Cooking

Cooking is one of the skill points to be gained in both The Sims and The Sims 2.

A higher Cooking skill prevents a Sim from accidentally causing a fire. The poorer your skill is, the bigger the chance you will burn down the house. Some careers require Cooking skills.

To increase your Sim's Cooking skills, have him or her sit down and read a few cookbooks. Cooking food also increases the skill, but it's best to have a few skill points before actually attempting to cook lest you want a fire to break out.

The Cooking skill determines how satisfying a meal is when a Sim has made it. The better your Sim's Cooking skill, the faster the Hunger bar will be filled.

The Sims: Makin' Magic
In The Sims: Makin' Magic, Cooking is vastly improved, with Sims able to collect ingredients and make their own meals. Several new appliances included in the expansion pack can increase a Sim's Cooking skill, such as the Old-Fashioned Butter Churn and the Wax 'n' Honey Maker.

In Makin' Magic', the cooking skill determines how many charges a magical Sim will get when making a spell.

The Sims 2
Cooking skill can be gained from the good ol' bookshelf or the Culinary Career reward object, the chocolate maker, and by watching the cooking channel (Yummy Channel) on television.

While cooking skill does not actually determine amount of satisfaction of the same food, a higher cooking skill means the Sim can cook other things, with a higher satisfaction, and less of a chance of fire or burning.