Fireplace cooking is a derivative of cooking on the old woodstove or an open fire. Many of us live in modern homes without the benefits of a woodstove but we do have that knock off of a fireplace that is much smaller than the ones that appear in older homes.

A handy thing to know however, is how to make the most of your existing fireplace. You never know when you will be without electricity or gas to power your existing stove. When cooking in the fireplace it would do you well to think of it as an outdoor grill.

Regulation of your heat source is similar to that of working with a conventional grill or woodstove. Heat can be gauged by how long you can hold your hand above the coals. The more intense the heat the shorter a period of time you can hold your hand above the coals. Allow 1 second per 100 degrees. If you can hold your hand there for 1 second, the temperature of your fireplace exceeds 400 degrees. 2 seconds and you're down to around 350. 3 seconds and you're down to 300 roughly. If you can hold your hand above the coals for more than 3 seconds you can assume the heat is low.

There are several ways to handle cooking in the fireplace and it does require a bit of thought. You will need to start with a good hot bed of coals.
On top of that you can either stack your wood so that you can balance your pots and pans or you can find a couple of bricks or rocks and balance some kind of old grill rack or oven rack on top and place your pots and pans on top of it using it as a cooking surface. If you stack your wood and cook on top of that, make sure you leave space enough between your logs for the heat from your coals to rise.

Choose your wood carefully. Softwoods will burn faster with quick and intense heat and flames. Green woods or wet wood will burn smokier, and the wood you use will affect the flavor of your foods. We opt for traditional hardwoods when cooking like oak or maple.

Always keep pot holders nearby - handles heat up too! If you are following other articles in Creative Homesteading, you probably cook in cast iron and the fact that handles heat up will come as no surprise to you.

You can use any pot or pan in the fireplace but we choose to use the same cast iron we use in our kitchen for daily cooking. Another great reason to use cast iron is the fact that it can be used in almost any situation unlike the Teflon or non-stick pots and pans on the market with plastic handles.

If your pot has no handles or the heat is to hot to get your pot out with pot holders, then use your fireplace poker, or your ash shovel to pull the pot towards you.

On the hearth we keep several rounds of wood sliced from a couple of trees we fell a few years ago to act as trivets for hot, soot covered pots and protect our hearth.

Cooking times are shortened in the fireplace due to irregular heat. If you are cooking greasy foods with no lid, flames will erupt just like on your grill. When preparing meats for roasting it is a good idea to cover them with aluminum foil or a pot lid.

The closer your pot is to the coals, the more intense the heat.

Make the most of your fireplace's limited space. Choose pots and pans that can be stacked, or layered, cook one pot meals, or prepare simple 2 dish meals accompanied by bread. (Your bread can be risen on the hearth while the main course is prepared.

Some of our favorite fireplace meals are:

Baked chicken with garlic, and mashed potatoes
Fried hot dogs, beans & hotdog casserole,
Beans and cornbread
Beef stew
Beef or Venison Roast and veggies
Pork Chops and Au'gratin potatoes.

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