Anyone here cook in their fireplace?

[RickM]

For a couple of years the idea of cooking in my fire place has appealed to me. While it's been done for many years how many people do you know that do it now?

Yesterday was the first fire of the season and as the pile of embers gave off all that heat I once again wondered how I might try this out.

Would I build a custom "crane" as used in the old days to hang/swing a pot over a fire?

Build a custom grated platform where I could place a pan over fire or embers?

I realize spatter would have to be controlled as much as possible. I figure a few pieces of steel, chop saw and welder and I could be on my way.

Any experience to share?

[lendaddy]

My house has a HUGE firplace on the main floor as well as the Basement. I mean it is HUGE, the brick chimmney on the main floor is probably 12' wide x 7' deep x 15 ' high to the ceiling and it seperates my LR from the kitchen. Anyway the side on the kitchen has cabinetry built on it, but I discovered that under this was a BBQ fired by the fireplace! Is this odd? The whole idea of using it to cook sounds cool, so I'll be watching this thread.

[cegerer]

Here's a fire I'm currently investigating ..... ya sure ya wanna roast marshmellows inside your house?

[lendaddy]

Maybe I'll just reveal/restore it for looks

[project935]

My Dad once tried to bake bread on top of a kerosene heater ... turned out he invented some new material harder than concrete.

And he wondered why we didn't like to eat when he cooked

[cegerer]

len - actually those built-in BBQ's were quite popular in the late 50's & early 60's. If they're constructed properly, they work fine.

[klaucke]

I've cooked on a friend woodstoves. And I say stoves because the first one we made out of a 50-gallon oil drum, and we used to cook on it all the time. Now we have a read woodstove. If it were a fireplace I'd cook on that too, I do it all the time when we go camping or hiking. There's a lot of satisfaction in it, and a surprising amount of control.

[lendaddy]

Rick,

It sounds like you just want to do stews, soups, and the like? I don't think you'de have any issues there. Monitoring the temp and easy access to stir may be an issue depending on the size of your fireplace.

Other issues may be that debris from the chimney falling in the goodness????

[klaucke]

Originally posted by lendaddy
Other issues may be that debris from the chimney falling in the goodness????

When cooking outdoors on a fire, this is commonly refered to among myself and friends as "seasoning."

[Dantilla]

I have a fire pit in my back yard. The only things we cook are hot dogs and marshmallows. It's very relaxing hanging out between the crackling fire and the trickling water.

[RickM]

Joel,

Sounds like you have some fireplace there. If attractive I'd probably refurbish the BBQ setup, at minimum.

I'm not sure what I'd like to try cooking first but I'm thinking the heat regulation is the biggest hurdle. I've cooked outdoors many time while camping but this seems to be a bit different. The idea of a steak on a cast iron griddle sounds real good but the grease spatter would probably introduce an element of danger. Hmm, perhaps some innovation is in order here.

Safety would be absolutely paramount. That burnt and gutted room isn't comforting.

[concentric]

Get a dutch oven cookbook... It will answer all your questions and even get you some recipies. The dutch oven is where it's at for fireplace and open fire cooking.

JCM

[red-beard]

Peas porage hot. Peas porage cold. Peas porage in the pot, nine days old...