Baking vs. Roasting

The origins of roasting traditionally meant, “to cook food, held upon some form of scaffolding, before the radiant heat of a fire.- for example, roasting a chicken over an open fire. 

But since most home cooks have traded the fire-based method of cooking for more convenient conventional ovens in their home, that same chicken roasting in the oven is technically, actually baked.

It’s important to recognise the difference that we make between baking from roasting in modern cooking.

We usually roast foods that already have a structure like meat or vegetables, and at higher temperatures, often upwards of 190 °C. 

The higher cook temperatures and use of high convection is ideal for crisping skin on meats and charring vegetables, but will likely leave your cakes cracked on top or overcooked on the bottom.

Think about it like this, when you bake something, you are trying to create structure, when you roast something, you are trying to break down structure.