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One of the three important bars in the lower-left corner of Raft is food. Players need a consistent supply of both food and water to survive the endless oceans, and not all food is equally filling.
In fact, players may notice that the beets and potatoes they find in floating crates and barrels hardly provide any nutrition at all. This is because these foods must be grilled to be filling, and the same is also true about the various kinds of meat and fish Raft players can gather. While some of these foods will fill the hunger bar somewhat, players should cook them to get the biggest benefit and avoid lowering the water bar.
How the Grills Work
Players can build a simple grill as soon as they gather 6 planks, 1 scrap, and 3 rope. This grill doesn't take up much space, and players can grill one item at a time on it. However, it's not a grill without some fire, and players will need to feed the flame with planks to cook their food.
Luckily, the grill only burns as long as it's cooking food, and planks only disappear after they've fed the fire for a specific amount of time. This means players will never waste their planks when grilling. The simple grill holds two planks at a time, and if it runs out the cooking will pause until players can replace them. Something else players should note is that some meats need more time to grill than others, and shark meat in particular takes a long time to cook.
By using the research table, players can eventually unlock the advanced grill. This grill is larger than the simple grill and costs 6 planks, 2 metal ingots, 2 ropes, and 6 nails, but in exchange it holds four planks that each burn for longer and can grill 3 items at once. The advanced grill can also cook large fish like salmon, which are too big for the simple grill to handle.
The last option is the electric grill, which players can only unlock by finding the blueprint on the story island Varuna Point. After that, players can build the grill using 4 planks, 4 scrap, 6 metal ingots, and 6 titanium ingots. Like the name says, the electric grill runs on battery power instead of planks, and it can grill up to six small items or two large fish at the same time.
The foods players can grill are:
- Beets
- Potatoes
- Drumsticks
- Meat
- Shark Meat
- Herrings
- Pomfrets
- Mackerels
- Tilapia
- Catfish (large fish)
- Salmon (large fish)
Is Grilling Worth It?
For the most part, the answer to this question is "Yes!" Compared to raw food, grilled food always fills more of the food bar, and while raw fish will lower the water bar, cooked fish doesn't give this penalty.
However, players lose out on an opportunity when they grill their food. This is because every food players can grill can also go in various cooking pot recipes, and cooking pot food is so filling that it adds a bonus area to the food bar. Some trading post recipes even give temporary bonuses. But to go in the cooking pot, the ingredients all have to be raw.
Players also need raw food when making biofuel. Biofuel refiners are happy to accept raw potatoes and raw fish, but they don't take grilled foods. So while grilled food is good for filling up the food bar, that's the only thing players can use it for. As such, players should store raw food and only grill when they need to eat.
Raft is available now on PC.