What is a Chimenea and How Do You Cook With One?

Chimeneas are becoming increasing popular because, aside from making an attractive garden feature, they will also function as a garden heater and a barbeque.

The original chimenea has its origins in Mexico where it has been used for hundreds of years as an outdoor bread oven, but its visually pleasing terra cotta appearance has now made it one of the "must have" items of patio furniture.

So how do they work?

Chimeneas are made from two sections. The first is a spherically shaped oven with a large open side entrance and the second is a flue or chimney. The chimney section is connected to the open top of the oven section to create what appears to be a single unit. They can be anything from 3 feet to 12 feet in height.

You use the chimenea by placing it on a special stand or cradle (which may be of fired clay or iron) and which suspends the oven above the ground. Dry wood (or BBQ coals) are then ignited in the oven chamber and the action of the flue, which sucks air through the open oven and out through the chimney, does the rest.

You cook the food by placing any meats or vegetables on an open metal grill that sits within the stove section at an appropriate height above the burning fuel. This cooking platform should be supplied with the other items of the kit and may be height adjustable.

The unusual cooking action of this kind of outdoor stove is versatile and multi fold and it allows food to be prepared in a special way that produces a unique flavour.

Firstly, the heat from the burning fuel cooks the food in a char grilling style, whilst the radiated heat from the oven's side walls ensure that the heat is evenly spread within the cooking chamber enabling "all round" cooking to take place, i.e. it is not usually necessary to turn food that is being cooked in this kind of stove.

The final cooking action of chimeneas is the smoking of the food and this is produced by the powerful action of the flue which sucks the air and smoke from the burning fuel up, through, and around the food.

For this reason the selection of fuels to burn is particularly important because the smoke, flavours and intrinsic qualities of the fuel will add to the taste of the food.

Most people who cook with terra cotta stoves tend to burn wood rather than coal and the wood used can play an important role in the ultimate taste of the food. Woods sourced from fruit trees are the most popular and those with experience in using a chimenea will often add herbs or nuts to the fuel for extra taste infusions.

The types of food that you can cook with these versatile ovens range from every kind of meat and vegetable, to fruits, pies, breads and pastries. They also have the advantage of remaining hot for a long time which makes them excellent for slow cooking, or for the secondary use of providing heat in a patio area.

You can find out more about the different kinds of chimenea that are available (including those made from cast iron) at http://www.gardenheaters.net/chimeneas.html You will also see information about fire pits and fire bowls which make ideal outdoor cooking stoves.

Always ensure that children are supervised when an outdoor stove, burner or heater is in use, or is still cooling down.

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