Cooking With Fire: Traditional Hearth Cooking

Cooking over an open fire is not only fun, it is an essential aspect of our Colonial History that everyone can benefit from. When folks settled in "the Colonies", it took a little more work to get dinner ready than just "throwing something in the oven" or having a pizza delivered. The hearth fireplace was built not only for heat, but as the entire kitchen; working as oven, stove top, and even dishwasher. Being able to build a fire and properly maintain it while keeping it "just right" for cooking was essential for survival in the Appalachian Mountains.

This class begins with basic fire building and an overview of a hearth based cooking set-up. Learn how to adjust the coals and position skillets to get ideal cooking temperatures. The class will also cover the benefits of using cast iron cooking vessels along with the proper care and maintenance of them. Learn what it means to "season" a pan as many folks learned from Grandma.

After the fire is just right and the pans are ready, the real fun begins as participants will work together "hands on" to construct recipes, prep vegetables, and begin cooking. Other skills covered in the class will include knife skills and cooking methods that carry over to modern cooking. Participants will also learn how to have multiple dishes cooking simultaneously so the meal all comes together at the same time.

When everything is ready, participants will eat together and enjoy open discussion or ask questions and the remaining fire will be used to "wash" our pans.

The menu for this class may include: Johnny Cakes or Corn Pone Cakes, Country Biscuits, Chicken Bog or Hoppin' John, Seared Trout with Pecans, Skillet Cobbler.

This class will be $60. It will begin at 2:00 pm and run until 5:00 pm. There is a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 10 students.

Host or Publisher Hagood Mill Historic Site