The meat and sacks of provisions were hung from the kitchen roof, away from mice and rats. It was common to eat roasted meat, and drip trays were positioned underneath the roasting meat to catch the fat and juices. Elizabethan meals also included hashes, ragouts, broths and pottages. Eating fruit and vegetables was rare, which often caused people to suffer with scurvy.

These are some of the utensils and furniture that could be found in kitchens of this period such as in Burghley House:

• spits, which were originally supported between two andirons or firedogs, and later improved by the addition of a pulley wheel;
• cauldrons, hung from hooks on a metal bar up the chimney;
• a chimney crane, for swinging smaller vessels over the fire;
• a ‘lazy suzie’ or an angled double hook allowing effortless tilting of large kettles;
• ‘poor knights’ or toasting stands, pots, and trivets or potstands, all three-legged for more stability on an uneven floor;
• ‘boards’ or trestle tables, stools, brass bowls, pots, kettles and wooden chopping boards;
• tinderboxes, a predecessor of matches. They were used to light the fire in the kitchen if the embers from the previous day had not been saved. The rest of the fires in the house were lit by carrying hot embers in hooded shovels from the kitchen hearth;
• ovens, which evolved as follows:
1. earthenware pots that, inverted on a hearth or baking stone, covered the loaf;
2. clay ovens, which were fired from within. The ashes were swept out and then the loaves of bread were slid in on a flat-headed, long-handled, wooden oven peel. The opening was covered with a slab of clay and then sealed with wet clay;
3. brick ovens, built into one side of the hearth, and made into an arch or dome shape to ensure an even spread of heat. Early oven doors were made of clay tile or wood, sealed shut when the oven had been filled. Later doors were made of iron with a firm latch to keep them shut.