To "lay a or "put down a involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing baskets of food on top of the stones, and covering everything with earth for several hours before uncovering (or lifting) the . experts have developed and improved methods that have often, like the stones themselves, been handed down for generations. Common foods cooked in a are meats such as lamb, pork, chicken and seafood (), and vegetables such as
potato, (sweet potato), Oxalis tuberosa| (referred to as "yams" in New Zealand),
pumpkin,
squash,
taro and
cabbage. A pit is dug to a depth of between , sufficient to hold the rocks and two stacked baskets of food. Logs, usually or , are stacked over the pit with the rocks, commonly
andesite or
basalt, on top. The logs are lit and are left to burn for 3 to 4 hours, heating the rocks to . Once the fire has burned down, the hot embers and most of the ash are removed. Alternatively, the fire is built separately and the pit is dug while the fire is burning, with the hot rocks transferred to the pit after heating. In the early 21stcentury, gas-heated stainless-steel " machines" are sometimes used to replicate the style of cooking without the need for a wood fire, rocks and a pit. == Early
umu-tī ==