#pit cooking

Inspired by a show on Netflix (yes, farm life still leaves time for Gotham and The Chef’s Table), we decided to try some traditional pit cooking with the seasonal bounty. Lots of cultures have some version of this style of cooking, from the Hawaiian imu to the Maori hangi, but the concept is similar: dig a pit, put hot rocks and something for moisture inside, add veggies and meat and cover with earth. I love the image of traditional people leaving the fire for the day with a covering of earth thick enough that smoke and smells can’t be detected, and then coming back in the evening with dinner ready and the coals under the food ready to start the next night’s fire.

In reality, the process is more art than science. With two hours of fire time to heat the rocks and four hours of cooking time, the root vegetables (beets, potatoes, and celeriac) turned out awesome, as did the hot peppers. The other veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, and green peppers) were overdone. Still, we considered the experiment a smoky success and look forward to trying it again at our next mountain bonfire!

Covering the pit with earth. We forgot to take pictures up to this point, but the other of things in the pit, from bottom to top, was: hot rocks, willow branches, comfrey leaves, food wrapped in wet sheet, more comfrey leaves, wet hessian, and earth.

A well-deserved break after the burial. I would love to have music and dancing as part of a harvest celebration while the cooking happens next time.

Smoking gently. We're still greenhorns.

Hey folks! Davis here!

Biochar has just struck my life like lightning! Watch this video!

At the San Juan Islands Ag Summit i recently attended there was a presentation on biochar. it got me very interested in incorporating it into my farming practice. i decided that in our wood-fired outdoor kitchen we could use biochar stove technology to cook and make this valuable soil amendment at the same time!

then i found this biochar demo on a site that was recommended to me at the Ag Summit. i love the idea of making char and cooking without the need for any industry to produce the materials of a stove body. this is the perfect complement to this desire i have had for a while to do some pit cooking! i am going to try to make this happen with the 12lb salmon i have in our freezer. perfect thing for matt's birthday and homecoming party! now i just need to find a local alternative to banana leaves...

it will be kind of like this