Translation guide
To cook food using dry heat, typically in an oven. In Japanese, the most common equivalent is 焼く (yaku), which covers baking, grilling, broiling, and roasting. There is no single verb that perfectly matches English 'bake' in all contexts, so the choice depends on the food and cooking method.
To cook food such as bread, cakes, cookies, or casseroles in an oven or similar enclosed heat.
The most general verb for cooking with direct or dry heat. It covers baking, grilling, broiling, and roasting. Use this for most baked goods when the method is clear from context.
I bake bread.
I baked a cake.
Specifies baking in an oven, useful when you need to distinguish from other cooking methods like grilling or frying.
I bake cookies in the oven.
To emphasize the use of an oven, especially for Western-style baked goods.
To harden clay or ceramics by heating in a kiln.
To describe extreme heat from the sun or weather, as in 'It's baking hot.'
The loanword ベイクする (beiku suru) is rarely used in natural Japanese. It may appear in some contexts like 'baked cheesecake' (ベイクドチーズケーキ), but as a verb, 焼く is much more common and natural.
Bake a cake.
焼く (yaku) is for dry-heat cooking like baking, grilling, or roasting. 炒める (itameru) is for stir-frying or sautéing with oil in a pan. 揚げる (ageru) is for deep-frying. Use the right verb for the cooking method.
Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
Work under the baking sun.