Kominka A to Z

Floor-plan of the Kominka　[enlarge]

 

1. Setting up fire for the Goemon-style bathtub and cook stove
Place two pieces of firewood at a certain distance, in order to let oxygen arrive from beneath. Place fine branches, lumber remnants or other finely chopped firewood on the two pieces, and light up from beneath with newspaper.
Place remaining charcoal into charcoal jar, in order to make cinders.

 

2. Wood-splitting
It is easier to use wood without knots, but even if you do so, you can one by one remove them from the outside. It is easier to split fresh wood, and becomes harder when the wood gets dry.

 

3. Pumping water from well
Since there might be impurities, please throw away one bucket full of water, before starting to use it. Pumping is as easy as moving the lever up and down.

 

4. Making pizza on stone oven
Rise oven temperature during 2 hours. Bake on glowing ember and it will succeed well. On high temperature a pizza gets done in 5 minutes, a spare-rib in 20 minutes.

 

5. Grill fish on Japanese grill
If you wrap up the cinders into newspaper, you can easily light up a fire.

 

6. Lighting up fire on the sunken fireplace
Bring the glowing ember from the cooking stove, place charcoal on them and wait approx. 20 minutes. You can also blow from beneath cautiously in order to supply oxygen.

 

7. Cooking rice on cooking stove
You can cook rice in 20-30 minutes on the cooking stove. Even when the fire goes out, the temperature in the hearth chamber doesn’t sink, therefore you can adjust the cooking temperature by opening and closing the lid. Calculate: 2 days of newspaper for 2 cups of rice.

 

8. Mosquito net
By setting up the mosquito net you can open the Japanese veranda door and enjoy the gentle night wind and moon-shine coming into the house and listen to the chorus of cicadas.

 

9. Cleaning the floor
Try cleaning the big wooden floor with a cloth, it will shimmer and reflect the light and it will be a pleasure to just lay down on the wood.