"We're headed back to cook in the meth lab in the forest. None of Hector's stuff this time, this is just for profit."
- Bain offering the contract

Cook Off is a single-day contract in PayDay 2 that is obtainable from Bain. In this mission you are instructed to cook and secure Meth.
The contract has a high money and experience payout base, but it also features practically unlimited maximum LOOT and XP as you can keep cooking as long as you'd like.

• Find ingredients.
  
• Cook ## bags of Meth (Amount differs for each difficulty)
  
• (Optional) Signal the heli.
  
• (Optional) Take the ingredients to the house.
  
• (Optional) Cook more meth.
  
• Place the bags on the van.
  
• Escape.

When you spawn in, the first best thing to do (in my opinion) is to not enter the house yet as this will trigger the Police Force starting to respond to the scene. Instead look around outside for ingrediënts, planks and packages. This is useful as you won't have to search around for any ingrediënts since you know what ingredient is in what location. The basement will not trigger the event either, so you're free to check that too.

• Shed in front of the house *
  
• Shed behind the house *
  
• Pick-up truck parked behind the house
  
• Basement
  
• Bathroom

* = The locks can be shot open.

When you're ready, enter the house and take out all Gang Members. The Meth Lab can be in 2 locations.

• Downstairs
  
• Upstairs

Planks are your friends in this mission ,especially on higher difficulty when snipers like to pin you and your crew down inside the house.
Here are my 2 Barricade Strategies for both locations.

Downstairs

• The right window at the front of the house.
  
• The window at right side of the house.
  
• The window at the back behind the kitchen.

Upstairs

• The right window in the extra room on the side. (Blocks cops from hiding)
  
• The left and right window at the front.
  
• The window at the back behind the kitchen.

The reason planks come in handy is that they take away the direct sniper Line-Of-Sight into the rooms, and block cops from climbing / rappelling through the windows.

When all Gang Members have been taken out you can start cooking. The ingredient input-locations will get an orange outline, an alchemy bottle sign will appear on-screen at the Meth Lab's location, and Bain will start giving you instructions.

This is where many people start making mistakes. Or more specifically, they put the wrong ingredients in. This is understandable as Bain is very vague. He is taking the instructions from anonymous websites, and their instructions might be a little, incorrect... This creates some kind of puzzle and requires the player to hear Bain two or three times to make sure he isn't putting you on fire. On accident ofcourse.

To make this easier, I have created a diagram in which I explain when what needs to be added. (Instructions included in the yellow notes)

• If you heard it clear the first time, you're good to go. The next time he says an ingredient, the actual ingredient you need to put in will not have changed.
  
• Have 1 member be the designated Cook. The 3 other members need to defend him. (If this is done right, the cook won't have to deal with cops entering the building except for the helicopter dropoff on the roof)
  
• For the 3 members defending, it is smart to cover as much ground as possible. In other words, don't all stand on 1 side of the house.

If you want an in-depth look into the lines Bain may say go to this link:
PayDay Fandom | Cook Off[http//%26quot%3Bhttps]

Cook 7 bags, simple. Normal Difficulty is recommended.

For this you just need to add the wrong ingredient the first time Bain tells the ingredients. After that, the van will come for you to escape.

You need to finish the contract on Death Wish or above. This can be quite challenging. A build that can sustain health/armor with ease is recommended.


Good choices are:

• Grinder
  
• Rogue
  
• Infiltrator
  
• Gambler
  
• Sociopath
  
  Remember to have a guy with medic bags, but don't have all heisters have those bags of usefulness. Having 4 heisters with upgraded medic bags can annoy more than help.

For this achievement, you need to cook 25 bags of meth on the OVERKILL difficulty or above.






You also get one for each difficulty you do the contract on. You can however get lower difficulty ones by doing it on a higher difficulty. Deah wish + One Down giving you all of them at once.

TIP: Only move bags and take ingredients while there is no Assault. But this is priority on pretty much every Death Wish heist.

This contract can be very easy if you use the AI well. With the ability to change the AI's weapons, boosts and perks, you can make a very useful AI for even higher difficulties.

• Loadout 1: Buzzsaw
  
• Loadout 2: Buzzsaw
  
• Loadout 3: Buzzsaw

• Loadout 1: Piercing
  
• Loadout 2: Inspiring
  
• Loadout 3: Quick

• Loadout 1: Healer
  
• Loadout 2: Protector
  
• Loadout 3: Reinforcer

Together with the "Piercing" ability, the AI can mow through cops like butter, and the healer boost helps regaining health if your armor did get broken down and you received some health damage.

My personal favorite strategy when using the AI, is having 1 on the left front of the house, 1 right front, and 1 on the roof of the shed behind the house. (This is done by having him/her follow you upstairs, then go down using the balcony. They'll follow, and then you are able to keep them in place when they're on top of the shed)

TIP: Watch out for Tazers. If the AI gets tased, they can be downed very quickly if not safed soon enough.