Little cooking guide/tips

[Hid]

I haven't found this method on any fansite guide or forum, so i thought I'd share it with you. It is actually the way I used to get from level 90 cooking to the skill cape. And I even made money doing it, which is unusual for cooking.

It is cooking sea turtles. They give 212 xp each and you can start cooking sea turtles at level 82, but beware that you will burn between 13 and 30 %. (EDITED, at low levels you burn more) Still it is worth the money and experience in my opinion. Let's think of the worst situation, burn 30 % when your level aint so high. Cooking 1.2k fish per hour is possible, so this method would give you about 178k xp per hour. At a burn rate of 15 %, you will have 216k xp per hour.

Financially you can make a little profit, when your level rises. I'll explain why:
Raw sea turtle: 1071 gp each
Cooked sea turtle: 1.286 gp each.
Prices are medium GE-prices from the 28th of August. I bought all my sea turtles from the GE (most of them even against lowest prices), you sometimes just need a bit of patience.

Like I said, you can cook 1.2k fish per hour. 1.2k costs about 1.285k gp.

At low levels you might burn 20 % of them, which leaves you with 960 cooked sea turtles. Selling them at mid prices gives you 1.235k gp money back. So, 204k cooking xp per hour costs you 50k per hour.

When you get your level further up (92+), you only burn a maximum of 15 %. At 99 I even burn just 13 %. Doing the calculation with 15 % burning quote, you earn
about 27k gp per hour and get 216k xp per hour.

Comparing this method with two other popular ones:

Monkfish (stop burning from 77 on), 150 xp each:
Buy 421 gp each and sell for 336 each. Using the 1.2k fish per hour, that means you pay about 102k gp for 180k xp per hour, when you don't burn a single fish.

Sharks (stop burning from 94 on), 210 xp each:
Buy 987 gp each, and sell for 842 each. For 1.2k fish, that is a cost of about 174k for 252k xp per hour, when you don't burn a single fish.

Comparing these 3 methods with eachother:

Sea turtles: 216k xp, profit 27k
Monk fish: 180k xp, costs 102k
Sharks: 252k xp, costs 174k

Monkfish is clearly worse than sea turtles. For sharks you get 36k xp more, which will cost you an extra 201k gp per hour.

I'll throw in some more maths to calculate the hours left for the cape after level 94, where you stop burning sharks, and the loss/profit you will have for that method.

Xp needed from 94-99: about 5,1 million
Hours needed with:
Monk fish: 28,3 hours
Sharks: 20,2 hours
Sea turtles: 23,6

Money lost/made in that time:
Monk fish: 2.887 gp loss
Sharks: 3.515k gp loss
Sea turtles: 637k profit

Comparing monk fish to sharks: if you have a method to make 77.5k gp per hour ((3.515 - 2.887)/(28,3-20,2)), it is better to cook sharks.
Comparing sharks to sea turtles: if you have a method to make 1.221k gp per hour ((3.515k loss + 637k profit)/(23,6-20,2)), it is better to cook sharks.

I hope this little guide helps for everyone who is trying to get the cooking cape. Prices are GE medium prices from the 28th of August 2008 and can of course change.

[Garnoidish]

Thats very interesting! As Ive finally decided to go get an easy 99 skill for my next side-project :!:

[Sir Chris]

Very interesting indeed! My personal goal at present is an attack cape and I will certainly be looking to trim it
The question will be cooking, fletching or maybe strength at that point (currently 95) whichever is the quickest.
Thanks for the guide.

[beefeater555]

Another excellent guide hid! Great calculations too! =D>
I now know how I'm getting a cooking cape!

[mysticmoggy]

All hail Hid for his guides - very nice

[Garnoidish]

another little tip with cooking sea turtles - use the lumbridge cooking range, its something like 50% less burn rate

[Hid]

That reminds me to add, that apparently you burn more at low levels. I had the 20 % burn-rate from a friend, who was lower cooking level than me, and used the method. I guess that was a wrong info, sorry to everyone for that.

I started cooking sea turtles myself from level 90 on, and used the range at the cooking guild. Averaged about 15 % burn-rate in the low 90's there myself. I hope that still is right

[Tregony]

That's excellent info Hid, thanks for sharing that.

[damnimmart]

IMPORTANT: always wear cooking gauntlets!

I just noticed this at the FAQ about cooking at the knowledge base of runescape:

Are there any items that prevent you from burning food so often?

Yes. After completing the Family Crest quest you will get the option to obtain a pair of Cooking Gauntlets as part of the quest reward. While wearing these gauntlets you will burn fewer lobsters, swordfish and sharks.

[Hid]

In that case I'll remove it from guide. Thx for noticing Mart. I always thought those gloves worked for all fish.