Food & Cooking — Cooking

Overview

Cooking in DayZ is the primary method for maximizing the caloric and hydration value of your food while preventing illness from raw meat. Properly prepared food provides the "well-fed" status, which is essential for rapid health regeneration and surviving harsh weather conditions.

How It Works

Cooking converts raw ingredients into safe, high-energy food using heat sources like fireplaces, gas stoves, or portable grills. You must prepare a heat source, combine ingredients, and place them into a cooking slot or hold them over the fire. Cooking is complete when the item’s texture changes to a cooked state; leaving items on the heat too long will result in "burnt" food, which provides significantly fewer calories and causes sickness.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Obtain raw meat by skinning an animal with a knife or by finding canned goods and vegetables.
2. Build a fireplace by combining Rags or Paper with Sticks to create a Fireplace Kit, then add Wood Logs for longer burn time.
3. Light the fire using Matches, a Road Flare, or a Hand Drill Kit.
4. If using a Cooking Pot or Frying Pan, fill it with a small amount of water to enable boiling, which prevents burning.
5. Place the Cooking Pot on the tripod or inside the fireplace's cooking slot.
6. Drag your raw meat or vegetables into the cooking slots of the pot or pan.
7. Wait for the items to visually change color; watch the heat levels and remove them promptly once finished.

Tips

• Boiling meat in a pot with water cooks it evenly and prevents the "burnt" status, making it the most reliable cooking method.
• Use fat (lard) inside a frying pan to bake food; this provides a high-calorie efficiency boost compared to roasting.
• Always wash your hands at a water source after skinning an animal before you eat, or you will contract salmonella.
• Cooking in the rain requires an indoor fireplace or a stove set up under a tent or structure to keep the fuel dry.
• Carry a Cooking Pot as a multi-purpose tool; it serves as a storage container and a water purification vessel when boiled.

Common Mistakes

• Eating raw meat or human flesh, which leads to immediate illness, vomiting, or Kuru.
• Forgetting to wash bloody hands after skinning, which transfers pathogens to your food or water.
• Neglecting to remove food from the fire in time, resulting in burnt, low-calorie waste.
• Stacking too many items in a fireplace at once, which can obstruct the heating process and lead to uneven cooking.

Related Items

• Wolfsteakmeat
• Walleyepollockfilletmeat
• Worm
• Waterpouch Natural
• Woodenhook

Related Guides

• Skinning
• Fire Starting
• Illness and Disease