Stupid cooking question?

[miket]

Okay this has always bugged me: when cooking, why do we cook (for example) a chicken in the oven for around 275 F instead of 400 F. Wouldn't it cook faster on a higher heat, or instead would the heat just be too much and would it blow up?

Thanks for the help
That makes sense. I didn't even think about how it would dry out. Obvious I'm a very novice cook

 

[Triegh]

The reason is if your turn the heat up too much it will burn the outside rather fast while the inside of the chiken would not cook, therefore you would not be able to eat it

 

[AnnaE]

I actually have never cooked chicken at a low temp like 275. I always bake it at 350, whether it be chicken parts or the whole bird.

 

[ErinTrudeau]

some chicken recipes are set to cook at 400 degrees. some chicken isn't though because the end result tastes better when slowly cooked. sometimes slower cooking lets the chicken retain a lot of it's juicyness. for example i have a chicken nugget recipe that calls to be baked at 400 degrees and if you think about it... have you ever gotten a really juicy chicken nugget? no because they aren't meant to be juicy. other types of baked chicken ARE meant to be juicy and flavorful while chicken nuggets have the coating for most of the flavor. and sometimes if you cook a whole chicken breast at that high of a temperature you could burn the outside and not evenly cook the inside. also you can't blow up chicken in the oven you'll just thoroughly burn it.

 

[emerly]

the lower temperature helps cook it evenly throughout and keep it juicy...if it was cooked at the higher temp. the outside would burn before the middle could cook

 

[LunaMom]

if you start off the heat really high you are gonna burn the outside of the chicken before the inside is cooked fully. the outside of the chicken temp will rise faster than the inside. just like if your making a steak on a stove top. you wouldnt put the flame on full blast.

 

[eagleofthesouth]

what would happen is it would burn on the out side befor it cooked all
the way threw on the inside.

 

[AvaMaree]

Sorry but there won't be any fantastic sound and light shows going off in your kitchen due to an exploding chicken. It is more due to the fact that if your blast it with heat then the outside of the chicken will cook very quickly and the inside will not have changed at all. So cook it at the recommended temperature because incorrectly cooked chicken can be poisonous!

 

[crystalshadow319]

Yeah, it would burn on the outside and still be raw on the inside. I dont think it would blow up, that would be odd... lol. Good lcuk with learning to cook, it really isnt that hard, promise!

 

[met1]

the heat would unevenly cook it. it'd burn the skin and the inside wouldn't get cooked... no explosions, sorry!

 

[YourMume]

400 would cook it too fast and could dry the food out
275 takes longer and holds the juices in, so it doesn't dry up.