Cooking Stations Beyond Firepits

[Nootman]

(All models are not final, just proof of concept)

The current system of food cooking leaves much to be desired in specifically the heating realm. The first station for cooking you ever get is a fire pit which you can construct within minutes of starting a game, which continues to be used for the entire game despite having access to advanced technology and refined metals. As such, I think it would be reasonable to add in structures which serve the same fundamental purpose as a fire pit but are more efficient for a greater level of progression along the technology tree, such as being able to cook more items at once, using fuel more efficiently, and heating rooms more efficiently.

Before getting into examples, I would like to detail a few systems that would work well with these changes and additions

Ventilation
Currently, any enclosed 7x7x7 maximum room in VS benefits from a +1C body temp bonus as well as an increase for the heating range of fire pits, this system could be adapted so that if there is an active flame in the room (torch, fire pit, pit kiln, forge, etc) the smoke level of this room will gradually increase, damaging the player more as it becomes closer to 100%. Smoke will passively decay from a room over time at a slow rate, but this can be accelerated by placing a chimney in the room with unobstructed access to the sky. Smoke can be reduced further by placing the valid chimney over the source of the smoke, which will greatly decrease the rate at which the source produces smoke, and certain types of ovens have integrated chimneys they can be directly funneled into.

Wood Ash
A product created from the burning of wood in any form, widely used as a fertilizer, ceramic glaze, and the primary ingredient in making potash. Could provide moderate amounts of K nutrient when used on soils, but could be further refined into potash by leaching the solution with water to produce lye and then boiling the solution in a pot to produce a small amount of potash which acts as it currently does in game. Wood ash would also prevent ovens or fire pits from working if too much of it builds up, requiring removal by use of a shovel.

Stock Pot
A large metal pot which can be used for cooking large portions of meals (4 slots, 24 in each slot) and boiling liquids (producing potash, boiling bones in water to make stock). Can be made either of tin-lined copper or cast iron, which is able to cook its materials faster than the tin-copper pot for balancing sake.

Cast Iron
Iron that is cast, simple as that. Produced by heating a crucible inside of a bloomery furnace (or in a new kind of fire brick furnace) and pouring the molten iron into a variety of new casts, such as railings, decorative metal plates, cookware, and most importantly a cast iron stove.

 

And now onto the ovens.

Brick Oven (Copper Age)
A large two block oven which requires a significant amount of bricks and a small amount of relieved stone to construct. Composed of a lower half for burning wood and an upper half that is heated by the lower half in which bread and pot cooking can be performed.

• Capable of holding 4 loaves of bread and 2 cooking pots.
• Burns fuel at 50% the rate that it would burn in a fire pit, but releases heat slower compared to the fire pit in proportion to its 50% rate of consumption.
• Has a high heat capacity, meaning the top oven half will take a significant amount of time to heat up fully.
• Heat will leak from the upper baking area faster if the cover is removed.

Grill (Bronze Age and Beyond)
A simple metal grate made of bronze or iron which can be stood up over top of a fire pit or a pile of smoldering charcoal to cook food in a highly portable and efficient manner. Operated by placing the grill over a fire pit.

• Does not consume fuel faster but is capable of cooking two pots or four pieces of meat simultaneously, with grilled meats providing a protein nutrition and saturation bonus over typical spit roasted meat.
• Can hold one clay pot or one stock pot.

 

Cast Iron Stove
A large and expensive stove which is capable of cooking huge amounts of food at once and has great fuel efficiency. Operated by placing wood in the fuel hatch (marked in red) which transfers heat to the cooking surface and oven (marked in green). Ash is removed by right clicking the ash tray (marked in blue) with a shovel to obtain wood ash.

• Can cook 4 clay pots or one stock pot in addition to 8 loaves of bread in its oven.
• Each hatch must be opened and closed to interact with, open hatches rapidly sap heat from the oven.
• Burns fuel at 25% the rate that it would burn in a fire pit, but releases heat at only 25% the rate.
• Greatly more efficient at heating an enclosed room, providing an even larger body temperature bonus for anyone within the enclosed space.
• Approximately 1.5 blocks long and 1 block tall at its countertop.
• Exhaust vent can bend to fit various positions and configurations, such as feeding into covered pipe or a stone chimney.

[l33tmaan]

Let me just write some things down...

[assassin_chad_23]

love this!    Very well thought out.

[Not public]

So heavily want.

[setne550]

Kinda cool, the Brick Oven makes the clay-made oven in game look petty in comparison now despite the similar works.

In a medieval-style cooking station I find this in another game, in one side is for baking bread and the other allows grilling and making soup/stew. 

Anyway, I just hope for the further update in the cooking mechanic. As like there are lot of stuff that needs to "improve" beyond the simple cooking atm.

Edited August 28, 2022 by setne550

[Trowzers]

This is really interesting, especially having grown up with a cast iron stove as our main source of cooking/hot water until the age of 16, and it looked pretty similar to that one, except coated in white enamel. I could recreate my childhood kitchen, haha!

I'm not sure how often I'd actually use the grill, as by the time you have that metal you're usually not wanting to cook individual pieces of meat and can make portable crock pots. I guess it would be useful if you were doing very long distance exploring/foraging on the way.

[maibock]

Wow! That cast iron stove is interesting for sure. I'm assuming that its utility will be offset by an expensive material and work cost?

[Nootman]

9 hours ago, maibock said:

Wow! That cast iron stove is interesting for sure. I'm assuming that its utility will be offset by an expensive material and work cost?

It will be made from multiple pieces of cast iron which will likely total to around 15 total bars worth of iron. Melting the iron down to a liquid form for casting will require a specialized furnace setup to heat it up to the necessary temperature. Additionally, it will require specialized cast iron cookware in order to perform actions such as cooking meat and making pot-based food.

[Not public]

So late game kitchen item that would be a godsend for cooks but a pain in the butt for the smith to make.

[setne550]

5 hours ago, Nootman said:

It will be made from multiple pieces of cast iron which will likely total to around 15 total bars worth of iron. Melting the iron down to a liquid form for casting will require a specialized furnace setup to heat it up to the necessary temperature. Additionally, it will require specialized cast iron cookware in order to perform actions such as cooking meat and making pot-based food.

Basically something that won't happen until the devs figure the whole deal.

As for the other, honestly we need something beyond "clay pots" as from what I know people eventually make metal pots either made of bronze or iron.

[Nootman]

17 hours ago, setne550 said:

Basically something that won't happen until the devs figure the whole deal.

As for the other, honestly we need something beyond "clay pots" as from what I know people eventually make metal pots either made of bronze or iron.

Cast iron could be used for a variety of different items, particularly steam engine constructions when that is eventually implemented, the "something beyond 'clay pots'" you mentioned (a large cast iron pot or pan), and decorative metal blocks so iron fencing isn't restricted behind traders.

[setne550]

On 9/4/2022 at 3:57 AM, Nootman said:

Cast iron could be used for a variety of different items, particularly steam engine constructions when that is eventually implemented, the "something beyond 'clay pots'" you mentioned (a large cast iron pot or pan), and decorative metal blocks so iron fencing isn't restricted behind traders.

True, so far there are iron fences that we still can't make other than looting and buying. But maybe in the future...

[Nootman]

A few additional related pieces of content I've been recently working on

Frying Pan
Another piece of cast iron cookware which is required to cook meat by stovetop, meat can be cooked in the oven but requires more time to do so, leaving the pan as the most convenient option. Also allows for frying eggs and the future possibility of things like reducing liquids down to syrups and sauces.

 

Potbelly Stove
A stove designed primarily for heating purposes, burns wood at an even slower rate than the cast iron stove but only has a single cooking surface capable of fitting small cooking implements. Behaves like the standard stove in that heat drains from it rapidly when the door is open and the ash tray below can be pulled out and emptied with a shovel.

[YangKoete]

Cutting board for sashimi and sandwiches? 

[Rhyagelle]

These would be incredible additions! I always thought it was weird our only means of cooking was a firepit. lol Even a basic oven would go a long way.

[AngryRob]

It would mean a lot of things. Lye reminded me of soap, which reminded me of fight club, which means we could start turning animal fat into soap or Dynamite. Dynamite would be great for excavations. 

I love this not just for the cooking, but because of the furniture.  

[Boesknecht]

The ventilation part is also something I would like to see + you can create a smoke chamber (using the same 7x7x7 standard) with it to hang your meat or cheese in and then light a fire and close the door. And after a certain amount of time (fire must be replenished from time to time), you can collect your smoked hams.

[Davis]

Amazing idea @Nootman. This would give the cooking profession so much life in game. 

[Szogunek96]

This is exactly what I miss. Maybe not such a pan or grill. But all the rest is anyway

[Eoin Lynne]

Is there a mod with these features by any chance? Only being able to cook on the firepit is crap.

[Thorfinn]

Expanded Foods adds some of it, though I think you still cook on a firepit. Primitive Survival adds its own take on smoking meat. And there's one called something like Stone Bake Oven added a lot of customization, though I believe its for baked goods only.

[EDIT]

If all you want is a different aesthetic, you can always just reskin the firepit. There's a reskinned skep mod that came out not too long ago if you want to see how to do it.

Edited February 12, 2025 by Thorfinn

[Eoin Lynne]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

Expanded Foods adds some of it, though I think you still cook on a firepit. Primitive Survival adds its own take on smoking meat. And there's one called something like Stone Bake Oven added a lot of customization, though I believe its for baked goods only.

[EDIT]

If all you want is a different aesthetic, you can always just reskin the firepit. There's a reskinned skep mod that came out not too long ago if you want to see how to do it.

What I was hoping for was an upgrade. You know, like how in real life cooking on a wood stove is more efficient than cooking in a campfire.

[Thorfinn]

IRL, it's not more efficient; stoves just make it easy for those who don't know campfire cooking. Rather than regulating the heat by getting a proper bed of coals, you shut down the air.

There's no reason you couldn't do something with efficiency, though. What in particular were you thinking of? I don't know that cooking takes all that much fuel.

Edited February 13, 2025 by Thorfinn

[ribbbbbs]

This would be an awesome cooking update. Hope these ideas are added someday.

[flackstacks]

I would love to see this come to fruition!!