Brazier

2025-08-06T03:46:30Z

2600:1003:B15D:39C4:645A:C2FE:F710:8662: /* Other */Clarity

{{Short description|Container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel}}
{{about|the container for fire}}
{{distinguish|Brassiere|Brasserie}}
[[File:Brazier with soap stone pot.jpg|thumb|[[Mangal (barbecue)|mangal]]]]
A '''brazier''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|r|eɪ|ʒ|ər}}) is a container used to burn [[charcoal]] or other [[solid fuel]] for cooking, heating, or rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet, but in some places it is made of terracotta. 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>

==History==
[[File:3238 - Athens - Casserole and brazier - Stoà of Attalus Museum - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg|thumb|[[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] brazier and [[casserole]], 6th/4th century BC, exhibited in the Ancient Agora Museum in [[Athens]], housed in the [[Stoa of Attalus]]]]
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:

<blockquote>The king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month; and the brazier ({{Langx|he|אָח}}) was burning before him.<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|36:22|HE}}</ref></blockquote>

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]].

In Arabic, the brazier is called ''kanoun''.

==Uses==

===Heating===
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>

===Scent===
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]].

===Other===
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, while a newspaper casts strikes as being 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 a particular location serves hot food, such as hot dogs and hamburgers, in addition to ice cream treats.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Runensteinkreis - Rune Stone Circle - 02.jpg|Brazier with burning fire in a [[Runes|rune]] stone circle at a [[summer solstice]]
File:Grillen - BBQ - Barbeque - Fleisch auf dem Grill.jpg|A brazier being used to grill chicken and steaks
File:Incense burner in brazier.jpg|Smoking incense burner inside a brazier
File:Brazier.JPG|Simple box-style brazier, with broad grill, intended as a metal container (e.g. kettle/tray) heater/cooker
File:S03 06 01 024 image 3159.jpg|Pompeii, Italy. Table and small brazier to keep food warm. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection

File:NewFireBrazier.JPG|Brazier used for lighting the [[Paschal candle]] during [[Easter Vigil]].
File:Tortillas savadorenas hechas a mano al carbon en El Salvador.jpg|This is a small one used for cooking tortillas.
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commons category|Braziers (fire container)}}
{{EB1911 poster|Brazier}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Asado]]
* [[Angithi]], a traditional Indian brazier
* [[Barbecue grill]]
* [[Chafing dish]], a cooking implement
* [[Cresset]], a cup for burning oil
* [[Crucible]]
* [[Fire basket]]
* [[Hibachi]], a Japanese brazier
* [[List of cooking appliances]]
* [[Kanger]], a traditional Kashmiri personal heating device
* [[Mangal (barbecue)]]
* [[Torch]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Burners]]
[[Category:Cooking appliances]]
[[Category:Heating]]
[[Category:Alchemical tools]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Brazier