Many people who have a chiminea in their backyard initially purchased it as a way to be able to have a great heating element in their backyard. But eventually, they always ask the question, can I cook in my chiminea? The answer is yes and here’s how.

Season

You should always season your chiminea before you ever use it for cooking food. You never know what kinds of chemicals and treatments were used on it when it was being made and you want to burn these off. To season it start a number of fires in the chiminea and let them burn for a while. This should burn off any residue.

Preheat

The first thing you need to do is preheat the chiminea. If you have cooked with any type of grill you understand this is typical procedure for cooking. Start by setting charcoal briquettes inside the chiminea and let them burn for a while. It is important that you use self-lighting charcoal, as you do NOT want to use any lighter fluid or other accelerant in your chiminea.

Bring On the Food

Put the food you want to cook on skewers or wrap them in foil. You can also put them on metal sheets before putting them in the fire.

If you have a grill built into your chiminea you can set the food on this area. If not, you can set foil wrapped foods directly on the charcoal and let them cook that way. Make sure to use a tool like tongs made for a grill to put the food items in, as the chiminea will be hot.

Check your food. A chiminea can cook food very quickly sometimes; so don’t get too far away from your food. The reason for this is because the heat radiates into the food from all sides, as it is essentially a hot pot. You should check it regularly (every 10 minutes or so)

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Filed under: Chiminea • How To

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