Brazier: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel}}

[[File:Runensteinkreis - Rune Stone Circle - 02.jpg|thumb|Brazier with burning fire in a [[Runes|rune]] stone circle at a [[summer solstice]]]]

[[File:Grillen - BBQ - Barbeque - Fleisch auf dem Grill.jpg|thumb|A brazier being used to grill chicken and steaks.]]

A '''brazier''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|r|eɪ|ʒ|ər}}) is a container used to burn [[charcoal]] or other [[solid fuel]] for cooking, heatingorcultural rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet. Its elevation helps circulate air, feeding oxygen to the fire. Braziers have been used since ancient times; the Nimrud brazier dates to at least 824 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.archaeological.org/pdfs/papers/J_Russell_recovery.pdf |title= The MPs Do It Again: Two More Antiquities from the Top 30 Are Back in the Iraq Museum |last= Russell |first= John M. |date= November 2003 |website= Archaeological Institute of America |access-date= 2014-08-10}}</ref>

The word brazier is mentioned in the [[Bible]]. The [[Hebrew]] word for brazier is believed to be of Egyptian origin, suggesting that it was imported from Egypt. The lone reference to it in the Bible being the following verse:

*{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|36:22-23|HE}} - the winter palace of King [[Jehoiakim]] was heated by a brazier ({{Lang-he|אָח}}).

Roman Emperor [[Jovian (emperor)|Jovian]] was [[carbon monoxide poisoning|poisoned by the fumes from a brazier]] in his tent in 364, ending the line of [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]].

Despite risks in burning [[charcoal]] on open fires, braziers were widely adopted for domestic heating, particularly and somewhat more safely used (namely in unglazed, shuttered-only buildings) in the Spanish-speaking world. [[Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl]] noted that [[Tezozomoc (Azcapotzalco)|Tezozomoc]], the [[Tlatoani]] of the [[Tepanec]] city of [[Azcapotzalco]], slept between two braziers because he was so old that he produced no natural heat. Nineteenth-century British travellers such as diplomat and scientist [[Woodbine Parish]] and the writer [[Richard Ford (writer)|Richard Ford]], author of ''[[A Handbook for Travellers in Spain]]'', state that widely braziers were considered healthier than fireplaces and chimneys.<ref>{{cite book |author= Parish, Sir Woodbine |author-link= Woodbine Parish |year= 1839 |title= Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio de La Plata; Their Present State, Trade and Debt |url= https://archive.org/details/buenosayresprovi00pari|publisher= [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] }}</ref><ref name="FordRichard">{{cite book |author= Ford, Richard |author-link= Richard Ford (writer) |year= 1845 |title= [[A Handbook for Travellers in Spain]] |publisher= [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] }}</ref>

The brazier could sit in the open in a large room; often it was incorporated into furniture. Many cultures developed their own variants of a low table, with a heat source underneath and blankets to capture the warmth: the ''[[kotatsu]]'' in Japan, the ''[[korsi]]'' in Iran, the ''sandali'' in Afghanistan,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/feature/2009/afghanistan-feature-230109.htm |title=Afghanistan: Sandali stoves, a blessing and a curse |author=Jessica Barry |date=23 January 2009 |publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross|ICRC]] |access-date=3 May 2016}}</ref> and the [[foot stove]] in northern Europe. In Spain the ''[[Brasero (heater)|brasero]]'' continued to be one of the main means of heating until the early 20th century; [[Gerald Brenan]] described in his memoir ''[[South from Granada]]'' its widespread habit in the 1920s of placing dying embers of a brazier beneath a cloth-covered table to keep the legs and feet of the family warm on winter evenings.<ref>{{cite book |author= Brenan, Gerald |author-link= Gerald Brenan |year= 1957 |title= [[South from Granada (book)|South from Granada]] |publisher= Hamish Hamilton |isbn= 9780241890028 }}</ref>

Moist rose and grapevine trimmings produce a pungent, sweet-smelling smoke, and make charcoal, but unless fully pre-dried (seasoned or kilned) as with wood, do [[wood burner|produce carcinogenic particulates in the air]].

Aromatics (lavender seeds, orange peel) were sometimes added to the embers in the brazier.<ref name="FordRichard" />

A"brazier" for burning aromatics ([[incense]]) is known as a [[censer]] or [[thurible]].

In some churches a brazier is used to host a small fire, called new fire, which is then used to light the [[Paschal candle]] during the [[Easter Vigil]].

Braziers were common on industrial [[Picketing|picket lines]], largely replaced by protest marches and rallies, and a newspaper casts strikes as more [[white-collar worker|white collar]] as a further reason for their decline.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/Columnists/Column/0,5673,849402,00.html |title= Every strike needs a brazier |first= Catherine |last= Bennett |newspaper= [[The Guardian]] |date= 2001-11-28 |access-date= 2014-08-10 }}</ref>

The Japanese translation is ''[[hibachi]]'' - principally for cooking and in cultural rituals such as the [[Japanese tea ceremony]].

Since 1957 [[Dairy Queen]] has used the word "brazier" on their signage to indicate the particular locations that serve hot food like hot dogs and hamburgers, etc..

File:Brazier.JPG|Simple box-style brazier, with broad grill, intended as a metal container (e.g. kettle/tray) heater/cooker

<!--File:Manghal.JPG|Brazier-->

File:Tortillas savadorenas hechas a mano al carbon en El Salvador.jpg|This is a small one used for cooking tortillas.

{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}

* [[Asado]]

* [[Fire basket]]

* [[Crucible]]

{{div col end}}

[[Category:Heating]]