Cooking

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

From Crispy Bat Wing to 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 Dragonbreath Chili, a Savory Deviate Delight, or some 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 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 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 A list of recipes and the buffs they give can be found under Well Fed (though somewhat outdated).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 Spiced Mammoth Treats, alcohol like Highland Spirits, and "feasts" such as 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 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.

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 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 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.
 * 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; Roasted Boar Meat, Charred Wolf Meat and Herb Baked Egg. In addition, you may learn Spice Bread right away from the trainer.
 * Trade fishing.png 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 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 when you reach Cooking skill 125.
 * Before patch 3.1.0, chefs had to buy the item 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 when you reach Cooking skill 200.
 * Before patch 3.1.0, obtaining Artisan Cooking required the completion of a quest. The quest,, is still available and now teaches a recipe instead: Clamlette Magnifique.
 * Cooking at skill 300 will also grants access to a few -recipes.
 * In patch 2.3.0,  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:
 * Sporeggar - (player begins at )
 * Kurenai - (player begins at )
 * 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 (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 when you reach Cooking skill 275.
 * Before patch 3.1.0, chefs had to buy the item 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 -recipes.
 * There are more faction-relevant recipes beyond skill 300. The factions, along with the required standing, are:
 * Kurenai - (player begins at )
 * Mag'har - (player begins at )

Grand Master (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 when you reach Cooking skill 350.
 * The WOTLK daily cooking quests rewards a cooking-currency called Dalaran Cooking Award. These are used to buy WOTLK cooking recipes, and the 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 Northern Spices. For example, a Shoveltusk Flank can be cooked into a Shoveltusk Steak which yields 35 SP and 30 Stamina. With Northern Spices, you can cook it into a 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 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 recipes.

Illustrious Grand Master (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 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 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, 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
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.

Leveling Cooking
If you're trying to level cooking, there are a few useful things to note:
 * The Spice Bread which can be learned at skill 1 is great for leveling early cooking. It requires Simple Flour and 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.png 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.
 * Spell_fire_fire.png 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 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 Slow-Roasted Turkey at Cooking 280, then hunt and kill 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)

 * Once arriving at Outland, buy Recipe: Ravager Dog from at Honor Hold and learn Master cooking (300&rarr;375) from  in the kitchen behind him. Then, farm Ravager Fleshx25 from the Ravagers in the south-west of Hellfire Peninsula on the path to Terokkar Forest (hit the Expedition Armory and travel West until you find the Ravagers). You'll need Cooking 325 to proceed.
 * Fly to Telaar in Nagrand and purchase Recipe: Talbuk Steak and Recipe: Roasted Clefthoof from (she sells two other fish based recipes which are good to have, but not required). The area immediately to the North East from Ring of Trials South to Kil'sorrow Fortress will have all the Clefthoof Meat and Talbuk Venison you'll need. There are also especially large packs of clefthoofs around Oshu'gun. Farm meat until you have 25-30 total pieces. You'll need cooking 350 to continue.
 * Fly to Evergrove in Blade's Edge Mountains and purchase Recipe: Mok'Nathal Shortribs and Recipe: Crunchy Serpent from . Fly to the crossroads above Death's Door in South East Blade's Edge Mountains and farm 15-20 each of Raptor Ribs and Serpent Flesh. This should take you to level 375.

Horde (300-375)

 * Buy Recipe: Ravager Dog from in Thrallmar (by the stables) and learn Master cooking (300&rarr;375) from . Then, go kill Ravagers around Falcon Watch until you have about 35-40 Ravager Flesh. This should get you to 325.
 * 325 to 350:
 * Buy the Recipe: Roasted Clefthoof from Nula the Butcher in Garadar (Nagrand) and then kill Clefthooves in Nagrand for about 35-40 Clefthoof Meat, or...
 * Buy the from  in Stonebreaker Hold (Terokkar Forest) and then kill Warp stalkers/Warp Hunters around Terokkar Forest for about 35-40 Warped Flesh.
 * If you have fishing, fish up Furious Crawdads in one of three lakes around Terokkar Forest and cook them. However, these lakes are only accessible if you have a flying mount. You also need a 330+ fishing skill to be able to fish there. The three lakes are:
 * Lake Jorune - north-west of Stonebreaker Hold.
 * Lake Ere'Noru - south-east of Allerian Stronghold.
 * Blackwind Lake - in the south-east corner of the map, in the Skettis area.
 * You can buy Recipe: Spicy Crawdad from in Stonebreaker Hold.
 * Non-fishers can go to Blade's Edge Mountains and find an NPC called (she's the innkeeper at Mok'Nathal Village) who gives you the quest Quest:Mok'Nathal Treats to get her Raptor Ribs and Serpent Flesh. As reward, she'll give you the recipe for Crunchy Serpent, which will stay green until 375. It is also possible to get the recipe from  at Evergrove. You can now kill Scalewings (wind serpents) around Blade's Edge Mountains for Serpent Flesh. You will need about 60 to get to 375.