Cooking in the Colonies

Cooking a meal in colonial times would likely be daunting to today's homemaker. They had few of the conveniences that we've become accustomed to. It often took all of the time between meals to get the next one ready and sometimes longer. That's one reason households without servants prepared simple meals, like soups or stews that could be simmered while other work was done.

Quick breads that could be cooked in a Dutch oven in the fireplace or fry breads were common. If available, ovens were built into the fireplace/chimney structure or outside and normally used no more than once a week. Some communities might have bakeries where people with the means could buy or barter for yeast bread. However, most people used what they could make in the fireplace.

Meat took the longest time to cook and was more plentiful than it had been in Europe. Most meats were boiled, fried, or sometimes roasted. Very little of it was baked. All foods had to be watched to prevent overcooking or undercooking. Diets varied from region to region, being influenced by the countries of origin of the colonists and the available resources where they settled. Cooking, combined with the other chores a woman needed to do, made life busy indeed.

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