· By Mara Quill · 1 min read
Why we cook on oak
Four tonnes a month, split by hand and seasoned for two years. What the wood does that gas can't.
The hearth was lit on our opening night in 2019 and it hasn’t gone out since. Every morning the first chef in rakes the embers forward, lays three logs on the bed of last night’s coals and has a fire hot enough to cook on by eleven.
Why oak
Oak is dense, so it burns long and steady and leaves a deep bed of embers. Its smoke is clean and gentle; fruit woods are sweeter, hickory louder. We want the beef to taste of beef, with the fire in the background.
Why seasoned
Our wood comes from a coppice twenty miles away and sits in the yard for two years before it’s burnt. Wet wood smoulders and makes bitter smoke. Dry wood burns clean, and you cook over the embers, never the flames.
Two zones
The fire is banked high on one side and low on the other. Steaks start over the hot side for the crust and move to the cooler side to come up gently. It’s the same trick you can use on a barbecue at home.