Stone_boiling
Stone boiling
Method of food preparation
Stone boiling is a moist-heat cooking method. It involves placing heated rocks into a water-filled container to heat the liquid to the point where it can be used to cook.[1]: p. 240 This method of food preparation is a fuel-intensive process and it often requires the heating and reheating of stones before the water reaches an effective cooking temperature.[2]: p. 296 [3]: p. 93
Indigenous peoples in what is now Canada and the United States of America, especially on the West and Northwest Coast, used stone boiling.[4]: p. 93 [5]: p. 229 Cooking this way allowed for a more controlled temperature which made the extraction of fats and oils easier while also allowing for more nutrients to be obtained from such oils.[4]: p. 93 [2]: p. 296 Indigenous peoples’ first use of stone boiling, based on archaeological excavations in the Northern Plains, was dated at 4800 years ago.[6]: p. 580 [7] However, its use became more prominent between 250 C.E. and 1750 C.E.; Brian Reeves, professor of anthropology and archaeology at the University of Calgary, argued this is because of the need to feed increasing populations.[6]: p. 580 [7]