Cooking

Overview

Cooking is a crafting skill that allows players to prepare food and beverages on UO:X. Cooks can transform raw ingredients into nourishing meals, baked goods, and other consumables. The skill ranges from 0.0 to 100.0 and can be trained through practice.

Getting Started

To begin cooking, you'll need:

  • Cooking tools - Required to craft most items
  • Raw ingredients - Various food items, flour, dough, etc.
  • Heat source or oven - Many recipes require a heat source (campfire, forge) or an oven

Skill Mechanics

Skill Gain

Cooking follows the standard crafting skill gain system. You gain skill by:

  • Successfully crafting items
  • Attempting to craft items near your current skill level
  • The difficulty of the recipe affects your chance to gain skill

Crafting Success

Your chance to successfully craft an item depends on:

  • Your current Cooking skill level
  • The minimum and maximum skill requirements of the recipe
  • Items with 0.0 minimum skill can always be crafted successfully

Equipment Requirements

Mills

Some recipes require access to a mill to process ingredients:

  • Sack of Flour - Requires a mill to grind wheat sheaves

Ovens

Baking recipes require an oven:

  • Bread, cakes, cookies, pies, and other baked goods
  • Ovens are typically found in player houses, inns, and bakeries

Heat Sources

Barbecue recipes require a heat source (campfire, forge, etc.):

  • Cooked meats, fish, and eggs
  • Any nearby heat source will work

Recipe Categories

Ingredients

Basic ingredients used in other recipes:

Item Skill Required Ingredients Equipment
Sack of Flour 0.0 2 Wheat Sheaves Mill
Dough 0.0 1 Sack of Flour, 1 Water/Beverage -
Sweet Dough 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Jar of Honey -
Cake Mix 0.0 1 Sack of Flour, 1 Sweet Dough -
Cookie Mix 0.0 1 Jar of Honey, 1 Sweet Dough -
Tribal Paint 55.0-105.0 1 Sack of Flour, 1 Tribal Berry -

Preparations

Unbaked or uncooked items that need further processing:

Item Skill Required Ingredients Equipment
Unbaked Quiche 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Eggs -
Unbaked Meat Pie 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Raw Ribs -
Uncooked Sausage Pizza 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Sausage -
Uncooked Cheese Pizza 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Cheese Wheel -
Unbaked Fruit Pie 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Pear -
Unbaked Peach Cobbler 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Peach -
Unbaked Apple Pie 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Apple -
Unbaked Pumpkin Pie 0.0 1 Dough, 1 Pumpkin -

Baking

Finished baked goods that require an oven:

Item Skill Required Ingredients Equipment
Bread Loaf 0.0 1 Dough Oven
Cookies 0.0 1 Cookie Mix Oven
Cake 0.0 1 Cake Mix Oven
Muffins 0.0 1 Sweet Dough Oven
Quiche 0.0 1 Unbaked Quiche Oven
Meat Pie 0.0 1 Unbaked Meat Pie Oven
Sausage Pizza 0.0 1 Uncooked Sausage Pizza Oven
Cheese Pizza 0.0 1 Uncooked Cheese Pizza Oven
Fruit Pie 0.0 1 Unbaked Fruit Pie Oven
Peach Cobbler 0.0 1 Unbaked Peach Cobbler Oven
Apple Pie 0.0 1 Unbaked Apple Pie Oven
Pumpkin Pie 0.0 1 Unbaked Pumpkin Pie Oven

Barbecue

Cooked meats and other items that require a heat source:

Item Skill Required Ingredients Equipment
Cooked Bird 0.0 1 Raw Bird Heat Source
Chicken Leg 0.0 1 Raw Chicken Leg Heat Source
Fish Steak 0.0 1 Raw Fish Steak Heat Source
Fried Eggs 0.0 1 Eggs Heat Source
Lamb Leg 0.0 1 Raw Lamb Leg Heat Source
Ribs 0.0 1 Raw Ribs Heat Source

Note: Barbecue recipes use all available resources of the specified type when crafting.

Crafting Messages

When crafting, you'll receive different messages based on the outcome:

  • Success (Normal Quality): "You create the item."
  • Success (Exceptional Quality): "You create an exceptional quality item."
  • Success (Exceptional with Maker's Mark): "You create an exceptional quality item and affix your maker's mark."
  • Success (Below Average): "You were barely able to make this item. It's quality is below average."
  • Failure (Materials Lost): "You failed to create the item, and some of your materials are lost."
  • Failure (No Materials Lost): "You failed to create the item, but no materials were lost."
  • Tool Broken: "You have worn out your tool"

Tips for Cooks

Training Your Skill

  1. Start with basic recipes - Dough, bread, and simple preparations require no skill
  2. Progress to tribal paint - At 55.0+ skill, tribal paint provides good skill gains
  3. Keep tools handy - Always carry cooking tools with you
  4. Stock ingredients - Maintain a supply of flour, eggs, and common ingredients

Efficient Cooking

  • Batch crafting - Many recipes can be made in bulk if you have enough ingredients
  • Location matters - Set up near ovens and heat sources to avoid travel time
  • Organize ingredients - Keep raw materials organized in containers for easy access
  • Use "Make Last" - The crafting system remembers your last recipe for quick repetition

Finding Ingredients

  • Wheat - Grows on farms, can be harvested
  • Raw meats - Obtained from hunting animals
  • Eggs - Found in chicken coops or purchased from NPCs
  • Fruits - Harvested from trees or purchased
  • Honey - Found in beehives or purchased from NPCs
  • Cheese - Crafted or purchased from NPCs

Quality and Exceptional Items

Some cooked items can be crafted as exceptional quality, which may provide better nourishment or other benefits. The chance to create exceptional items increases with higher Cooking skill.

Exceptional items can be marked with your maker's mark if you have that option enabled in the crafting menu.

Common Issues

"You have worn out your tool!"

  • Your cooking tool has broken. You need a new one to continue crafting.

"The tool must be on your person to use."

  • The cooking tool must be in your backpack, not in a container or on the ground.

Recipe requires an oven/heat source

  • Move closer to the required equipment. Ovens are found in buildings, heat sources include campfires and forges.