1809 Kitchen

Monticello’s later kitchen incorporated all the newest and best cooking technologies available at the time.

Location
Monticello, South Wing
Cost
Included with admission
Shelves with copper pans and cooking utensils like the walls of Monticello's restored kitchen, which features a brick floor, a large hearth, a large preparation table, and a row of stew stoves along the left wall.

By 1809, a larger kitchen located at the corner of the South Wing became the site of bustling activity. Here, enslaved chefs Edith Hern Fosset and Frances Gillete Hern managed almost every aspect of food preparation during Jefferson's retirement in what was then one of the best equipped kitchens in Virginia.

Food historian, Leni Sorensen demonstrates what it was like to cook on Monticello's stew stoves.

Cooking on Monticello's Stew Stoves

More on the 1809 Kitchen and Food at Monticello

Dr. Sorensen prepares beef using a dutch oven over a hearth fire.

Hearth Cooking at Monticello