El secado termina antes de la cocción.

In this sentence, secado and cocción are both nouns that name processes:

• el secado = the drying / drying process
• la cocción = the cooking / cooking process

Spanish often uses these process nouns in technical, formal, or descriptive language.

Compare:

• El secado termina antes de la cocción.
  = The drying ends before the cooking.
• Secar termina... ❌
  This does not work, because secar is a verb (to dry), not a noun.

So the sentence is talking about stages or phases, not actions in verb form.

Because the two nouns have different grammatical gender:

• secado is masculine → el secado
• cocción is feminine → la cocción

This is something you usually have to learn with the noun itself.

A useful pattern:

• Many nouns ending in -ción are feminine:
  la cocción, la producción, la acción
• Many nouns ending in -ado are often masculine:
  el secado, el lavado

Because the subject is el secado, which is singular.

Structure:

• El secado = subject
• termina = verb
• antes de la cocción = time phrase

Since el secado is one process, Spanish uses the third person singular:

• El secado termina... = The drying ends...

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• Los secados terminan... = The drying processes end...

Because antes de is the normal structure when before is followed by a noun or a verb.

Here it is followed by a noun phrase:

• antes de la cocción = before the cooking

Compare:

• antes de la cocción = before + noun
• antes de cocinar = before + infinitive
• antes = before / earlier, used on its own in some contexts

Examples:

• Llega antes. = He arrives earlier.
• Llega antes de la cena. = He arrives before dinner.
• Llega antes de cenar. = He arrives before eating dinner.

Because antes de must be followed by the noun phrase, and cocción needs its article here:

• antes de la cocción

The noun cocción is feminine singular, so its article is la.

Also, note this useful point:

• de + el = del
• but de + la stays de la

So:

• antes del secado = before the drying
• antes de la cocción = before the cooking

There is no contraction with la.

Cocción is a noun; cocinar is a verb.

• la cocción = the cooking, the cooking process
• cocinar = to cook

So:

• antes de la cocción = before the cooking / before the cooking process
• antes de cocinar = before cooking

The sentence you were given sounds a bit more technical or process-oriented, as if describing steps in manufacturing, food preparation, ceramics, chemistry, etc.

No, not usually.

• cocción = cooking as a process
• cocina can mean:
  • kitchen
  • cuisine
  • sometimes cooking in a broader sense, depending on context

In a sentence about stages or processes, cocción is the more precise word.

For example:

• La cocina española = Spanish cuisine
• La cocina está limpia = The kitchen is clean
• La cocción dura veinte minutos = The cooking process lasts twenty minutes

It has a written accent because of Spanish stress rules.

Cocción is stressed on the last syllable:

• co-CCIÓN

Words ending in -n, -s, or a vowel are normally stressed on the second-to-last syllable unless there is an accent mark.
So the accent tells you the stress falls at the end.

This is very common with -ción words:

• acción
• producción
• cocción

In most of Spain, cocción is pronounced approximately:

• kok-THYON

More precisely:

• the cc here sounds like k + th before ió in most of Spain
• in many other Spanish-speaking regions it sounds more like k + s

So:

• Spain (most of it): kok-THYON
• Latin America: kok-SYON

The stress is on the last syllable: -ción.

No, that sounds unnatural and incorrect in standard Spanish.

Spanish generally uses articles more often than English with nouns like these, especially when talking about defined processes or stages.

So you should say:

• El secado termina antes de la cocción. ✅

Not:

• Secado termina antes de cocción. ❌

English can sometimes drop articles more easily in technical language, but Spanish usually does not here.

Yes, in many contexts you could say:

• El secado acaba antes de la cocción.

That is very similar in meaning to termina.

A small nuance:

• terminar can sound a bit more neutral or formal
• acabar is also very common and natural

In a technical or process description, termina may sound slightly more precise, but both are possible.

Then Spanish normally uses an infinitive.

Examples:

• antes de la cocción = before the cooking
• antes de cocer = before cooking / before boiling
• antes de cocinar = before cooking

So the pattern is:

• antes de + noun
• antes de + infinitive

If you need a full clause with a different subject, Spanish often uses antes de que + subjunctive:

• antes de que empiece la cocción = before the cooking starts

That is a very common next step to learn.