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Is roasting marshmallows considered "cooking"?

wfd1366

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
14
Our local ordinance states you can have a backyard campfire if you follow all the rules of distance, size, etc and you are using it for cooking. After your done cooking, the fire must be extinguished. My question is, can someone consider marshmallow roasting as "cooking" and literally sit there all night long if they want? Thanks in advance! Mike
 
Yes. Why would it be a problem?

Suggest that somebody could wrap a potato in aluminum foil and place it in the coals of the fire.
 
wfd1366 said:
Our local ordinance states you can have a backyard campfire if you follow all the rules of distance, size, etc and you are using it for cooking. After your done cooking, the fire must be extinguished. My question is, can someone consider marshmallow roasting as "cooking" and literally sit there all night long if they want? Thanks in advance! Mike
Sure but get the chocolate covered gahram crackers to put the marshmallows in.

I think the important part is it is constantly attended.

They could put a hot dog in a stick every 1/2 hour. Or wrap some potatoes in foil and put them in the under the fire for several hours.

What is the real issue? Someone staying up late in his back yard and the neighbors don't like it or him?
 
we used to cook a goat and a pig in the ground with a huge bonfire above. Invited the neighbors to the party, never had a complaint.
 
jpranch said:
Have we disingated to the point that this is an issue?
It was about 10 years ago, you didn't get the memo?

LOL. Must have missed that one. I guess that makes me and my Grandson felons?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
wfd1366 said:
Our local ordinance states you can have a backyard campfire if you follow all the rules of distance, size, etc and you are using it for cooking. After your done cooking, the fire must be extinguished. My question is, can someone consider marshmallow roasting as "cooking" and literally sit there all night long if they want? Thanks in advance! Mike
Sounds like you have everything in place for a person to have a campfire and cook over it

So adding a few marshmallows is not adding to the hazard
 
wfd1366 said:
Our local ordinance states you can have a backyard campfire if you follow all the rules of distance, size, etc and you are using it for cooking. After your done cooking, the fire must be extinguished. My question is, can someone consider marshmallow roasting as "cooking" and literally sit there all night long if they want? Thanks in advance! Mike
Who enforces this ordinance once every ten years?
 
The county I used to live in had the same rules about outdoor fires.

A guy I worked with 'cooked' the same hot dog for three days.
 
one thing about this kind of employment. to many rediculous rules , too much beurocracy (sp) , way too much inconsistency. think maybe i'll work my way back to the woods.
 
codeworks said:
one thing about this kind of employment. to many rediculous rules , too much beurocracy (sp) , way too much inconsistency. think maybe i'll work my way back to the woods.
OK slow down, move away from the code book, don"t go "Inspector" on us!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Looks like cooking to me--you are preparing food through the application of heat or see also transitive verb definition #3--does the ordinance specify what kind of cooking?

From the Free Dictionary

cook (kk)

v. cooked, cook·ing, cooks

v.tr.

1. To prepare (food) for eating by applying heat.

2. To prepare or treat by heating: slowly cooked the medicinal mixture.

3. Slang To alter or falsify so as to make a more favorable impression; doctor: disreputable accountants who were paid to cook the firm's books.

v.intr.

1. To prepare food for eating by applying heat.

2. To undergo application of heat especially for the purpose of later ingestion.

3. Slang To happen, develop, or take place: What's cooking in town?

4. Slang To proceed or perform very well: The band really got cooking after midnight.

n.

A person who prepares food for eating.

Phrasal Verb:

cook up Informal

To fabricate; concoct: cook up an excuse.

Idiom:

cook (one's) goose Slang

To ruin one's chances: The speeding ticket cooked his goose with his father. Her goose was cooked when she was caught cheating on the test.

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My question is, can someone consider marshmallow roasting as "cooking" and literally sit there all night long if they want?
Not to be clever but YES! Can't regulate common sense and once anyone has issues with it it becomes a law enforcement issue because both parties have rights. Like some, when I have a "campfire" I ask the neighbors if they would have any concerns and invite them over for some community watch and suds :)
 
We've had a three year drought in Oklahoma and more than our share of wilfires taking out homes. The cedar trees cause a lot of problems. The State has some restrictions that seem to work. Most people here are pretty careful.
 
We are in the same boat Durant, crazy dry, lost hundreds of homes along the front range this year. A firepit in metro Denver would probably be OK, where one in rural Fort Collins would not be. Hate to say it out loud, but common sense should prevail.
 
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