What is a chiminea? It’s a type of oven or heater that originated in Mexico. It’s been used for centuries to bake bread outdoors. However, due to its attractive appearance, it’s been gaining popularity elsewhere and everyone now wants to have one in their garden. Chimineas have a spherical oven with an opening on the side, and a chimney section that allows for smoke to rise away from you. Some are only a few feet high, but some larger versions may be as tall as 12 feet.

Why have chimineas become increasingly popular? They have an attractive terra cotta look and they are versatile and useful items to have; they give your outdoors a unique look which many prefer to firepits. They can function as an outdoor source of heat, and you can gather around them on your outdoor chairs in the garden and use them like an outdoor heater or patio fireplace. They can be used for a barbecue, or you could even try baking bread with them like they do in Mexico.

They use either wood or barbecue charcoal as fuel. These are placed in the oven chamber and lit. The smoke goes up through the chimney or flue. You can place a metal barbecue grill inside the cooking chamber. This should be made for the chiminea to make sure it will stay in place and sit at an appropriate distance from the wood or coals. It may also be adjustable.  An advantage to cooking with this type of oven is that the heat surrounds the food from all sides; it doesn’t just cook the bottom. This allows items to cook through more quickly and evenly when compared to an open barbecue grill. Burning wood for cooking can also produce a pleasant smoke flavor, making cooking with your chiminea all the more enjoyable. You don’t just have to cook meat with your chiminea, you can also cook all sorts of vegetables, breads, and pies.