Pay-to-play Cooking training

Level advancement
This is one way to advance the Cooking skill level.

An alternate method to level
This is an alternate method to level cooking without burning fish, however it will most likely be slower than the method above. It is recommended to use the above method to attain level 50 cooking before beginning.


 * It's not really needed to do Monkfish as Shark are also good experience, but Sharks may be burnt so it's not preferred. Although if wearing Cooking Gauntlets obtained from the Family Crest quest, players can cook Sharks at Level 94 without failure. Though it gives 210 experience each, it is known as one of the more expensive methods.

Another Way To Train Cooking
A great way to train cooking without losing money is this: shrimps to 33, anchovies to 48, then trout to 99. This works because players lose money on the 1000 shrimps needed, but then make that money back with anchovies, then make a 1gp profit with trout. For example, As of 7 Dec 2008, cooked trout sells for 31, and raw trout sells for 30(in gp for both). This allows one to get to 99 cooking without sacrificing their treasury.

Sell and buy, or just trade
Fish play a big role in the cooking market, particularly the high level ones (lobsters, sharks, or monkfish). They make up the bulk of the food market, and with high demands in both raw and cooked forms.

Anchovies, however, are one of the few fish that players can buy raw, sell cooked, and gain profit. This is due to the fact that people buy cooked anchovies to make anchovy pizza, the highest Free-to-Play food. This is also good because it can be cooked at level 5. The other fish is trout which sells raw at 30gp and sells cooked at 31gp. This of course depends on the fluctuations of the grand exchange and may not last long. Before trouts usually break even or even lose a small loss.

Another good way for training cooking for no loss is to buy raw trout. Usually they sell for around 30gp each, and cooked trout sell for around 30gp each too. This is a good way to gain cooking exp without spending lots of money. However, cooked trout takes a very long time to sell because there isn't a very high demand for them.

When training on lobsters or sharks, players may wish to use the RuneScape food forum to buy raw fish and sell cooked ones.

Note that buying most fish raw from the Grand Exchange and selling the cooked product in the Grand Exchange is no longer profitable due to many players buying mass amounts of fish to get to 99 Cooking. For many fish there is a significant price difference between cooked and raw fish. If players wish to be profitable, they should sell on-demand - e.g. near Bounty Hunter - when many players are buying small amounts of food at above Grand Exchange prices. This, however, is a slow way to sell food. A way to train cooking and gain a profit would be to make foods containing many steps (e.g. Pineapple pizzas, Tuna potatoes). These foods give much more experience than fish when made from scratch, many cannot be burnt (e.g. Tuna potato - tuna is no longer burnt at level 60 Cooking, potatoes are no longer burnt before that. Level 69 Cooking is required to put the ingredients together, and as it requires no more interaction with a range or fire, cannot be burnt), and can be sold for modest profit in the Grand Exchange. The downside to this method is that takes much longer to prepare the ingredients for combining.

Cook in the correct environment
Some places are more suited for cooking than others. Here are a few.

Free-to-Play

 * Edgeville bank is a popular place to train cooking. There is a range right by the bank in Doris's house. It is also a popular place to train firemaking, which means that there will be plenty of fires around to cook on if the player wishes for faster runs. (Note: the house that contains the range has a door and a gate that automatically close every 5 minutes or so.)


 * Lumbridge bank is a good way for new cookers to start the skill. There are 4 log respawn points just outside the bank. Carry a tinderbox when cooking to light the logs. The downside is that players will lose one inventory slot while training. Another option at Lumbridge would be to use the cooking range at the bottom floor of the building. There is also a fireplace in which players can cook in at the General Store.


 * Al Kharid bank is the best f2p spot to train cooking. A range is right by the bank, providing fast runs to and from the bank.


 * Draynor Village This spot is good for cooking fish because of the fishing spot near the bank and many fires. People usually train fire making here because there is a lot of room for starting fires with no interruptions. You can possibly cook on the fires right outside the bank door. In Ned´s house is also a fireplace to cook on. However there aren't any ranges in Draynor Village.


 * Grand Exchange As long as there are players making fires in a world (there usually are) this makes a very fast and convenient place to cook. The good thing about this spot is that the raw materials (or sell the cooked materials if needed) can be bought there. Players can also bank from a distance while standing next to a fire. Players are recommended to search worlds for fires and try worlds with a high player population.


 * Barbarian Village fishing spots - many players would rather give away or drop salmons and trouts, while doing power fly-fishing. Its a good idea to bring an axe and a tinderbox, or instead cook fish in Barbarian Village, near Peksa's Helmet Shop. This method is 100% free.


 * Karamja fishing spots - These are good places to train both cooking and fishing. Some things are needed: an axe, fishing equipment (harpoon or lobster cage), and a tinderbox. The reason for an axe and tinderbox is to set a fire to cook the fish. Catch fish (fill the inventory to save time), light the fire, and cook the fish. However, in busy worlds are usually plenty of fires made by other players. Then players don't have to take their own equipment, which will use up 2 more inventory slots. When done cooking players can go to the general store, sell all fish and start over. Alternatively, players can eat fish while fighting nearby monsters, such as on Crandor, and in the Karamja and TzHaar dungeons. With the third Lumbridge Explorer's ring, it is feasible to bank in Draynor, thus making a profit, although this is slower exp.

Members only

 * The Catherby range is just east of the Catherby bank, very close to each other. This place is frequented often, giving lots of chances for interaction. Also, There are fishing spots in catherby, so players can fish for lobsters or sharks, or buy them from the people fishing.


 * Lumbridge is a good place to cook if players have started the quest Recipe for Disaster. The Culinaromancer's Chest in the cellar is 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, however one must have completed the Cook's Assistant quest to use the range but of course, players would have finished Cooks Assistant if they were to start Recipe For Disaster.


 * The Tree Gnome Stronghold is useful because players can make Gnome Cocktails, Gnome Foods, and various other dishes thanks to Hudo and Heckel Funch who supply plenty of cooking ingredients. There is easy access to a bank as well.


 * The Rogue's Den is one of the more efficient training spots, as a fire is directly in front of Emerald Benedict, the banker, saving valuable time. It is located under the Burthorpe pub. The fire is everlasting, so there is no need to worry about relighting it, saving inventory space. On the downside, the Rogues Den only has a fire as the means to cook, so it is only usable for cooking fish or meat.


 * A very good cooking spot is in the Cooking Guild, where a bank and a range are right by each other. However, a player must be wearing Varrock Armour 3 to use this.


 * There is also a cooking spot in the Fishing Guild, however it is somewhat a long walk and is not the best training spot.


 * Zanaris is a quite nice place to cook in since there's a close bank - no doors and a range. Players can also cook pies in here easily since there's a wheat field and a windmill. Sometimes there are extra Zanaris special events but they don't really come between that often. If players've started the quest Fairy Tales Part II and is able to use the fairy teleportion, they can travel using the code DKR to The Grand Exchange and back to Zanaris.


 * Nardah is a quiet desert town with a range by the bank. They are at the south of the town, with nothing between them. Players can angle the camera to be in sight of both.


 * There are many other ranges in RuneScape, however those listed above are the most efficient.