Although the two identify almost identical cooking techniques, in the modern kitchen anyway, "baking" is most generally associated with breads, cakes, pies and casseroles while "roasting" is what you do to meat or vegetables. So, while roasting and baking are almost identical methods of dry heat cooking, the terms roasting and baking apply to two different kinds of foods. You generally roast food that has structure already, solid foods such as meats and vegetables. You generally bake foods that don't have much structure until they are baked: cakes, breads, pies, casseroles, etc. I hope this gives you a better understanding of the differences between baking and roasting. ~Samantha :)