In article >,
Michael Siemon > wrote:

....

> In other words, a distinction -- which native English speakers may or
> may not [I suggest that most do not] observe -- based on size of the
> item baked/roasted.
>
> Which is to say, no difference as far as the original question goes.

This not to say that English as she is spoke doesn't have subtleties --
meats and (some) vegetables are "roasted", while flour- or custard-
based confection are "baked" as a general rule. Different folks will
have different comfort levels in describing the cooking of a cake or
a bunch of poultry parts as "baked", and sometimes there will be a
(localized) semantic distinction between roasting and baking the
"same" items (e.g., baking may to some folks, in some contexts,
imply covered while roasting implies uncovered) -- but all of this
is a matter of [extremely variable] language usage, with very little
in the way of [reliable] implications for cooking technique!

Simple test question: do you make a distinction between "baked
potato" and "roasted potato" -- and if so, what is the distinction?
So that you may see where _I'm_ coming from, to me the difference
here is that "roasted potato" tends to imply cooking along with a
meat/poultry "roast", while "baked potato" is essentially the same
thing, but cooked by itself. On the other hand, I always "roast"
asparagus, never "bake" it -- though if someone asked me to make
"baked asparagus" I would do exactly what I normally do in roasting
it.