Welcome to the ultimate Old School RuneScape Cooking guide! Whether you’re a free-to-play adventurer or a seasoned member, mastering the Cooking skill is essential. This comprehensive guide will provide you with all the knowledge to reach level 99 efficiently, covering the fastest methods, money-saving alternatives, and dedicated strategies for Ironmen.
This guide is designed to help you navigate every aspect of Cooking in OSRS, transforming you into a culinary master. We’ll explore the quickest route to level 99, various alternative training approaches, and specialized advice tailored for Ironman accounts. Prepare to embark on your journey to cooking proficiency!
Understanding the Cooking Skill in OSRS
Cooking is a fundamental skill accessible to all Old School RuneScape players, both members and those in free-to-play worlds. By preparing a diverse range of food items, from basic meats to intricate pies, pizzas, and even ales, you’ll gain Cooking experience. For regular accounts, acquiring raw ingredients is straightforward through the Grand Exchange, eliminating the need for resource gathering.
Interestingly, Cooking ranks as the 4th most common skill to reach level 99, surpassed only by three combat skills. This makes it the most popular skilling 99 in OSRS. For free-to-play players, Cooking stands out as the fastest skill to achieve 99. Moreover, employing efficient methods, it’s also the cheapest buyable skill, excluding slower, profit-oriented techniques.
Why Invest Time in OSRS Cooking?
Reaching specific Cooking levels unlocks significant milestones in OSRS. Level 70 Cooking is a prerequisite for obtaining Barrows Gloves, a crucial item that requires completion of the Recipe for Disaster questline. In fact, level 70 Cooking is the highest skill level needed for any quest in the game, making it essential for achieving your Quest Point Cape.
For completionists, level 95 Cooking is necessary to finish all achievement diaries. Specifically, you need level 95 to cook a Summer Pie for the elite Varrock diary.
Cooking is also particularly valuable for Ironman accounts, especially Ultimate Ironmen. Reaching level 80 Cooking is vital for efficiently cooking large quantities of raw Sharks obtained from Minnows, streamlining their resource management.
The coveted Cooking skillcape provides a remarkable perk: immunity to burning food, regardless of the cooking method or food type. This ability can be highly profitable when preparing foods with a significant price difference between their raw and cooked forms.
Essential Items and Cooking Knowledge
Before starting your cooking journey, understanding key items and mechanics is crucial for efficient training.
Cooking on a range or oven slightly reduces the chance of burning food compared to cooking over an open fire. However, the difference is minimal and often negligible for most training methods.
Completing the Family Crest quest is highly recommended to obtain Cooking Gauntlets.
These gloves significantly decrease your burn rate when cooking on either a fire or a range. For instance, you typically stop burning Lobsters at level 74 Cooking. With Cooking Gauntlets equipped, you’ll stop burning them as early as level 64, saving resources and increasing efficiency.
Choosing the right cooking location near a bank is vital for maximizing your experience per hour. Optimal locations minimize travel time, allowing for continuous cooking.
Optimal Cooking Locations:
- Free-to-Play: Al-Kharid range, Lumbridge Castle range. For free-to-play, utilizing your own fire or taking advantage of fires lit by players training Firemaking can also be effective.
- Members: Myth’s Guild, Rogue’s Den, Mor-Ul-Rek bank offer ranges or fires conveniently located next to banks, allowing for rapid restocking of supplies.
- Hosidius Kitchen: For cost-conscious players or those seeking profit, achieving 100% Hosidius house favour in Zeah unlocks access to Hosidius kitchen ranges, situated south of Kourend Castle.
Cooking in the Hosidius kitchen reduces the chance of burning food by 5%. Completing the elite Kourend achievement diary further increases this reduction to 10%. While these ranges require a short walk from the bank chest, the increased experience per hour due to fewer burnt items often makes them worthwhile.
The Best Pathway to Level 99 Cooking
The following methods offer an excellent balance of cost, speed, and click intensity. Remarkably, these methods are accessible to both free-to-play and member players, making them the recommended path for everyone. While faster, more click-intensive methods exist, they will be covered in the alternative methods section.
Level 1-15 Cooking: Sardines
Begin your culinary journey by cooking Sardines from level 1. Sardines provide 10 more experience points than Shrimp while still being cookable at level 1.
To reach level 15 and unlock the next method, you need to successfully cook 61 Sardines. To account for burning, purchase approximately 110 Raw Sardines. Cook these at a convenient location near a bank. Level 1 to 15 Cooking will only take around 5 to 7 minutes.
Level 15-25 Cooking: Trout
At level 15, you can start cooking Trout. Your next milestone is level 25.
You’ll need to successfully cook 78 Trout. Purchase around 110 Raw Trout to reach level 25, allowing for some burnt fish. This stage will also take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. For budget-conscious players or those wanting free training, Barbarian Village offers a resource. Find a world where players are dropping fish caught from fly fishing. A fire is conveniently located near the fishing spot, allowing you to cook the dropped Raw Trout for free experience, though you’ll need to drop the cooked fish to continue.
Level 25-35 Cooking: Salmon
Upon reaching level 25, you can cook Salmon. Similar to Trout, Salmon can also be obtained at Barbarian Village using the same method.
Your next goal is level 35. You’ll need to cook 182 Salmon successfully, so buy at least 250 Raw Salmon to account for burning. This process should take around 10 minutes. In total, reaching level 35 from level 1 requires approximately 110 Trout and Sardines, and 250 Salmon, taking only 20 to 30 minutes in total.
Level 35-99 Cooking: Wine
At level 35, you unlock one of the most efficient methods for rapid Cooking experience: making Wine. This involves using Grapes on Jugs of Water. After about 12 seconds (20 game ticks), the mixture ferments into Wine, granting 200 Cooking experience per Wine.
Wine can be made at any bank; no range or fire is needed. Before level 68 Cooking, some Wines will fail and become Bad Wine, providing no experience. Experience rates start around 200,000 XP per hour at level 35, increasing to approximately 480,000 XP per hour at level 68 and beyond, with even higher rates achievable with intense focus.
Over recent years, the price of Grapes has significantly decreased. To go from level 35 to 99 Cooking, you need to successfully make 65,061 Wines. To reach level 68, where Wine-making becomes fail-proof, you need to make approximately 2,914 Wines. Factoring in failed attempts, you’ll need around 4,000 Wines to reach level 68. Therefore, from level 35 to 99, you’ll need approximately 66,000 Grapes and Jugs of Water.
Compared to previous years, the cost of training Cooking via Wines has drastically reduced due to lower Grape prices. Currently, this method is approximately 0.4 GP per experience point. Making 66,000 Wines, accounting for failures, will cost roughly 4.29 million GP. This method offers an exceptional balance of cost, speed, and click intensity, providing a high experience rate at a relatively low cost.
Alternative OSRS Cooking Training Methods
Beyond the recommended pathway, several alternative methods cater to different priorities, such as faster experience rates or cost savings.
Barbarian Fishing for Passive Cooking XP
Barbarian Fishing is a popular training method for reaching 99 Fishing. While Barbarian Fishing, using a knife on Leaping Fish grants a small amount of Cooking experience. Training Fishing to 99 using this method and always cutting the fish will passively grant approximately 1 million Cooking experience. This is sufficient to reach level 72 Cooking without traditional training. This method is worth considering for players aiming for a max cape, as it saves time by partially leveling Cooking concurrently with Fishing.
Karambwans: The Fastest Cooking Method
At level 30 Cooking and after completing the Tai Bwo Wannai Trio quest, you can cook Karambwans. Karambwans are the fastest Cooking training method in OSRS. Regular, afk cooking of Karambwans isn’t exceptionally fast, but by utilizing 1-tick cooking, you can achieve up to 1 million XP per hour. 1-tick cooking involves holding down the space bar or number 2 key and using a Raw Karambwan on a fire or range every game tick (every 0.6 seconds). It takes practice to master the timing, but with a little practice, it becomes relatively easy. You’ll burn Karambwans frequently at level 30, stopping completely at level 99 Cooking. However, in the Hosidius kitchen, burning stops at level 93, and with the elite Kourend diary 10% bonus, at level 89. Cooking Gauntlets do not affect Karambwans, so there’s no further burn rate reduction.
Cooking Karambwans can also be profitable. There is approximately a 150 GP margin between raw and cooked Karambwans. Factoring in burn rates, you’ll break even around level 70 Cooking, becoming profitable after that. From level 70 to 99 Cooking at the Hosidius kitchen, you can expect to profit around 9 million GP. Starting from level 30 and training to 99 may yield around 4 million GP profit, but experience rates will be lower initially due to burning.
Tuna: Budget-Friendly Training to Level 68
For players seeking to save money at lower levels, cooking Tuna from level 35 Cooking provides a profitable path to level 68, where Wine-making becomes fail-proof. From level 35 to 68 Cooking, you can profit approximately 50,000 GP from cooking Tuna, while achieving up to 130,000 XP per hour. You will need to successfully cook 5,827 Tuna. Accounting for burning, purchase at least 7,000 Raw Tuna to reach level 68.
Sharks: Profitable Training from Level 80+
At level 80 Cooking, you can start cooking Sharks, another profitable training method. However, high burn rates at level 80 mean significant profit is only realized after reducing burning. Burning stops at level 89 for most players, level 84 with Hosidius kitchen and elite diary bonus. Cooking Sharks offers around 250,000 Cooking XP per hour and is relatively afk. Training from level 89 to 99 Cooking solely with Sharks can yield a profit of around 7 million GP. A viable strategy is to train with Wines until level 89 and then switch to Sharks to 99, converting early losses into overall profit while maintaining fast experience rates.
Ironman OSRS Cooking Training Guide
For Ironman accounts, resource acquisition and training methods differ. Here are specialized tips for Ironman Cooking.
Low-Level Ironman Cooking
Early Ironman Cooking training is conventional, primarily using fish caught via low-level Fishing. Once you can catch Trout, the fire in Barbarian Village is an excellent training location.
Beyond fishing, various monsters drop raw fish. Brine Rats are notable for consistently dropping noted fish in large quantities. Ice Trolls also drop noted raw fish, including higher-level varieties. Konar’s Chest and Larran’s Chest can also reward hundreds of raw fish in their loot tables.
Mess Hall: Efficient Ironman Cooking
With 45% Hosidius house favour and at least 20 Cooking, you can train Cooking at the Mess Hall in Zeah. At level 20, experience rates with Servery Pies and Stews are slow, but upon unlocking Pineapple Pizzas at level 65, you can achieve over 200,000 XP per hour with focused training. This method involves collecting utensils and raw ingredients from cupboards and preparing food for NPCs in the hall. The Mess Hall is ideal for Ultimate Ironmen due to not requiring inventory space for food storage. It’s also beneficial for regular Ironmen seeking a cost-free training method.
Karambwans for Ironman
Karambwans are also excellent for Ironmen. They can be conveniently caught by using the DKP fairy ring directly next to the fishing spot. 65 Fishing is required to catch Karambwans, and even at this level, catch rates are reasonably fast. Ironmen can utilize 1-tick cooking for rapid experience or afk cook them. Alternatively, Raw Karambwans can be purchased from the fishing store in Tai Bwo Wannai village, which stocks 10 per world. A nearby fire allows for continuous training. However, purchasing Karambwans can be costly for Ironmen.
Wine for Ironman Cooking
Wine-making is another viable Ironman method. Grapes and Jugs of Water can be purchased from the Culinaromancer’s Chest, which also functions as a bank, simplifying storage after purchase. The stock of Grapes and Jugs increases based on Recipe for Disaster sub-quest completion, up to a maximum of 10 after completing the entire quest. World-hopping for purchases can yield up to 130,000 Cooking XP per hour. Furthermore, large quantities of Grapes are common drops from bosses like Vorkath, Zulrah, Kalphite Queen, and Thermonuclear Smoke Devil, providing substantial Cooking experience.
Overall, the Mess Hall is likely the fastest Ironman Cooking method when considering resource acquisition time. However, other methods offer concurrent experience gains in other skills, making them valuable depending on your overall goals.
In conclusion, this guide provides a comprehensive roadmap to achieving level 99 Cooking in OSRS. Thank you for reading, and best of luck on your path to becoming a master chef in Gielinor!
