Pioneer Cookware

La Cuisine – The Cook’s Resource, Alexandria, Virginia.

After reading an excellent article about necessary modern cookware (10-inch non-stick sauté pan; 8-inch non-stick sauté pan; 4-quart saucepan; 8 to 10-quart stockpot; cast-iron skillet; roasting pan; 10-inch chef's knife; paring knife; serrated knife; and that's it) I started wondering about what pioneer people considered essential items for cooking in the days before ubiquitous electricity and running water. To find out, I began by collecting a few photos of kitchens from the 1800s. Here's what I've discovered:

These first photos are examples of well equipped pioneer kitchens (circa 1841) in Salem, Oregon:

The kitchen was no doubt a room of great activity. Women prepared meals, canned fruit, watched their children and managed a household with only a few conveniences. In modern terms, it was not an easy lifestyle, but it was comfortable, warm and dry.

Everyday kitchen tools were often handmade knives and wooden utensils. Look beneath them. The counter is made of a single slab of what today is called Old Growth Fir.

For heating and cooking, wood was the fuel of the day because it was readily available and inexpensive. A cast iron stove was the luxury appliance. It was used for baking, stovetop cooking, space heating, and getting irons hot to press linens.

A metal ash bucket was kept handy as frequent firebox cleaning was necessary. Radiant heaters usually had a sheet metal, brick or tile hearth as well.

This is the kitchen (circa 1851) of an obviously well-to-do merchant from Wilmington, North Carolina:

Though cooking was still done in the hearth, the kitchen did boast one modern convenience -- an indoor well.

The kitchen and dining room (updated with modern lighting for tourists) were located in the basement of the house so they would stay as cool as possible during the hot and muggy summers.

For the average poor pioneer, the "kitchen" most likely centered around the one-room home's only fireplace like this one from Sharon, Ontario:

As you can see, bare necessities included implements for tending a fire, large pots for stews/bath water/cleaning water, a flat pan for grilling/baking bread, homemade utensils and that's it.

The pioneer-inspired outdoor stone kitchen at the Southern Rose Ranch B&B in Chappell Hill, Texas is a great place to relax and enjoy the country breeze.

It was likely not even in their wildest dreams that early pioneers could envision the modern conveniences many today take for granted. It's far easier for us to look back to them -- for as the old saying goes, hindsight is 20/20.

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Food on the Frontier (Includes many more pics.)