Using the cooking calculator
Each row is one successful cook. The cost column is the raw food (or the ingredients, for pies, stews and pizzas) against the price of the cooked result. Many fish sell for more cooked than raw, so a lot of rows show a small profit rather than a cost. Cooking has no xp-boosting outfit, so the bonus selector stays on none.
The actions needed column counts successful cooks, because burnt food gives no xp. Until you reach a food's stop-burn level you will need some extra raw food to cover the burns, and those burnt items are worth nothing.
The foods that matter
| Level | Food | XP each | Count from that level to 99 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison karambwan | 80 | Only used to 30 |
| 30 | Cooked karambwan | 190 | 68,532 |
| 40 | Lobster | 120 | 108,311 |
| 62 | Monkfish | 150 | 84,671 |
| 80 | Shark | 210 | 52,612 |
| 84 | Anglerfish | 230 | 43,840 |
| 91 | Manta ray | 216.3 | 32,971 |
The counts assume you start at the beginning of the listed level. Put your real xp into the tool and it gives the exact figure for every food at once.
Karambwans and the other fast methods
Karambwans dominate this skill. Poison karambwan (level 1, no quest) is the quickest way to 30, and from 30 the cooked version gives 190 xp each once you have finished Tai Bwo Wannai Trio. Cooked one at a time they are slow; with the 1-tick method on a range they run from about 464,000 xp an hour at 30 to about 950,000 at 99, which is why so many players go 30 to 99 on karambwans alone. They stop burning at 99, at 93 on the Hosidius range, or at 86 there with the elite Kourend and Kebos diary.
You do not have to tick-manipulate to get good value from them. Cooked one at a time on the Hosidius range, karambwans run at about 141,000 xp an hour at 30 and around 273,000 by 99, which is calm enough to do on a second screen. The cooked fish is in steady demand for combo eating, so the profit column often shows karambwans close to even or slightly up.
Bake Pie is the fast option with no burns at all. The Lunar spell (65 Magic, Lunar Diplomacy) cooks a pie every three ticks, a third quicker than a range, and because nothing burns, the count in the table is exactly what you need to buy. Wild pies at 85 reach about 452,000 xp an hour and summer pies at 95 about 490,000, with roughly 113,000 Magic xp an hour on top. Most pies lose gold per xp, and mushroom pies at 60 are the one that can break even or better, so sort by profit before you commit.
If you would rather click less, big fish are the steady middle ground. Sharks from 80 give roughly 275,000 to 285,000 xp an hour on the Hosidius range, and anglerfish from 84 about 305,000 to 330,000, burns included. That is slower than 1-tick karambwans but needs no timing, and it is where cooked fish most often sell for more than raw.
Burning less
- Cooking gauntlets (Family Crest) lower burns on lobster, swordfish, monkfish, shark and anglerfish only.
- Hosidius kitchen range: 5% fewer burns after the easy Kourend and Kebos diary, 10% after the elite.
- Lumbridge Castle range (Cook's Assistant) lowers the burn level of some low-level foods.
For sharks and anglerfish the gauntlets make the biggest difference, since a burnt shark costs the price of a raw one with nothing back. Check the shark price and the raw shark price before a big batch; the gap between the two is your margin per cook.
Profit and AFK choices
If xp per hour matters less than gold, sort by profit. High-level fish such as sharks, anglerfish and manta rays often sell for more cooked than raw, so you can level and earn at the same time, as long as you burn few. The Cooking money making page ranks those methods by gp per hour.
For a full level route with quests and early fish, see the Cooking training guide, and the OSRS best food list if you are deciding which food to cook for your own bossing.