Roasting vegetables/fruits vs other methods

[stuartlikesstrudel]

Hey all,

I have been wondering for a while if there's anything inherently different in the heat from an oven than from other methods... for example, I'm about to cook some rhubarb, and I was planning to cook it over a double boiler, sprinkled with sugar - so with no added liquid. If I were to cook it in the oven, what might be the difference? I guess for some things you get caramelization, and it is a more generalised heat which would make a difference. The reduction of moisture/liquids is the most important feature, as far as I can understand, as it allows for intensity of flavour.

I don't want to get fixated on rhubarb, it's more of a general question. To my mind it extends to all kinds of things... roasting pumpkin rather than steaming (if you're doing a large chunk of pumpkin, where the maillard reaction on the surfaces isn't necessarily the aim). Roasting pears rather than sauteeing or whatnot... or sauteeing cauliflower rather than the famous eG roasted slices. In this case, since they're so thin, would it work equally well (or even better?) to be exposing the edges directly, so you get the browning intensely. (never mind the huge amount of pan surface area you'd need to do more than a few slices).

Hopefully this is clear, I'd like to hear what other people have experienced anecdotally or scientifically... to me, heating the oven and spending quite a bit of time to roast elements seems a bit of a waste in many applications, so i wonder how different the results are. But I do recognise that at least some of the time, there is a definite difference.

[JAZ]

In our cooking classes, we regularly do side-by-side comparison of roasted v. steamed vegetables -- usually asparagus and carrots. You're right that the browning makes a difference, but I'd say the loss of water in the roasted vegetables accounts for the biggest difference. The flavors are more intense: for the carrots, it means they're noticeably sweeter. Generally, the students prefer the roasted versions, although I think that the steamed versions give a purer flavor -- no Maillard flavors masking the vegetables.

[stuartlikesstrudel]

I have planned to do some comparison, makes sense really...

Are there some things where the difference is more marked, do you think? I guess high water vegetables might be more dramatic.

In regards the carrots, it made me think of a Marcella Hazan recipe for sauteed carrots that cook slowly for about 90 mins (maybe braised rather than sauteed) and throughout that time, they shrink and shrivel, as you only add enough liquids to keep them from sticking. At the end they taste intense and very different from their fresh counterparts.

[Shalmanese]

In our cooking classes, we regularly do side-by-side comparison of roasted v. steamed vegetables -- usually asparagus and carrots. You're right that the browning makes a difference, but I'd say the loss of water in the roasted vegetables accounts for the biggest difference. The flavors are more intense: for the carrots, it means they're noticeably sweeter. Generally, the students prefer the roasted versions, although I think that the steamed versions give a purer flavor -- no Maillard flavors masking the vegetables.

You could normalize for this by cooking the same weight using both methods and then pureeing them and adding water to make up the difference in the roasted version.