I've always been ticked off
that in spite of having gobs of good food (bear, salmon, ingredients for stews etc), available to cook, my heroes would cook gruel if left to themselves. Last night I discovered a way to stop that.
In furnish mode grab the fireplace with the stew pot and delete it. The game will complain that it is a required item and needs to be replaced... DON"T
. Instead buy an oven. That satisfies the need for cooking food and the
worst thing the Sims can cook now is flat bread which is a "tasteless treat" with no negative buff. If you absolutely have to have a stew pot (as in "Evolution of the Chinchilla" using the "Chinchilla of the Watcher" approach go to the Tavern, Throne Room or Reception Hall and use those.
Another trick is to have stew pot only in the homes of heroes not involved in the quest. I try deleting the stew pot at the beginning of the quest and replacing it near the end. But most of the time only one stew pot per kingdom is needed.
I'm pretty sure that putting the stew pot on a floor away from the bedroom will also deter the Sim from cooking gruel. In the smithy I put the oven on the second floor and leave the stew pot on the first. The smith almost always heads for the second floor to cook if left to them self.
