A usual way of cooking the flesh of animals was to make a round pit in the ground, varying in depth and diameter depending on the size of the animal to be cooked in it. Stones were put onto the ground and within the sides of this pit as a kind of pavement or tiling on which a big fire was lit. Further stones and the soil gained by excavating the pothole were likewise placed beside the fire to heat. When the fire had burned down, the ash and the superfluous stones were scuffed out. Damp grass was put onto the hot stones at the bottom of the pothole and onto it the animal together with its skin, and over the top more damp grass was scattered. Then the superfluous heated stones were first piled onto the grass layer, and the excavated hot soil was piled up as a cover. The heat of the stones and the closed-in steam combined to cook the meat. When the steam rising from the stones and the grass was considered insufficient for cooking, holes were made in the upper cover with a pointed stick, into which water was poured, thereby improving the conditions for a build-up of steam. With this kind of cooking the roast retains all its juices and when it is taken out of the oven the skin peels off easily. At places where stones were scant, clay was used as a paving for the bottom and the sides of the pothole to keep heat and steam enclosed. When there was no grass available, leaves were used instead.

Small birds, fish, opossums and all lighter mammals and reptiles were roasted simply by putting them on top of the coals. Roots, tubers, shellfish, eggs and so on were dug into hot ash until they were cooked through. In some localities the natives wrap small animals into a thick coat of clay and put them into the ashes of a big fire and keep them covered with hot ash until cooked. When they were taken out, the skin or feathers stuck to the hard clay crust while the animal remained clean and juicy.