Pay-to-play Cooking training

This is a guide which aims to assist players in training Cooking in pay to play by using the most effective methods and techniques available. This guide may not always be up to date so it is advised to check price on the Grand Exchange before purchasing large quantities of ingredients.

Level advancement
Also note, it is highly recommended to obtain the cooking gauntlets from the quest Family Crest before you continue cooking as this will greatly reduce the amount of fish you burn from here on out. You can also do quests to get some cooking levels too.

Levels 1-15 (Shrimp)
At this level, fish shrimp in Draynor or buy raw shrimp from the Grand Exchange. Cooking shrimp successfully grants you 30 cooking experience.
 * Successfully Cooked Shrimp Required: 81
 * Experience required: 2,411
 * Experience per hour: 35k
 * Time spent: 5 minutes

Levels 15-25 (Trout)
After level 15 is obtained, buy raw trout in the Grand Exchange. These are also easily obtainable with the Fishing skill. Also note if you are short on cash you can pick up raw trout in Barbarian Village where people are powertraining. Cooking trout successfully grants you 70 cooking experience.
 * Successfully Cooked Trout Required: 78
 * Experience required: 10,952
 * Experience per hour: 85k
 * Time spent: 8 minutes

Levels 25-35 (Salmon)
At this level switch to salmon which can be obtained in the same manner as the previous step.Cooking salmon successfully grants you 90 cooking experience.
 * Successfully Cooked Salmon Required: 162
 * Experience required: 9,043
 * Experience per hour: 110k
 * Time spent: 5 minutes

Levels 35-50 (Tuna)
It is advisable at this level to start buying your items in the Grand Exchange rather than obtaining them yourself. However, if you wish to fish your own ingredients then you should do so at Catherby, which has a bank very close to the fishing spots. Cooking tuna successfully grants you 100 cooking experience.
 * Successfully Cooked Tuna Required: 790
 * Experience required: 78,927
 * Experience per hour: 120k
 * Time spent: 40 minutes

Levels 50-75 (Lobster)
Again it is recommended you buy your own raw lobsters from the Grand Exchange as this will save a lot of valuable time which you can use to later make back the money you would have lost from fishing the lobsters.

Note that it may also be possible, depending on Grand Exchange prices, that you can profit from lobsters. Also, players may wish to wait until 66 cooking to stop burning lobsters (with cooking gauntlets) however, it's not recommended unless you're fishing your own ingredients. A good place to fish for lobsters is Catherby. Successfully cooking lobster grants you 120 cooking experience.
 * Successfully Cooked Lobsters Required: 9,243
 * Experience required: 1,109,088
 * Experience per hour: 160k
 * Time spent: 8 hours 15 minutes

Levels 75-80/90 (Swordfish)
As stated above, it is recommended to buy your own fish, but for less wealthy players and ironmen you can obtain your swordfish the same way as you would for tuna.

Players may wish to wait until level 81 (with cook gauntlets, or 86 without) to cook swordfish as you stop burning at these levels, however, for the few you do burn you will make up for in faster experience rates. Successfully cooking swordfish grants you 140 cooking experience.
 * Successfully Cooked Swordfish Required: Level 80 - 5,541
 * Successfully Cooked Swordfish Required: Level 90 - 29,543
 * Experience required: 4,135,911
 * Experience per hour: 170k
 * Time spent: 24 hours 20 minutes

Levels 80-90 (Cooked karambwan)
Completion of the quest Tai Bwo Wannai Trio is required to succesfully cook Karambwan.

It is highly recommended to cook Karambwan at 80 cooking as opposed to sharks, due to a higher average experience. At level 80 cooking you will burn roughly 15% of your Karambwan as opposed to burning 30% of your sharks. Karambwan give you 190xp each at a burn rate of 15% making your average experience, 161.5xp per Karambwan as opposed to cooking sharks which give 210xp but burning 30% making the average experience from sharks, 147xp per shark. Therefore Cooking Karambwan at level 80 is roughly 10% better than sharks.

Alternatively whilst cooking in the Hosidius kitchen sharks offer an 8% burn rate at 80 cooking, thus making for an average of 193.2 xp per shark.
 * Successfully Cooked Karambwan Required: 17,686
 * Experience required: 3,360,264

Levels 90-99 (Shark)
Either buy raw sharks from other players, or fish for your own to cook. Buying them is more advisable for faster levels, while fishing may be an alternative for poorer players.

Players may wish to wait for level 94 (with cooking gauntlets) before starting to cook sharks, in order not to burn any. However, at level 91, players will only burn about 3-5%. It is Highly Recommended to start right away at level 90 to cook sharks as you will earn more experience than to continuing on cooking Raw karambwan.

Successfully cooking shark grants you 210 experience.
 * Successfully Cooked Sharks Required: From Level 80 - 52,612
 * Successfully Cooked Sharks Required: From Level 90 - 36,610
 * Experience required: 7,688,099
 * Experience per hour: 260k at level 85+
 * Time spent: 30 hours 45 minutes

Levels 70-99 Alternative Method (Bake Pie)
The Bake Pie spell in the lunar spellbook offers even faster experience than jugs of wine if you can get the raw pies pre-assembled. This requires completion of the Lunar Diplomacy quest. You also earn magic experience with this method.
 * Experience per hour (Admiral pie): 390k
 * Experience per hour (Wild pie): 445k
 * Experience per hour (Summer pie): 490k
 * Magic experience per hour: 100k

Levels 80-99 Alternative method (Cooked karambwan)
Completion of the quest Tai Bwo Wannai Trio is required to succesfully cook Karambwan.

Cooking Karambwan at level 80 straight up to level 99 will not only give you huge amounts of experience but will also bring in profit. The difference between Cooked Karambwan and Raw Karambwan in terms of cost is around 30%. Depending on your burn rate you may experience lower profit.

Levels 90-99 Alternative method (Jug of wine)
Making jugs of wine is one of the fastest cooking experience methods in the game, but it can also be expensive and thus the time to get enough money to train using jugs of wine should be taken into account. If a player does not have enough money, it is best to stick to cooking fish to level up.

To begin making jugs of wine, buy a jug of water and grapes. Use these two items on each other to make unfermented wines. Once you stop making all your wines the wines will ferment and become a jug of wine. If done correctly you can gain massive experience drops. Successfully making a jug of wine grants you 200 experience.
 * Jugs of Wine required: 38,441
 * Experience required: 7,688,099
 * Experience per hour: 436,800
 * Time spent: 17.6 hours
 * Cost (Assuming all items are bought): ~10,686,598 gp

Cooking experience rewards from quests

 * 300 - Cook's Assistant (-)


 * 500 - Rag and Bone Man (-)


 * 1,470 - Big Chompy Bird Hunting (30)


 * 1,525 - Gertrude's Cat (-)


 * 2,825 - Heroes Quest (53)


 * 5,000 - Forgettable Tale of a Drunken Dwarf (22)


 * 5,000 - Tai Bwo Wannai Trio (30)


 * 28,000 - Recipe for Disaster (70)

Total: 44,620 Experience.

Cooking Gauntlets
Cooking gauntlets are a pair of gloves received as a reward from the Family Crest quest. They can be worn to significantly decrease the likelihood of burning fish.

Suggested Cooking locations
Some places are more suited for cooking than others. Here are a few.
 * The Rogue's Den fires are located at the start of the Rogue's Den, just below the Burthorpe pub. This place is the most effective and efficient place to obtain 99 cooking. The banker (Emerald Benedict) is just be a step away from the fire and never moves, allowing players to cut down on time spent walking. The fire is everlasting, so there is no need to worry about relighting it, saving inventory space. On the downside, rogues den only has a fire as the means to cook, so it is only usable for cooking fish or meat.
 * Edgeville Bank is a popular place to train cooking. It is also a popular place to train firemaking, which means that there will be plenty of fires around to cook on. Edgeville also has the closest range from a bank in F2P world. The downside of this site is that there are many random events and fires aren't always present.
 * Lumbridge Bank is another popular option. There are 4 logs respawn points just outside the bank. Carry a tinderbox when cooking to light the logs. The downside of this site is that many people often take the logs before they can be burned.
 * The Catherby range is just east of the Catherby bank. This place is frequented often, giving lots of chances for interaction. There are a couple of fishing spots nearby, giving players opportunities to fish and cook at the same time. However, it is a short walk from the bank to the range, and in the long term, the loss in time is significant. Also, the range is located inside a house with a door that no longer auto-closes every few minutes, due to a recent update.
 * Lumbridge is a good place to cook if you have started Recipe for Disaster. The Culinaromancer's Chest in the cellar can act as a bank and a food store, which can be used in conjunction with the range in the kitchen, which has a lower burn rate than most ranges. If you haven't started Recipe for Disaster but still want to use the range, you can join a PvP server where a bank chest is right outside the door, but this risks being pked by other players. Also, the Lumbridge Home Teleport spell can take players there almost immediately, which is good if you have just gathered special ingredients.
 * The fishing spot near Barbarian Village is a good place to cook trout and salmon: players often drop their raw catch for others to pick up and cook and there are several trees nearby which can be cut down in order to start fires. This is ideal if you want to level up quickly and are not concerned with making money.
 * The Tree Gnome Stronghold is useful because you can make Gnome Cocktails, Gnome Foods, and various other dishes thanks to Hudo and Heckel Funch who supply you with plenty of cooking ingredients. There is easy access to a bank and a minigame as well.
 * The TzHaar City has many vents scattered throughout where it is possible to cook food on, as they act like a range. One of these is conveniently located right next to the bank.
 * Players who have completed the Hard Varrock Diary will have access to the Cooking Guild's cooking range, which is directly in front of a bank booth. Compared to almost any other location for cooking, this method stands as arguably the most superior, as it virtually enables a cooking efficiency that is on par with that of the Rogues' Den while also allowing players to cook foods that require a cooking range instead of a fire. Additionally, using a cooking range itself (instead of a fire) will allow for greater cooking success.
 * Players who have 100% favor in the Hosidius house can use the clay oven. The oven is next to a bank chest and you have 5% less chance of burning your food. Therefore you won't burn any sharks from level 89 Cooking when using the cooking gauntlets as well.