This Is How Meat Was Cooked Before We Had Ovens

Before ovens, cooking meat was quite an ordeal, as well as a bit dangerous. This special demonstration shows how you cooked meat before ovens existed — and you had to be careful not to cook yourself during those times.

The traditional roasting process from the 16th century is demonstrated in one of the original fireplaces of King Henry VII. An intense heat source, an open spit, and constant rotation are required in order to make everything happen properly.

In Tudor times, more than a ton of wood would be burned daily. It gets super-hot in the room with the massive open flames. And, without matches, the fire had to be lit with sparks.

“The main skill is bearing the heat,” explained one of the cooking technique’s demonstrators to the Associated Press. “On a day like today, it’s quite hot today, and there’s not a lot of air in the kitchen. And it can get very hot, and you do tend to cook yourself as you sit here.”

This kitchen is the original kitchen from Henry VIII’s palace, home to English monarchs until 1737. The kitchen used to produce up to 1,000 meals a day and it’s the only functioning kitchen from the Tudor area.