Cooking: Prep Food off the Fire

[Willy Pete]

As much as I love Frontier cooking, one thing I don't like is that I can only prep items while a fire is going. I'm someone who stocks all the good cooking ingredients by the 6-slot stoves and revels in the ability to have all items be ready within seconds of each other; it makes my little OCD brain go wild with joy.

So rather than requiring a lit fire to prep items, why not have the ability be tied to a cooking item (pot/skillet) instead? The recipes tab of the journal works like the crafting tab does and allows you to create uncooked versions of an item which can then be placed on a fire to cook at your convenience. This could also benefit those cooking large batches of items on lower-tier cooking appliances such as pot-belly stoves. While my first batch of porridge is cooking I can prep a bunch more and toss them on as soon as my first batch is done.

I'd also like to see more options for broth such as soups (stews without the flour). Or perhaps a reishi or rose hip soup that provides the medical benefits of these teas but with a greater amount of hydration and nutrition.

Oh, and why can't I reheat Frontier cooking items!? What is stopping me from putting my baked potato or pies back on the fire to make it hot! Maybe I want to reheat my porridge.

[conanjaguar]

17 hours ago, Willy Pete said:

Oh, and why can't I reheat Frontier cooking items!? What is stopping me from putting my baked potato or pies back on the fire to make it hot! Maybe I want to reheat my porridge.

I’m actually pretty sure you can... I’ll check when I get home.

[Willy Pete]

@conanjaguar I know for a fact that pies, porridge, and potatoes can't be reheated. I've got some broth I've left near the stove in PV Farmstead and it's never re-heated.

[UTC-10]

My best guess would be that the devs treated the output from Frontier Cooking in largely the same way as "cooked" meat and fish.  Once cooked it could not be heated up.  An oversight, given the intro of Frontier Cooking, on the possibilities to be sure.  Stews (or a simpler variety to be called a soup) should be reheatable.  Pies maybe not.  

If you think in terms of possibilities and extensions.  A basic fish or meat stew or soup for calories, hydration, and warmth (if eaten hot).  Then later the devs could add ingredients like groats, potatoes, carrots, etc., for a higher level of stew or soup with maybe side benefits beyond warmth.  But even if the other ingredients were not available there would still be the basic stew or soup that a character could always make from basic ingredients like meat and water (and a pot or skillet).  

[Willy Pete]

Just checked, Stews are reheatable. I just rarely use them since I prefer using flour for pies.

[UTC-10]

I stand corrected.  Always interested in correct information.  I will have to try it out.