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Cooking WoW Icon update Cooking (Profession)
Ingredients  •  Proficiencies  •  Quests  •  Recipes  •  Trainers  •  Equipment

Cooking is one of the secondary professions in World of Warcraft.

From Inv misc food 46 [Crispy Bat Wing] to Inv misc food 158 fish 81 [Delicious Sagefish Tail], there is no recipe too obscure or odd to attract notice from the chefs of Azeroth. Food is used in the game to heal players out of combat so that they are able to get back to fighting as quickly as possible. Many dishes also offer a lasting benefit, in the form of a buff that can last anything from 15 minutes up to an hour.

As you are traveling around the world, you will notice that you often receive pieces of meat which, instead of being sold to merchants, could be used to create food. In fact, although meat and fish are the main ingredients in cooking, you'll discover that all kinds of items can be used to create food. If you are a player who relies on food, such as a non-healing player or a player who solos, cooking will be very important to you.

You can buy food from merchants, but the food gained through cooking is nearly free and it is actually much more effective. Cooking is also a great "flavor" secondary skill because you can entertain players with the funny and interesting dishes you can create. Hand someone a portion of Inv drink 17 [Dragonbreath Chili], a Inv misc monsterhead 04 [Savory Deviate Delight], or some Inv misc food 91 [Stormchops] and you'll see what we mean.

Nearly all cooked foods, which does not grant "special" effects like the examples above, have a 15-minute, 30-minute, or 60-minute Spell misc food [Well Fed] buff effect in addition to the increased periodic health regeneration nearly all foods have. This type of buff will boost your attributes. Know you're going in to battle and have a few spare seconds? Eat that Inv drink 19 [Heavy Kodo Stew] first and gain 12 Spirit and 12 Stamina for 15 minutes. +12 stamina equates to 120 health points and +12 spirit makes you get and mana back quicker (if you're a mana-using class). A list of recipes and the buffs they give can be found under Well Fed (though somewhat outdated). Originally, nearly all cooked foods only granted Spirit and Stamina; this was changed in the Burning Crusade which introduced Well Fed-buffs that swapped out Spirit with other stats such as Agility and Strength.

Other examples of special cooked foods are "treats" for combat pets, such as Inv misc food 123 roast [Spiced Mammoth Treats], alcohol like Inv drink 26 goatsmilk [Highland Spirits], and "feasts" such as Ability hunter pet boar [Great Feast] which can be placed as an object in order to be eaten by several players at once.

Suggested Classes

All classes benefit from cooking: damage dealers (DPS), tanks and healers alike. With the addition of the new recipes available in Outland, Northrend and Cataclysm there is something for everyone!

Requirements

Creating food usually requires three components: A recipe, ingredients, and heat.

  • Cooking recipes can either be learned from Cooking trainers, who can be found in capital cities as well as some minor cities, or from blueprints (recipes as items) which may drop from monsters, be sold by vendors, or rewarded from quests.
  • Your ingredients will usually be meat from the beasts or fish in Azeroth and Outland. Some recipes also require vendor-sold ingredients such as Inv drink 07 [Refreshing Spring Water], or herbs gathered with Herbalism. Since patch 3.1.0, the vast majority of recipes have been streamlined and no longer require additional ingredients, with the exception of the "higher" food versions in Wrath of the Lich King (see below).
  • Your heat source must be a Cooking Fire, such as a Campfire, a Stove, a Brazier, or a Fireplace, but not a Forge.

Summary of Skill levels

Skill Level Action To Take Requirements
Apprentice 1 Seek Cooking trainers No requirements
Journeyman 75 Seek Cooking trainers Cooking skill 50
Expert 225 Seek Cooking trainers Cooking skill 125
Artisan 300 Seek Cooking trainers Cooking skill 200
Master 375 Seek Cooking trainers Cooking skill 275
Grand Master 450 Seek Cooking trainers Cooking skill 350
Illustrious Grand Master 525 Seek Cooking trainers Cooking skill 425

Advancement

Cooking works just like any other crafting-profession; in order to advance your skill you must constantly create dishes or higher levels by obtaining the recipes and ingredients. Whenever you create an item at a proper profession level, you may be guaranteed or have the chance of gaining a skill point.

The color of the recipe in your cooking window (menu) indicates whether you will gain a skill point in Cooking when you create the item. The color codes of all professions, including Cooking, are as follows:

  • Red = Cannot create yet; you need a higher skill level in Cooking before you can create this recipe. You'll never see this on a recipe you know as an ability, but you may see it on a recipe as an item (such as Inv scroll 03 [Recipe: Clam Bar]).
  • Orange = Will always receive a Cooking skill point when you create that item, unless if you're at max skillpoint for your current skill level.
  • Yellow = Likely to receive a Cooking skill point.
  • Green = Unlikely to receive a Cooking skill point.
  • Gray = No chance for skill increase.

All items in crafting-professions eventually end up being gray as your skill improves. Most begin as orange when you learn them, but some begin at yellow, green, or even gray (meaning the recipe cannot give you any skillups at all, such as Inv drink 23 [Hot Apple Cider]).

When you gain enough Cooking skill points, you will need to visit a Cooking trainer to advance to the next skill level. Notice that as with other crafting-professions, a higher skill level may be trained prior to "finishing" the one before it. For example, Journeyman may be obtained at skill 50 although Apprentice goes to 75.

Apprentice (0-75)

See also: List of Apprentice Cooking Recipes
  • Cooking trainers which are able to train you all the way to Illustrious Grand Master are found several places in the game. For young chefs, cooking trainers can conveniently often be found in the second village a player is likely to find, such as Kharanos in Dun Morogh or Bloodhoof Village in Mulgore. This is common for most professions.
  • Apprentice Cooking can be obtained for a cost of 95c.
  • Apprentice Cooking can be learned at level 5. Unlike most professions however, Cooking does not have any level-requirements in order to learn skill levels. Technically, this means a level 5 player could level cooking all the way to skill 525 (max) as long as higher-level players supplied the ingredients and recipes needed.
  • Upon obtaining the Cooking-ability, you will instantly learn three recipes; Inv misc food 18 [Roasted Boar Meat], Inv misc food 18 [Charred Wolf Meat] and Inv egg 03 [Herb Baked Egg]. In addition, you may learn Inv misc food 95 grainbread [Spice Bread] right away from the trainer.
  • Trade fishing Fishing is a very useful, possibly mandatory profession for anyone who practices or levels cooking. It is a good idea to learn it at the same time you learn cooking, and afterwards try to level both professions at the same time (no matter how boring fishing may be).
  • You can start doing the Cataclysm-daily cooking quests in Stormwind or Orgrimmar once you become level 10. Each quest turned in yields +1 or +2 skills to cooking (depending on quest). The Chef's Awards can be used much later.

Journeyman (76-150)

See also: List of Journeyman Cooking Recipes
  • Journeyman Cooking is taught by cooking trainers for 4s 21c when you reach Cooking skill 50.
  • Most cooking recipes are not learned from trainer, but from recipes as items. While 9 recipes are available from trainer from skill 0-75, only 2 are available from skill 80-125. This means that the foods you'll be using to level cooking with will likely be learned from recipes purchased from different vendors. This is the case with higher levels of cooking as well.

Expert (151-225)

See also: List of Expert Cooking Recipes
  • Expert Cooking is taught by cooking trainers for 84s 21c when you reach Cooking skill 125.
  • Before patch 3.1.0, chefs had to buy the item Inv misc book 08 [Expert Cookbook] from a vendor some distance from any major city in order to learn Expert Cooking. This is however no longer needed as trainers after the patch are able to teach it.

Artisan (226-300)

See also: List of Artisan Cooking Recipes
  • Artisan Cooking is taught by cooking trainers for 2g 10s 52c when you reach Cooking skill 200.
  • Before patch 3.1.0, obtaining Artisan Cooking required the completion of a quest. The quest, N [45] Clamlette Surprise, is still available and now teaches a recipe instead: Inv misc shell 03 [Clamlette Magnifique].
  • Cooking at skill 300 will also grants access to a few Bc icon-recipes.
    • In patch 2.3.0, The Rokk <Master of Cooking> Bc icon was added to the game. He gives daily cooking quests which require a cooking skill of at least 275 and are only available for players at or above level 70. The rewards for these quests are the only way to obtain a few recipes.
    • A few recipes at 300 skill and above are sold by NPC's which are members of factions. This means that a certain standing with the relevant factions is necessary in order to obtain them. This was already the case with several recipes used in other professions such as Blacksmithing and Enchanting prior to the Burning Crusade, but none in Cooking. The factions, along with the required standing, are:
Notice that the standing with all these factions does not affect whether a player can learn the recipes or not, only whether it's possible to buy them. It is possible for a player that is at Neutral to buy the recipes and give them to a player who is still at Unfriendly.

Master Bc icon (301-375)

See also: List of Master Cooking Recipes
  • The Burning Crusade expansion pack offers master level cooking.
  • Master Cooking is taught by cooking trainers for 10g when you reach Cooking skill 275.
  • Before patch 3.1.0, chefs had to buy the item Inv misc book 10 [Master Cookbook] from one of a few vendors in Outland in order to learn Expert Cooking. After the book was removed, Master Cooking could only be learned from cooking trainers in Outland and Northrend. Now, the skill is learned from all cooking trainers.
  • As mentioned, the Burning Crusade-food is a lot more varied than the food cooked below skill 300.
  • Cooking up to skill 375 will also grant access to several Wrath-Logo-Small-recipes.
  • There are more faction-relevant recipes beyond skill 300. The factions, along with the required standing, are:

Grand Master Wrath-Logo-Small (376-450)

See also: List of Grand Master Cooking Recipes
  • The Wrath of the Lich King (WOTLK) expansion pack offers Grand Master level cooking.
  • Master Cooking is taught by cooking trainers for 35g when you reach Cooking skill 350.
  • The WOTLK daily cooking quests rewards a cooking-currency called Inv misc ribbon 01 [Dalaran Cooking Award]. These are used to buy WOTLK cooking recipes, and the Achievement profession chefhat [Chef's Hat]. Many of the cooking recipes in WOTLK are obtained this way.
  • Cooked food in WOTLK often have "lower" and "higher" versions, depending on whether the player use Inv misc ammo gunpowder 05 [Northern Spices]. For example, a Inv misc food 135 meat [Shoveltusk Flank] can be cooked into a Inv misc food 89 [Shoveltusk Steak] which yields 35 SP and 30 Stamina. With Northern Spices, you can cook it into a Inv misc food 122 steak [Tender Shoveltusk Steak] which yields 46 SP and 40 Stamina instead. Lower versions can be learned with 375 cooking, but the higher ones require 400. It is the higher versions that are purchased with Cooking Awards.
  • Some recipes at skill 425 and beyond will be "feasts" which can be placed on the ground (or anywhere less dirty) in order for several players to eat from it at once. This saves materials and time. The Inv misc fish 52 [Fish Feast] which is made at skill 450 was the most powerful food in WOTLK.
  • Cooking up to skill 450 will also grant access to a few Cataclysm recipes.

Illustrious Grand Master Cataclysm (451-525)

See also: List of Illustrious Grand Master Cooking Recipes
  • The Cataclysm expansion pack offers Illustrious Grand Master level cooking.
  • Illustrious Grand Master Cooking is taught by cooking trainers for 50g when you reach Cooking skill 425.
  • While the daily cooking quests in Stormwind and Orgrimmar are available to level 10-players, most of the cooking recipes which are purchased with the cooking-currency Achievement profession chefhat [Chef's Award] require a skill over 450 to learn.
  • While WOTLK-feasts aim to fit all types of classes by giving a Well Fed which supplements different stats, Cata-feasts work a little different. Depending on the player's highest stat, Well Fed apparently gives either strength, agility or intellect. The most powerful feast in the game at the moment, Inv misc food meat cooked 02 [Seafood Magnifique Feast], is made at skill 525 (max).
  • Like in WOTLK, most Cataclysm-recipes have a "lower" and "higher" version. The difference is that the versions in Cataclysm use different materials and no spices.

Quests

Main article: Cooking quests

The majority of cooking quests are dailies. They, including other non-daily cooking quests, usually have in common that they somehow supply the player with cooking recipes. Other quests asks the player to cook something by using Cooking, and some both. At higher skill (+375) the it is necessary to complete several dailies in order to access more recipes.

Achievements

Like other secondary professions, Cooking includes a number of achievements. Most of them focus on learning recipes, making food, and performing the daily cooking quests.

List of cooking achievements

Template:Ajax

Leveling Cooking

If you're trying to level cooking, there are a few useful things to note:

  • The Inv misc food 95 grainbread [Spice Bread] which can be learned at skill 1 is great for leveling early cooking. It requires Inv misc food wheat 01 [Simple Flour] and Inv misc food wheat 02 [Mild Spices] which can be purchased from Cooking Supplier(s) (a type of vendor), and gives skillups to skill 40, at which point it turns grey. That is almost enough to obtain Journeyman. The three other recipes learned at skill 1 go grey at skill 85.
  • As stated, the daily cooking quests in Stormwind and Orgrimmar yield skill points. This can be very nifty if you're absolutely stuck in the leveling progression, or perhaps for some reason needs an additional skill point (or two) fast.
  • Also as stated, Trade fishing Fishing is a very useful profession together with cooking. Not only are many types of fish very easy to farm compared with drops from mobs, different fishing recipes will also "overlap" each other through skill 1 to 525. This makes fish-recipes an excellent choice for leveling.
  • Basic Campfire, which is also learned when obtaining cooking, can also sometimes provide skill points.
  • During the seasonal event "Pilgrim's Bounty" it is possible to level cooking from 1 to 350 in about 30 minutes, without traveling to other places than just to your faction's capital cities. To get started, buy the Inv misc book 09 [Bountiful Cookbook] from the Pilgrim's Bounty vendor outside any capital city, and learn all the recipes you can from it. Most of the mats for each recipe can be bought from the same vendors. Cook one recipe until you've raised your Cooking level enough to learn the next recipe; repeat as needed until you can learn Inv thanksgiving turkey [Slow-Roasted Turkey] at Cooking 280, then hunt and kill Mob Wild Turkey around Elwynn Forest or Tirisfal Glades.
  • This article previously listed some extensive guides for leveling cooking from skill 1 to 375 (not updated for WOTLK and Cataclysm). The guides eventually became outdated, but the Burning Crusade-part is probably still workable as neither WOTLK nor Cataclysm has affected much of Outland (due to them being separate expansions).

Alliance (300-375)

Horde (300-375)

Videos

[How to] Dalaran's Cooking Dailies.
More guides here

See also

  • Cooking outfit for roleplayers
  • Powerlevel cooking and fishing (outdated though)

External links

For leveling guides please visit Tradeskill leveling guides - keep in mind that these may also be outdated

nl:Cooking

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