Many Sims 4 players complained their Sims refuse to cook. Sometimes they start cooking but then suddenly stop and won’t finish cooking. They won’t resume cooking even if you order them to do so.
You need to fix this problem as soon as possible. Your Sims can die of hunger if they don’t eat anything for 48 hours.
What to do if your Sims refuse to cook
⇒ Quick Tip:
- If all the cooking options are greyed out, go to Build Mode and disable the Simple Living lot trait.
Disable Mods and Custom Content
Outdated Mods and Custom Content can trigger a long list of issues in your game. This is valid even if your Mods or CC don’t seem to be related to the issues you’re experiencing.
Disable your Mods and CC and check if the issue is gone. The simplest way to do that is to move the Mods folder to your desktop.
Ensure your Sim is old enough to cook
Do Make sure your Sim is old enough to cook. As a quick reminder, Sims are unable to learn cooking skills until they become teenagers. In other words, kids can’t cook in The Sims 4.
By the way, check if this problem occurs with all the Sims in your household that are old enough to cook. Maybe this is a general glitch affecting the game.
Check if something’s blocking the oven
If your Sims can’t use the oven or counter, they won’t be able to cook. Check if there’s something blocking access to the oven or counter.
For example, are there any windows or walls near the stove or counters?
If you used the move objects cheat to place various objects in different locations, don’t be surprised if an invisible object is blocking the oven, fridge, or counter.
Examples of items that could get in the way of your Sims while cooking include clutter on the counters, overhead lights, pots and pans rack over the stove, and so on.
Try removing or rearranging your kitchen stuff.
Long story short, you need to clear the way for your Sim to cook. Try moving the oven to the middle of the room or into another room.
Check if there’s something left in the oven
Additionally, check if there is something left in your Sim’s oven. Many gamers confirmed their Sims oftentimes won’t cook anything if food leftovers have been left in the oven.
Sims can be quite forgetful at times.
As a matter of fact, they often forget they placed dirty plates inside the cupboard but that’s another story.
Travel to a different lot
If your Sim is temporarily glitched, you should be able to quickly fix the problem by making them travel to a different lot. It doesn’t have to be a far-away place and your Sim doesn’t have to spend a lot of time there.
Simply invite your Sim to go to the park or pay a visit to a friend. Then go back home and check if your Sim is eager to cook.
Replace the fridge and stove
Other users solved the problem after deleting the fridge and stove. Then, send your Sim to another lot. Get a new fridge and stove to replace the old ones, bring your Sim back and check the results.
They usually like the new stove, so they’ll use it right away. If the issue persists, replace the counters as well.
Lock your Sim in the kitchen
While this may seem like a rather strange solution, it did yield positive results for many users. So, if your Sim won’t cook any meal, get everyone else out of the kitchen. Then lock your Sim in the kitchen and make them cook.
If you want to take this one step further, build a new kitchen room, lock your Sim in the new kitchen, and give them no choice but to cook something.
Learn more
Why can’t my Sims cook on the stove?
The reason why your Sims can’t use the stove to cook is that something’s blocking it. Oftentimes, the culprit is an invisible object that the game randomly placed near the stove after you used the move objects cheat.
Move the stove to the middle of the room to clear the way for your Sims.
Why can’t my Sims finish cooking?
If your Sims start cooking but they won’t finish cooking, your Mods and CC files could be the culprits. If you have mods installed, especially any that modify cooking or recipes, check for updates. Update your custom content kitchen items as well.
A corrupted fridge, stove, or counter could also prevent Sims from finishing cooking. Replace your fridge, stove, and counters to fix the issue.
Did this guide help you fix the problem? Let us know in the comments below.