.
Your senses are stimulated when you see a meal that is appealing which allows your appetite to increase, hence enabling you at more and take in more nutrients (but not too much).
- Baked Foods Are Known To Be Low In Fat
Baked goods are known to be healthy not just cause of the obvious nutrients that they possess, they are also known for their low-fat content.
Unlike fried foods, baked foods don’t require so much oil during the baking process, and due to the closed environment where the baking is usually done, there would be no heat escape.
All these are processes done to ensure your baked food is delicious enough for you, not just delicious enough but healthy.
The heat used in the baking process helps to burn natural fat inside the food, which then releases the fat before the food is fully cooked.
It’s so fun baking because if you don’t want to use oil, you can always use Apple sauce instead of cooking oil to prepare your baked food.
Now, what other reason are you looking for to start trying out new baked food? Stand up and get baking now.
- Baked Food Helps In Weight Loss Management
Deep-fried food causes absorption of oil into the food, hence during ingestion, the amount of fat in the food is increased, which leads to the increase in calorific and fat content in the body.
This fact alone causes weight gain and obesity in the body and being overweight is not healthy or good for you, that is why baked foods are a better choice for you.
Due to the requirement of little or no oil during the baking process of baked foods, the natural fat in the food is released to the environment due to the dry heat.
Now that you know the good sides of baked food, you should know that whatever has an advantage has its disadvantages, that is why it is important we eat in moderation, for your health.
It is okay to enjoy some baked food now and then but do you remember that saying about too much if everything not being good?
You are going to know the good and the bad of baked food so you would be able to make good choices about your healthy living and your choice of food.
The disadvantages are not to discourage you from having some baked food, after all the advantages are also there to encourage you to try out new things, and you should go ahead with it.
Now, let’s see the disadvantages of baked food.
What are the disadvantages of baked foods?
Just as we said earlier, there are some pretty good enough reasons why you should try new methods of Cooking, a good enough reason would be because it would expand your knowledge on food and help your cooking skills.
- Baking Can Be Time Consuming
To be able to bake is to have some time to spare because the processes involved in baking can be time-consuming.
Everyone loves a dish you can make in a few minutes or an hour but for baking, it would take up some time. That’s what you get for wanting a tasty treat, you’re going to have to be patient.
What is that saying about good things not coming easy? Of course, baked food is a good thing and it is going to take you some time.
From the making of the batter and the heating of the oven, there are some technical processes involved in this process, but not to worry, the African food network would give you the best recipes that would save you some time and give you an amazing taste.
- Possibility Of Trans Fat In Your Baked Food
Having a baked snack outside can be really fun, taking a walk past a really nice bakery, perceiving the aroma of bread from across the street. Yes, it is a thrill, but it can be dangerous in some cases.
Manufacturers of some baked foods, add some content of trans fat to the baked good.
Trans fat is known to improve the shelf life of these baked goods and they are also cost-effective, which makes it easily accessible.
But what you don’t know is that this trans fat that is used in the production of some of these baked foods is bad for your health, because trans fat is known to increase the levels of unhealthy cholesterol and lower the levels of healthy cholesterol.
This fact alone would lead to the risk of some severe diseases like heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and so many other dangerous diseases.
Don’t panic, what can you do about this?
Bake your pastries; baking your own pastries gives you the confidence of knowing the content in your baked food.
This reason alone is why you are encouraged to always try out new things, new food, new cooking methods and so many more.
You don’t need to go out to try new things, you can always get something fun and new here at Afrifoodnetwork.com. Giving you the best recipes, so many delicious dishes that would be fun and exciting, and of course healthy because you are the one in control of what goes into your body system.
Now you know the advantages of baked foods, with hopes that you have been convinced to try this new method of cooking, you would need to know some of the baked food you can try.
You don’t need to feel left out, there is always a recipe here for you to play around with.
Don’t you want to know the ingredients used in the preparation of your favorite baked food? Of course, you do, so here you go;
What are the ingredients used for the preparation of baked foods?
- Spices
- Dairy
- Flour
- Eggs
- Yeast
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Sugar
- Salt
- Honey (optional)
- Oil (optional)
- Flavorings
Now that you know the ingredients used to prepare your favorite baked food, what is stopping you from having some right now?
You should have some kind of insight into the types of Baked food there is, so, here you go;
Examples of baked food you would love
- Bread
- Biscuits
- Buns
- Bagels
- Cookies
- Pies
- Muffins
- Cakes
- Doughnuts
- Cinnamon rolls
- Tortillas
- Cheesecake
This article is not talking about just baked foods, we are here to discuss baked foods and fried foods, comparing the two methods of cooking to know which is the healthier option, the different types of food under these two major methods of cooking, and generally learning something fun and new.
Let’s talk about fried food
Image from: Pinterest.com
As earlier stated there are different methods of cooking that are fun and exciting to try, another fun new method of cooking is the frying method.
What do you know about fried food? Let’s start with the basics, what is frying?
Frying is a method of cooking that involves the heating up of oil or another fat and then cooking food in hot oil.
This method of cooking is very similar to another method of cooking that also involves the frying of food, known as Sautéing.
The difference between these two methods of cooking is very simple; Frying involves the use of spatula or tongs to turn the food being fried, but sautéing involves a technique called “tossing in the pan”. It involves the tossing of the food that is being sautéed.
Back to Fried Food
Have you ever heard someone say fried food is tasty but unhealthy? That is probably right and we would show you why we think it is right.
With everything that has a disadvantage, there is an advantage to it, and this tasty and fun method of cooking is also on this list of things that have its good and bad sides.
You are going to see why it is nice to try something new, although, frying is one of the most popular methods of cooking, still doesn’t stop you from trying to be creative with it.
Before you “experiment” with this method of cooking, you should know the advantages and disadvantages of fried food.
Let’s get into it!
What are the advantages of fried food?
- Frying is known to be one of the fastest methods of cooking
Just like we said earlier, baking is known to be time-consuming, and no one wants to spend so much time on a dish when you can get some as tasty, but even faster.
Fried food is known to be one of the fastest methods of cooking, this is because, the process of heat transfer that occurs in frying, which includes the movement of heat from one medium (hot liquid oil) to another (solid food) is faster than the heated air process also known as solid and the oven.
- You Would Be Sure of Getting the Best Flavors from Your Fried Food
Imagine walking past the kitchen and you perceive a freshly fried chicken or fish or even chips, you know how your senses would go up for a moment and you begin to want that fried food.
Who doesn’t love a little bit of fried food every here and there? Taking a bite from your favorite fried food would have your mind blown away because of the flavor that would be bursting out of this food into your mouth, leaving you smiling and happy.
This description alone is enough reason for people to love fried food more than any other kind of food, which is okay because it tastes amazing.
- Your Fried Food Is Going to be Tender
Have you ever noticed the tenderness and softness in between fried food? That soft part of the fried food is enough reason to try it.
You would be happy and satisfied with the juice and flavor that would burst out of the fried food.
These are good enough reasons why you should enjoy fried food every once in a while, but remember there are some bad sides to this method of cooking which you are going to have to get familiar with.
Let’s get into the disadvantages of fried food.
What are the disadvantages of fried food?
It is only right you are adequately informed on the risks of any kind of food, this would help you in ways like knowing how to prevent most of these effects and controlling them. Just making yourself and your body happy.
You would get to know the disadvantages of fried food, just like you got to know the advantages of fried food.
Let Us Get into The Disadvantages of Fried Food
- You Might Be at Risk of Obesity
Fried food is known to contain fats and oils which can lead to increased levels of cholesterol, and this is known to lead to several diseases and obesity.
This reason is why it is important to eat in moderation and not too much because certain levels and amounts of food can be harmful to the human body.
According to WebMD; “Fried foods may influence the risk of diseases through several key risk factors; Obesity, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.”
- You Might Be at Risk of High Caloric Content
Image from: Pinterest.com
The frying process is known to reduce some important nutrients in the food, and due to the frying of the food with hot oil, the calories in the oil go to the food. This often leads to an increase in the caloric content of fried food.
Fried Food Is Known to Increase Your Chances of Some Diseases. Making use of hydrogenated oil is unhealthy, especially when reused, (this is very common with fast foods).
The hydrogenated oil breaks down with every frying session, this causes more oil to be absorbed into the food. These changes in the nutrients or composition of fried food often put you at risk of some diseases.
These disadvantages are not to scare you; They are to let you know the things you put in your body system.
It is to help you understand the power of moderation and learn not to overdo things, so you can always have your fried food, as long as you enjoy your food is safe and healthy quantities.
Remember that saying about too much of everything not being good? Well, the same also goes for your food.
Types of fried food
- Puff Puff
- Plantain
- Fried eggs
- Doughnuts
- Koeksister
- Fried yam
- Fried chicken
- Chips
- Chin-chin
- Fried meat
You now have enough information about the differences between baked food and fried food. Food is a very important aspect of our lives but enjoyment is another important part of human life.
What other way to enjoy your life if you are not out there trying out new experiences and being creative?
Baked foods have their advantages and disadvantages, also does fried food, that is why you are going to have to learn more about moderation.
Enjoy life in moderation so that you would be able to preserve your health, keeping it healthy and strong, ready for another fun and exciting experience.
If you have ha ay off these foods, from the different methods of cooking, let us know how it was and what you loved most about it.
Don’t forget to have an amazing day, drink a lot of water and wear a huge smile on your face.
