All cooking was done in the kitchen house using an open fireplace and probably a built-in oven. The current interpretation kitchen would be a very modern one for 1800.

Colonial kitchen houses had large fireplaces, because the cook would have to walk into the fireplace to tend her pots. The pots hung from a lugpole, which was simply a rod that stretched from one side of the fireplace to the other. Lugpoles were sometimes made of wood and burned through at unexpected times, scalding the cook. In addition, the colonial ovens were inside the fireplace, usually on the rear wall. With long skirts and having to walk into the fireplace, being cook was hazardous duty. The number one cause of untimely death for women in the late 18th century and early 19th century was childbirth; the number two cause was burning to death.

The Latta kitchen has a smaller fireplace with a swinging crane. Pots are hung on it using pothooks.

The longer the pothook, the closer the pot is to the flame and the higher the heat. Click on the picture to the right to enlarge it and to get a better view of pothook use.

Use of the brick oven was tricky. If the oven had a flue, the cook could build a fire right in the oven, close the door and wait until while the oven heated. If it did not have a flue, she would transfer coals from the burning fireplace into the oven, put the door back in place, and wait. After a couple of hours, she would test the oven by sticking her arm into it. If she could hold her arm there around three seconds, it was the proper temperature for baking bread.

At that point, she would remove the coals and sweep the ashes around. For everyday bread, she would often place the dough right in the ashes. For a bit nicer looking bread, she would place cabbage leaves or oak leaves on the floor of the oven and put the dough on those. For the fanciest of breads, pans would be used.

Being cook was a full-time job. In addition to baking and food preserving, she would be responsible for the three meals that were generally served every day.

Breakfast would be light, often consisting of cold meat and bread, or leftovers from the day before. Dinner was usually served about two or three o'clock and was the big meal. It might consist of seasonal vegetables, meats, pudding, and pastries. It was an extremely hearty meal by today's standards. Supper, served shortly before bed, was also light. Leftovers that might spoil, toast or cornbread, and milk or tea were typical. Naturally, the version of these dishes that the Lattas would eat was much finer than that eaten by the general populace, and they were much more apt to have a wider variety and to have included luxury items such as citrus fruit.

In addition, the Latta kitchen was much better equipped than kitchens of their less wealthy neighbors. What you see in their kitchen was definitely not typical of the region in this time period.