Cooking increases the digestibility of many foods which are inedible or poisonous when raw. For example, raw cereal grains are hard to digest, while kidney beans are toxic when raw or improperly cooked due to the presence of phytohaemagglutinin, which is inactivated by cooking for at least ten minutes at 100°C (212°F). [27]

a b Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens in the Human Diet. National Academy Press. 1996. ISBN 978-0-309-05391-4. To prevent those injuries there are protections such as cooking clothing, anti-slip shoes, fire extinguisher and more.

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The scientific study of cooking has become known as molecular gastronomy. This is a subdiscipline of food science concerning the physical and chemical transformations that occur during cooking. [42]

Vitamins and minerals are required for normal metabolism; and what the body cannot manufacture itself must come from external sources. Vitamins come from several sources including fresh fruit and vegetables ( Vitamin C), carrots, liver ( Vitamin A), cereal bran, bread, liver (B vitamins), fish liver oil ( Vitamin D) and fresh green vegetables ( Vitamin K). Many minerals are also essential in small quantities including iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium chloride and sulfur; and in very small quantities copper, zinc and selenium. The micronutrients, minerals, and vitamins [20] in fruit and vegetables may be destroyed or eluted by cooking. Vitamin C is especially prone to oxidation during cooking and may be completely destroyed by protracted cooking. [21] [ failed verification] The bioavailability of some vitamins such as thiamin, vitamin B6, niacin, folate, and carotenoids are increased with cooking by being freed from the food microstructure. [22] Blanching or steaming vegetables is a way of minimizing vitamin and mineral loss in cooking. Preparing food with heat or fire is an activity unique to humans. Archeological evidence of cooking fires from at least 300,000 years ago exists, but some estimate that humans started cooking up to 2 million years ago. [1] [2] Lin, Biing-Hwan; Guthrie, Joanne. "Nutritional Quality of Food Prepared at Home and Away From Home, 1977–2008". www.ers.usda.gov. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015 . Retrieved 21 November 2015. Cooking foods with heat depends on many factors: the specific heat of an object, thermal conductivity, and (perhaps most significantly) the difference in temperature between the two objects. Thermal diffusivity is the combination of specific heat, conductivity and density that determines how long it will take for the food to reach a certain temperature. [46] Home-cooking and commercial cooking [ edit ] A restaurant kitchen in Munich, Germany (Haxnbauer restaurant)Most ingredients in cooking are derived from living organisms. Vegetables, fruits, grains and nuts as well as herbs and spices come from plants, while meat, eggs, and dairy products come from animals. Mushrooms and the yeast used in baking are kinds of fungi. Cooks also use water and minerals such as salt. Cooks can also use wine or spirits.

Barbas, Samantha (Fall 2002). "Just Like Home: "Home Cooking" and the Domestication of the American Restaurant". Gastronomica. 2 (4): 43–52. doi: 10.1525/gfc.2002.2.4.43. JSTOR 10.1525/gfc.2002.2.4.43. Home cooking has traditionally been a process carried out informally in a home or around a communal fire, and can be enjoyed by all members of the family, although in many cultures women bear primary responsibility. [47] Cooking is also often carried out outside of personal quarters, for example at restaurants, or schools. Bakeries were one of the earliest forms of cooking outside the home, and bakeries in the past often offered the cooking of pots of food provided by their customers as an additional service. In the present day, factory food preparation has become common, with many "ready-to-eat" as well as "ready-to-cook" foods being prepared and cooked in factories and home cooks using a mixture of scratch made, and factory made foods together to make a meal. The nutritional value of including more commercially prepared foods has been found to be inferior to home-made foods. [48] Home-cooked meals tend to be healthier with fewer calories, and less saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium on a per calorie basis while providing more fiber, calcium, and iron. [49] The ingredients are also directly sourced, so there is control over authenticity, taste, and nutritional value. The superior nutritional quality of home-cooking could therefore play a role in preventing chronic disease. [50] Cohort studies following the elderly over 10 years show that adults who cook their own meals have significantly lower mortality, even when controlling for confounding variables. [51] Basics for Handling Food Safely". United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 28 September 2004 . Retrieved 1 April 2012. Types of cooking also depend on the skill levels and training of the cooks. Cooking is done both by people in their own dwellings and by professional cooks and chefs in restaurants and other food establishments.What a beauty... imaginative, appealing recipes grounded in good sense... you can taste the experience, that these are lived recipes." Rachel Roddy Smith, Roff (29 January 2014). "Oldest Known Hearth Found in Israel Cave". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014 . Retrieved 17 March 2014.

Pringle, Heather (2 April 2012), "Quest for Fire Began Earlier Than Thought", ScienceNOW, archived from the original on 15 April 2013 , retrieved 4 April 2012

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Several studies published since 1990 indicate that cooking meat at high temperature creates heterocyclic amines (HCAs), which are thought to increase cancer risk in humans. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that human subjects who ate beef rare or medium-rare had less than one third the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate beef medium-well or well-done. [39] While avoiding meat or eating meat raw may be the only ways to avoid HCAs in meat fully, the National Cancer Institute states that cooking meat below 212°F (100°C) creates "negligible amounts" of HCAs. Also, microwaving meat before cooking may reduce HCAs by 90% by reducing the time needed for the meat to be cooked at high heat. [39] Nitrosamines are found in some food, and may be produced by some cooking processes from proteins or from nitrites used as food preservatives; cured meat such as bacon has been found to be carcinogenic, with links to colon cancer. Ascorbate, which is added to cured meat, however, reduces nitrosamine formation. [38] [40] Household air pollution and health". World Health Organization. 22 September 2021 . Retrieved 12 April 2022.