In Old School Runescape, cooking is one of the most popular skills to max out, and it is also one of the easiest.
This is often the first skill that players get to level 99, and it comes with many benefits if you do!
However, cooking is also needed for a couple of notable quests, making it necessary to level up, even if you don’t use it often.
OSRS Cooking Guide: Level 1-99
Cooking is an incredibly useful skill, and it definitely isn’t one that you want to put off advancing for too long.
Fortunately, this is also one of the easiest skills to level up in OSRS, and reaching level 99 is usually a relatively quick endeavor.
If you’re new to leveling this skill, don’t worry. We’re going to cover everything you need to know in this OSRS cooking guide!
Why Train Cooking In OSRS?
Cooking is often overlooked because it is easy enough to simply buy the best foods for healing in OSRS at the General Exchange.
However, this skill is also needed for some pretty significant quests, including Recipe for Disaster, Swan Song, and the Varrock Elite Diary.
Additionally, being able to cook your own food can be useful for bossing, and it can be much more convenient overall at higher levels.
If that wasn’t enough, cooking training is pretty quick and easy, so you won’t lose much time by maxing it out.
In fact, it is even possible to get one of the best skillcapes in OSRS, the cooking cape, in under 20 hours if you’re efficient!
Things To know
Before we get started on the different methods you can use to level up cooking, let’s look at a few things you need to know first!
Firstly, food can be cooked using either a range or a fire, which you can create using wood and a tinderbox.
However, before hitting level 99, there will almost always be a chance of burning food, more so when not using a range.
That said, some ranges, such as the Lumbridge Castle range and the Hosidius cooking range, burn food less often than normal ranges.
Additionally, burning food is a random occurrence that is tied to your cooking level, meaning at a low level, you have a much higher burn rate.
You can use items such as the cooking gauntlets, one of the best glove sets in OSRS, to reduce the burn rate.
The cooking gauntlets will become available after completing the Family Crest quest, and they are definitely worth picking up.
Tips & Tricks
Now that you know about the burn rate and the difference between ranges and fires, we can take a look at items you can use to give yourself an edge.
There are many different items in Old School Runescape that can temporarily boost your cooking ability, and you’ll want to stock up on them.
Some of the best are:
- Spicy Stew (Orange Spice)
- Chef’s Delight
- Mushrooms
- Roast Frog
- Eel Sushi
- Loach
These can either be made as you advance or bought on the Grand Exchange if you’re at a lower level and have the coin.
Items like this can be incredibly beneficial when leveling up, and some, like the Spicy Stew, can even increase your cooking skill by up to +5.
Quests For Cooking Experience
If you want to gain cooking experience by questing, you’re in luck because there is a lot you can do.
However, some of these quests also come with additional requirements that you will need to consider before starting them.
That said, the cooking experience they can provide makes them well worth taking and completing.
1. Recipe For Disaster (Dwarf Subquest)
Experience: 1,000 Cooking XP
This is part of the very long overarching main Recipe for Disaster questline, and this part comes with no skill requirements.
However, you will have to complete Another Cook’s Quest and the Fishing Contest before this one can be started.
Overall, this subquest is fairly short, but once it is done, it awards players with 1,000 cooking XP.
It also allows players to obtain additional Dwarven Rock Cakes or the raw ingredients to make them.
2. Recipe For Disaster (Pirate Pete Subquest)
Experience: 1,000 Cooking XP
This subquest of Recipe for Disaster is medium-length, and it requires 31 cooking and the ability to defeat level 30 monsters.
When it is complete, it provides 1,000 cooking XP, along with 1,000 crafting, fishing, and smithing XP.
It also allows players to go diving for crabs and cook crab meat, which is beneficial for those leveling their cooking skill.
Furthermore, this quest makes it possible for players to kill crabs and use their shells and claws to make unique armor pieces.
3. Forgettable Tale
Experience: 5,000 Cooking XP
The second part in the Rise of the Red Axe quest series, Forgettable Tale, requires 22 cooking and 17 farming.
You will also have to complete The Giant Dwarf and Fishing Contest before it willbecomeavailable.
Once completed, this quest will provide 5,000 cooking XP and 5,000 farming XP, as well as 2 Dwarven stouts.
While Dwarven stout won’t benefit cooking, it will be useful when it comes time to level your smithing or mining.
4. Recipe For Disaster (Awowogei Subquest)
Experience: 10,000 Cooking XP
Lastly, this part of the Recipe for Disaster questline requires you to complete the prior parts of the quest, as well as Monkey Madness I.
This subquest is very long, but it comes with a lot of amazing rewards that can be beneficial when advancing your cooking skill.
When it is completed, this subquest awards 10,000 cooking XP, 10,000 agility XP, and the Ape Atoll teleport spell.
It will also provide further access to the Culinaromancer’s Chest, which can provide food, cooking gloves, and powerful utensils.
OSRS 1-99 Cooking Guide: The Fastest Method
If you want to be able to hit level 99 as fast as possible, there is one surefire method you can use.
However, this method does have its downsides, most notably in how much it costs when compared to other leveling techniques.
That said, if you have the coins to spare, this is what you’ll want to do.
Levels 30-99: Karambwans
We’ll cover how to get to level 30 in the next section, but the fastest method for leveling up begins here.
At level 30, you can start cooking karambwans, mollusks that can be found on the island of Karamja.
To be able to cook karambwans, you must first speak with Tinsay in his hut after completing the Tai Bwo Wannai Trio quest.
A thoroughly cooked karambwan offers 190 cooking experiences, and while it’s click-intensive, you can get up to 950k XP per hour with them.
Best of all, cooked karambwans sell for a decent profit, so you can make back a bit of money if you plan on buying them instead of fishing for them.
Levels 35-99: Jugs of Wine
Once you hit level 35, you can start winemaking, which offers the most bang for your buck overall.
By making jugs of wine, you can easily pull in 500k XP per hour, allowing you to increase your cooking skill quickly.
A single jug of wine requires 1 unit of grapes and 1 jug of water, and all you have to do is combine the two together!
However, until level 68, there will always be a 5% chance of making bad wine, though this won’t slow you down by much.
You can either buy all of the ingredients you need, or you can gather grapes yourself from the Hosidius Vinery using a 36 farming skill.
Alternative Method
If you want to get to level 99 step-by-step, there are things you can do in order to gradually make your way there.
While this method isn’t the fastest, it will allow you to level up using a variety of ingredients more easily.
Although you can use quests like Cook’s Assistant and Gertrude’s Cat to gain XP at a low level, you can also jump straight into cooking.
Levels 1-15: Shrimp
From level 1, you should start off by cooking shrimp until level 15, as this will be the best way to advance your cooking skill quickly.
Shrimp can be easily bought from the Grand Exchange or caught for 10 fishing XP per catch.
Each shrimp you cook will offer 30 XP every time it isn’t burned, which is a solid amount at this low level.
Levels 15-30: Sardines
At level 15, you can start cooking sardines for 40 XP a go, so long as they don’t burn.
However, at this level, you can also start cooking trout, which grants 70 XP per one that you cook correctly.
Raw trout can be caught with a fishing level of 20 or bought on the Grand Exchange for around 38 coins each.
In order to get to level 30, you will need roughly 130 raw trout, though you may need more depending on how many burn.
Levels 30-50: Salmon
Once you reach level 30, you can start cooking salmon, which can be bought or caught to save money.
Raw salmon can be caught with a fishing level of 30, and they are prevalent in the river next to the Barbarian Village.
There is also a permanent fire in this location as well, making it easy to catch the fish and cook them without much travel.
However, you will need around 1,000 salmon to reach level 50, so we would recommend buying as many as you can.
To purchase all of the raw salmon needed, it will cost around 36k on the Grand Exchange, which is fairly reasonable for most players.
Levels 50-61: Tuna
When you hit level 50, you’ll want to switch to cooking tuna, which will award 100 XP so long as it doesn’t burn.
While you will need 35 fishing to catch tuna yourself, you can also steal them from fish stalls with a level 42 in thieving.
In order to reach level 61, you will need around 2,000 tunas, which can also be purchased for around 84k on the Grand Exchange.
We would recommend buying at least half of the required raw fish unless you are looking to level your fishing skill at the same time as your cooking.
Levels 61-76: Lobsters
At level 61, you’ll want to start stocking up on lobsters, which you will need about 8,600 of.
Lobsters will grant 120 XP every time you cook one successfully, and you can even start cooking them at level 50, but with a higher burn rate.
You will need a fishing skill of 40 to catch these yourself, though you can buy them if you have the coin.
In order to buy all of the raw lobster needed to hit level 76, it will cost around 1.1 million on the Grand Exchange.
However, the cooked lobster is even more valuable, so you can sell it to make back a small profit, especially since burning lobsters stops at level 74.
Levels 76-82: Swordfish
At level 76, you can start cooking swordfish, which requires a 60 fishing skill while drift net fishing.
However, raw swordfish can also be purchased on the Grand Exchange for 170 coins if you just want to buy them outright.
It is worth noting that swordfish is as good as it gets for free-to-player players who want to hit level 99.
The following raw fish are available to members only, and in order to get to level 99, you will need about 90,000 swordfish.
While it is doable, it will take a lot of time and up to 15 million coins if you plan on buying all of the fish you need.
Levels 82-89: Monkfish
If you are a member, once you hit level 82, you can start cooking monkfish, which requires a fishing level of 62 to catch.
They can also be purchased on the Grand Exchange, which we recommend using if you have the money.
To reach level 89, you will need 16,000 monkfish, which will cost about 3 million if you buy them all.
However, if you already have smithing, mining, or runecrafting leveled up, this amount of money will be easy to come up with.
Levels 89-93: Sharks
Once you hit level 89, you can switch to cooking sharks, which can be caught using a level 76 fishing skill.
You will need 11,000 sharks to hit level 93, and if you buy them on the Grand Exchange, you will need around 4 million coins.
However, each shark grants 210 XP making it the most efficient way to get to level 93 from 89.
While you can also start using anglerfish at this point as well, it will be much more pricey overall.
Levels 93-99: Anglerfish
When you hit level 93, you can rejoice because you’re in the final stretch, and it’s time to start cooking anglerfish!
If you want to catch these yourself, you’ll need a level 82 in fishing and 100% Piscarilius favor, as well as sandworms.
Because of these requirements, anglerfish, like the rarest drops in OSRS, are often in high demand on the Grand Exchange, causing them to cost quite a bit.
In order to get to level 99, you will need around 25,000 anglerfish, which will cost about 42 million if you plan on buying them.
However, since they offer 230 cooking XP each, they are the best for getting you to level 99!
Summary
We hope you enjoyed our OSRS cooking guide and learned everything you need to reach level 99!
Although it will take a lot of grinding, because it doesn’t require travel, cooking is considered one of the easiest skills to level up.
Coupled with the fact that it allows you to make the best healing foods in the game, it is definitely a skill worth focusing on!
