I use all those techniques. Different foods needing different methods........

Favorite is braising. Most often done is some combination of steam and roasting (Combi-steam oven).

Why? Braising brings out the most flavor for the least amount of work. I have a recipe I saved as Short-Ribs the Easy Way. It's a braise with spices, coarsely cut mirepoix, canned tomatoes and booze. It's way high on the umami love scale and dead easy. There's a Molly recipe for braised duck legs with dried cherries which I made once. It's the most fiddly recipe for cooking (not baking) I can remember doing, but once the fiddling is done and it's all cooking, it turns into a massive party of delicious delights, so word to flavor ratio it's still a winner. Then there's just the stuff that gets cooked without a specific recipe. Can't go wrong with a braise! Beer braised bison ribs! The Coke brisket that everybody loves so much. Lamb in red wine swimming with garlic. Even when I roast a turkey, technically, it's a braise.

Steam roasting is the easiest way period. Sometimes I'll buy food that's meant for a particular, involved dish, but then I run out of time, go out unexpectedly, or just don't feel well, and just need to cook it already. Into the combi-steam it goes. Comes out delicious with minimal prep and bother.

I'd say we roast, fry and steam the most. We do use a Crock-pot a fair amount and I'm not sure what would fall under. Probably depends on what's in it.

I'd say we stir fry and braise the most. Usually try to use a very little oil say about a tablespoon of peanut oil for the stir fry and a tablespoon of olive oil for the usual initial cooking of onions, garlic when braising.

We tend to BBQ a lot over the summer so as not to heat the house up.

We love roasts.

Braising/simmering and slow oven roasting are my usual methods. I seldom fry. Growing up in the South with the usual broken oven in the house, that was 90 percent of the cooking. Although there is nothing better than home-fried chicken, fish, potatoes, cornbread, etc., I dislike the mess, the constant attention it takes, and it doesn't agree with my digestion. I rarely steam, with the exception of fresh veggies, and I've gotten away from that lately since I've discovered oven-roasted veggies. I never grill, that's DH's job. (I'm the world's worst fire-starter.) Microwaving is strictly for heating up and quick bacon/egg sandwich or cooking quick grits in the morning. I've never torched or chemically cooked anything.

I most often saute. Occasionally use a Crock Pot. As a treat we will deep fry seafood. My DH uses the grill or smoker quite a bit and makes a beautiful beef tenderloin in by slow oven method.

I love to saute! I also love to roast and bake. :) I use a crockpot only as a vessel to keep things warm and never think to cook in it. I actually do use the microwave to cook/bake a banana coffeecake and LOVE it because it's quick, otherwise microwaves are for reheating. It's a rare day that I'll steam or deep fry. I do wish I'd remember to use the broiler more often and that I had the good weather and time required to smoke meat.

Thinking it's about equal parts roasting/baking, stewing/braising & sauteeing - tending more towards broiling & sauteeing in the hotter months.

Saute, roast, steam, boil (pasta) grill, stir fry, bake, no cook (salads, tomato sauce, etc.). Don’t care for braised or deep fried. Microwave is only used to reheat.

Saute and braising - I used to roast but braising has taken over, we love it. Those are the techniques used the most. As for FAVORITE - well, my favorite is when DH works magic on the grill!

As for why - for grilling, the char and flavor are extraordinary. For inside, I love to cook without recipes, just getting inspired by what we have on hand. Sauteing really lends itself to that. Braising is also very forgiving, the braising liquid and ingredients can be modified by what's on hand, and it will always come out delicious.

I have done some quick pickling, and of all the techniques you list that is probably the one I would like to learn and do more often, especially as spring and summer approach.

Winter

saute, braise, simmer, roast, steam, bake,50% raw

Spring

saute, braise, grill, smoke(hot and cold), steam, simmer, bake,50% raw

Summer

steam, braise, grill, smoke, 75% raw

Fall

braise, simmer, steam, roast, bake, 50% raw

*we do eat a fair amount of raw. but i put pickling and fermenting in that category so it is heavy handed in the percentage.

*i suppose i boil and fry by your list. Broths and soups are at the boiling point and searing is frying by that definition...but i have never battered and fried anything in a depth of oil it requires.

-Isn't a saute more of a steam? Our saute is more of a light steam to barely cook, just a wilt for greens or warming/blanching green beans...no oil, just a bit of steam...may finish with a pat of butter.

For me, grilling is very common, but I cook a lot in the pressure cooker - and so I guess boiling is the most common for me. I use a crock pot about once a year, and so that is pretty rare. Yesterday I stir-fried some vegetables and leftover rice. I had done this so that I could add the leftover Chinese meatballs, but I forgot to add them. I did add egg, however. I cook pancakes on the griddle, and I also make omelets fairly frequently. One thing I never do is braise, since we do not eat the type of meat that is used for. I use the oven for baking bread, pizza, lasagna, calzone, etc but generally not for meat or vegetables. Most of my cooking is done on the stove top, when we are not barbecuing. I use the slow smoker to smoke turkey breast and sausage about twice a month or so.

Grilling more than any other technique. If it's meat, it gets grilled. Veggies get sauted on the stove. Rice on the stove. Potatoes usually on the grill but often in the microwave. I use a 22-1/2" Weber Kettle to cook chicken (but not breasts), pork chops and tenderloin, lamb chops, and burgers.

About the only thing that I use the oven for is to bake cookies.

I love them all, but have to say my favorite is braising. That's because I love the fact that I can do most if no all of the work up front, clean the kitchen and just sit back and marinate in the aromas of my home for hours.

Not to mention, lots of leftovers that get better over time.

1) slow roasting

2) braising

3) sear-roasting

I enjoy deep fried food, but I don't deep fry often. Waste too much good cooking oil deep frying.

I use all the tools and techniques, especially sous vide and the pressure cooker.

Hot smoke cold smoke. I also use the dehydrator as a low temperature convection oven to cook.

dcarch

For me, frying is #1, closely followed by boiling #2, with roasting a distant #3.

Frying is fast, different ingredients can be cooked for different times, flavors built up, sauces made. You don't have to figure out the whole dish ahead of time, as you can improvise as you go. I recently got an iron wok and a 25K BTU burner, which has made frying more fun and even faster.

Boiling for me is mostly pressure cooking. Again, the reason is speed. I actually like braising and simmering a lot but seldom have the patience.

Roasting is too slow for my daily cooking. Sometimes I'll parboil stuff and then roast it. But then it is even faster to toss it in the wok.

My grandma steamed dishes a lot. Steamed whole fish, steamed buns, etc. I mostly use steaming for dumplings and the like.

A shameful amount of food is cooked here in the microwave . . . and not just leftovers . . .

Grilling is a seasonal thing for me. Someday I'd like a broiler that doesn't require me to sit on the floor in front of a open oven door. Then I could grill year round. A broiler is, I think, basically an upside down grill.

MW is probably most often used between all the meals, be it hot cereal for bkfst or defrosting bread for lunch or reheating leftovers or cooking vegetables. But I don't really consider that "cooking".

In terms of prepping meals, probably saute would be my go to process because, even if I'm making, say a soup, I start out by doing up the onions, garlic, veggies, etc. I'm a real chop and drop cook....wood board next to the stove, in goes a little bit of oil and then start the chopping and dropping.

Grilling....no question...steaks, chops ( pork and lamb) chicken, breasts, hind quarters and whole, fish...salmon, cod, grouper...and shrimp. Grill basket of onions, peppers, zuchinni , tomatoes....potatoes on a skewer,, hot dogs, brats, polish sausage....etc etc. Grilling is easy and good.

Baking is the primary method used for fish, meats and poultry. I guess you'd call it oven-braised because except for fish, a bean pot or Dutch oven is often used.

For most fresh or frozen vegetables, my first choice is microwaving.

Imake a lot of soups, sauces, rice, and beans so simmering is the other method I use, although I guess according to the listed categories above, it would be classofied as boiling.

I haven't deep fried for at least 20 years and grill much less than I used to in the summer.

Microwave. Fast and easy clean up because our lazy bones trump our gourmet dining wishes. Good for veggies, too. I actually have kind of mastered (made edible) cooking a half pound frozen hamburger in the mw. Go ahead and turn up your noses but I am out of the kitchen in record time. Minimize grunt work.