Back in November, when it was starting to get frigid and we began building fires to warm the house a little, I told Tee and Lew I’d like to institute a pioneer cooking day once a month. I was a little disappointed by the lackluster response I received from them. When I mentioned to Rosie my idea, during a telephone conversation, she replied, “Mom, that spells disaster in so many languages— too many to mention them all.”
That’s okay. I’ll initiate my pioneer idea by my lonesome. I’ll have so much fun, they’ll be ones who’ll beg me to join along =). Okay, I woke up from my daydream. Seriously, though, I’ve always enjoyed dutch oven cooking; I’d like to branch out and cook occasionally using our fireplace, trying different techniques. Relying on propane/kerosene/charcoal fuels only for an extended emergency isn’t a good idea. If it’s cold and we’re heating our home with wood fires, doesn’t it make sense to use that available heat source to cook with as well? I know better than to ass*u*me that we’ll know exactly how to do so in the midst of an emergency. Practice is both fun and prudent, right?
Over at Backwoods Home Magazine, in their article index, is a nifty how-to article on fireplace cooking penned by Robert L. Williams. A caveat about Williams’ article: according to what he wrote, his home was already an ideal place to cook using a fireplace. His “old house” contained 4 fireplaces, one of which already had a pot holder installed, plus a wood stove. If you can get over that particular deal within the article, it was really neat that most of his ideas could be repeated by a novice, in any wood burning fireplace, with minimal special equipment.
Our fireplace is ornamental by nature, and placed in an awkward spot in our upstairs living room. I’d like to put a wood stove in the basement to better heat the whole house, or at the very least put an insert into our existing fire place. While I plan and prepare, however, that doesn’t mean I can’t use it now, as is. We have a smallish grate inside the firebox, with lots of room on either side for cooking experiments.
The first one I’d like to try is Williams’ idea of placing a few bricks to the side of the grate to make a soup or casserole on. This technique uses the radiant heat from the fire to cook with. It sounds like a great way to bake as well.
I do wish the photos in the online article were clearer, because I’m interested in building the conduit cooking rack. Williams’ online article doesn’t have any plans for how to build it. The article ran in the 19th issue of Backwoods Home Magazine. Does anyone out there own the issue? If so, would you mind looking in it to see if plans for the rack accompanies the article?
Filed under: family, food, freedom, self-sufficiency
Sorry, I can’t help you with answers to your questions; but I can give you some encouragement. This sounds like a great idea!
We have two wood-burning stoves in this house, and necessity (an extended power outage our first winter here) led us to some very basic cooking with them. That should’ve prompted me to do some research on other techniques than heating stuff atop it, but I’ve been remiss. I’m interested in your reports.
I’ll take some photos, too, when I do my first Pioneer Day experiment. We need to get some more wood from our friend. Lew stashed a bunch in the garden shed but we’ve gone through it all. We have a couple of energy logs and some kindling left, but I don’t want to try and cook with the energy logs.
How’s this for an agorist angle: two years ago, when we experienced a terrible wind storm, a tree fell on our friend’s car and roof. The roof was fine but the car sustained some damage. He asked if we would come over to help him remove the tree, which we did willingly. We wanted to help. Since that time, 8 trees have blown down on his property, several of which Lew helped saw into sections. We did not expect any ” payment,” yet our friend offers us firewood regularly. We finally took him up on his offer, and he gave us a whole van full of wood and is asking us to come and get more!