Medieval kitchens differed in the countryside, the city and at court. In earlier times, everything was cooked outdoors, while later , stove hearths were built, which served for heating the home as well as cooking. Some kitchens had an open fireplace indoors, with the smoke drawn off by small windows and fume hoods. When we speak of the so-called ‘smoke-kitchen’ or 'black kitchen', this was largely a feature of taverns, mills, presbyteries and manors, which got it's name from the smoke-blackened walls around it.
The methods of cooking food during the Middle Ages depended on the place where you lived. The majority of the lower classes lived in villages in poor, small huts. If you were wealthy or of the upper classes your home would be in a castle or great house. The castles had great kitchens serviced by many servants, while the poor usually had to cook in their small hut over an open fire.
The ground floor of the castle was the place where the kitchen and storerooms were located. Castle kitchens had cooking ovens for baking and huge fireplaces for smoking and roasting food. They also had a water supply complete with a sink and drainage. The kitchens were built against the curtain wall of the castle , in the inner bailey and connected to rooms called the buttery, the bottlery, the pantry and the storerooms. The buttery was originally intended for storing and dispensing beverages, especially ale. The person who presided over the buttery was called the butler. Next to the buttery another room was added later called the bottlery, which was intended for storing and dispensing wines and other expensive provisions. It was usually located between the great hall and the kitchen, while the pantry was intended for the storage of perishable food products, and the storerooms in castles were often located over the buttery and pantry and were used to store non-perishable kitchen items and products.
The majority of cooking food during the Middle Ages was conducted over an open fire. Useful cooking utensils for this method of cooking were pots, pans, kettles, skillets and cauldrons. To prepare the food a range of knives, ladles, meat forks and scissors were used. The mortar and pestle were essential cooking utensils for cooks who used nuts and spices in their recipes.