CARA'S TIPSCookers, heat transfer, cooking methods, flours, raising agents, mixtures, costing and home gardening
JAMBWAECNECO
What the syllabus asks
JAMB: JAMB Home Economics C3 (cookers and cooking), C4 (flours and uses), C5 (basic mixtures), C10 (home gardening); WAEC/NECO Home Management (preparation and serving of meals) and foundation for WAEC Foods and Nutrition (principles of cooking, methods of cooking, heat transfer, cooking terms, flour cookery and confectionery, raising agents, batters, doughs, pastries, yeast mixtures, cake decoration,…
WAEC: JAMB Home Economics C3 (cookers and cooking), C4 (flours and uses), C5 (basic mixtures), C10 (home gardening); WAEC/NECO Home Management (preparation and serving of meals) and foundation for WAEC Foods and Nutrition (principles of cooking, methods of cooking, heat transfer, cooking terms, flour cookery and confectionery, raising agents, batters, doughs, pastries, yeast mixtures, cake decoration,…
NECO: JAMB Home Economics C3 (cookers and cooking), C4 (flours and uses), C5 (basic mixtures), C10 (home gardening); WAEC/NECO Home Management (preparation and serving of meals) and foundation for WAEC Foods and Nutrition (principles of cooking, methods of cooking, heat transfer, cooking terms, flour cookery and confectionery, raising agents, batters, doughs, pastries, yeast mixtures, cake decoration,…
What you will learn
- Describe types of cookers, their care and fuels.
- Explain reasons for cooking and the methods of heat transfer.
- Describe moist-heat, dry-heat and fat-based cooking methods.
- Define common cooking terms.
- Classify flours and explain their uses.
- Explain raising agents and basic mixtures.
- Describe cake-making methods and cost a recipe.
- Plan and maintain a home garden.
Key points
- Cookers: choose by fuel, cost, safety, size; clean and maintain.
- Reasons for cooking: safety, digestibility, flavour, toxins, preservation.
- Heat transfer: conduction, convection, radiation, microwaves.
- Moist heat conserves nutrients and tenderises; frying adds fat.
- Cooking terms: blanch, cream, fold, knead, marinate, parboil, sauté, whisk.
- Flours: strong for bread, soft for cakes; wholemeal 100% extraction.
- Raising agents: air, steam, CO2 (baking powder, bicarbonate, yeast).
- Yeast needs warmth, moisture, food, time.
- Pastry: keep cool, handle lightly; shortcrust half fat to flour.
- Cakes: rubbing-in, creaming, whisking, melting.
- Costing: price must cover all costs.
- Home garden: site, prepare, plant, care, harvest.
Start here: Cookers and fuels
A cooker is any appliance or arrangement that supplies heat for cooking. JAMB lists “cookers and cooking” as a topic.
Types of cookers
- Traditional three-stone hearth: firewood on three stones supporting a pot. Cheap, but smoky, slow, inefficient and a fire and health hazard (smoke causes eye and lung disease).
- Improved wood/charcoal stoves: enclosed fire-boxes that use less fuel and produce less smoke.
- Charcoal pot (coal pot): burns charcoal; good for grilling (suya) and slow cooking; must never be used indoors (carbon monoxide).
- Kerosene stove: wick or pressure type; portable; risk of fire and of adulterated kerosene explosions.
- Gas cooker (liquefied petroleum gas, LPG): clean, quick, easily controlled; table-top burners or full cookers with ovens. Needs safe cylinders and hoses.
- Electric cooker: hot plates or coils and oven; clean; depends on power supply.
- Microwave oven: quick reheating and cooking; no metal containers inside.
- Solar cooker: uses reflected sunlight; free fuel, slow, depends on weather.
- Fireless (hay-box/thermal) cooker: food brought to the boil, then placed in an insulated box where it continues to cook in its own heat; saves fuel.
- Pressure cooker: sealed pot that raises pressure so water boils above 100 °C (about 120 °C), cooking beans and tough meat much faster.
Choosing a cooker
Consider fuel availability and cost, family size, kitchen space, safety, ease of cleaning, durability, cost of purchase and maintenance, and standards marks.
Care of cookers
- Clean spills while warm (not hot) with mild detergent; avoid harsh abrasives on enamel.
- Keep burners clean so flames burn blue; a yellow flame indicates poor combustion.
- Check gas hoses for cracks; replace regulators when faulty.
- Switch off electric cookers at the mains before cleaning.
- Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
Fuels compared
Gas and electricity are clean and controllable but cost more and depend on supply. Firewood and charcoal are cheap locally but cause smoke, deforestation and burns. Kerosene is portable but dangerous if adulterated. Unit he11 compares fuels further.
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Practice questions
- 120 °C
- 100 °C
- 80 °C
- 200 °C
Show answer
A: 120 °C
Higher pressure, higher boiling point.
- radiation
- convection
- evaporation
- conduction
Show answer
D: conduction
Through solids by conduction.
- convection only
- steaming
- radiation
- conduction only
Show answer
C: radiation
Radiant heat from the coals.
- cooked with soda
- steamed briefly
- boiled for a long time
- soaked overnight
Show answer
B: steamed briefly
Vitamins B and C are lost in water and heat.
- fermenting sugar
- reacting with acid
- evaporating
- trapping air
Show answer
A: fermenting sugar
Alcohol is also produced.
Key words
- Conduction
- Heat transfer through solids.
- Convection
- Heat carried by moving liquid or gas.
- Radiation
- Heat transfer by rays.
- Simmering
- Cooking just below boiling.
- Stewing
- Slow cooking in little liquid, covered.
- Steaming
- Cooking in steam.
- Braising
- Browning then slow moist cooking.
- Deep frying
- Cooking immersed in hot oil.
- Gluten
- Elastic protein network in wheat dough.
- Extraction rate
- Percentage of grain in flour.
- Composite flour
- Wheat blended with local flours.
- Raising agent
- Substance that makes mixtures rise.
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