Cooking food in Stranded Deep is essential for survival. Eating raw food can make your character sick, so knowing how to properly cook your catch and harvest is crucial. Whether you’re new to the game or looking to improve your survival skills, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about cooking food in Stranded Deep in a simple and friendly way.
Getting Started: Why Cooking Matters in Stranded Deep
In Stranded Deep, you start stranded on a deserted island with limited resources. Food is everywhere, but most of it needs to be cooked to be safe and nutritious. Cooking not only makes food edible but also helps preserve it, especially when using advanced cooking methods.
Basic Cooking Tools and Stations
Before you can cook, you need to build the right tools. Here are the main cooking stations available in the game:
– Campfire: The simplest way to cook food. Crafted with 5 wood sticks.
– Campfire Pit: A sturdier version of the campfire made by adding rocks around the campfire.
– Campfire Spit: Allows you to cook meat by suspending it over a fire.
– Hobo Stove: A portable stove that cooks food faster than a campfire.
– Smoker: The best cooking station for preserving meat by smoking it, preventing spoilage.
Each of these stations requires a campfire as the foundation, so crafting a campfire is your first step to cooking.
How to Cook Food Step-by-Step
1. Craft a Campfire
Gather at least 5 wood sticks to craft a campfire. Place it on the ground and light it using kindling (sticks or dry leaves). To light the fire, you’ll need to perform a quick button-tapping action (on consoles) or the equivalent on PC to ignite the flames.
2. Prepare Your Food
Before cooking, you must skin any animals or fish you catch. Use a Refined Knife to skin creatures like fish, birds, or boars to get the edible meat.
3. Cook Over the Fire
Hold the skinned meat or potato near the fire or place it on a spit or hobo stove. The cooking process will start automatically. You’ll hear a beeping or sizzling sound when the food is ready. Avoid leaving it too long, or it will burn and become inedible.
What Foods Can You Cook?
– Meat: Comes from fish, birds, crabs, boars, sharks, and more. Meat sizes vary from small (like crab or small fish) to large (like sharks or hogs).
– Potatoes: Can be cooked but only on a fire spit or hobo stove, not on a smoker.
– Other foods: Fruits and coconuts can be eaten raw but are less nutritious and won’t spoil as quickly.
Cooking times depend on the size of the meat and the cooking method. Small pieces take about 1.5 minutes to cook over a fire, but smoking takes longer.
Advanced Cooking: Smoking and Preservation
The Smoker is a vital cooking station if you want to preserve meat. Smoking meat prevents it from spoiling, allowing you to store food for longer periods. To craft a smoker, you need a fire pit, 6 sticks, 1 tarp, and 4 lashings.
The smoker can handle multiple pieces of meat at once and is the best option for long-term survival food management. While the campfire and hobo stove cook food, only the smoker preserves it effectively.
Tips for Efficient Cooking in Stranded Deep
– Always skin your meat before cooking; raw meat cannot be cooked otherwise.
– Use the smoker to avoid wasting precious meat by spoilage.
– Keep an ear out for the cooking sound cues to avoid burning your food.
– Use the hobo stove for faster cooking when you need food quickly.
– Craft a campfire pit for a more durable fire source that lasts longer.
– Potatoes and other vegetables should be cooked on a spit or hobo stove, not smoked.
Cooking food in Stranded Deep is straightforward once you get the hang of it. Start with a simple campfire, gather your meat, skin it, and cook it over the fire. As you progress, build better cooking stations like the smoker to preserve your food and ensure you never go hungry on your island adventure.
Enjoy your survival journey and bon appétit!