Archaeologists initially thought that fixed fire installations had ceased to be used on Minoan Crete from the Late Neolithic to the end of the Neopalatial period. This idea was encouraged by the scarcity of spaces related to food processing (kitchens and cooking areas) in the Minoan settlements, which was explained by the use of portable hearths or braziers resulting in a ‘mobile kitchen’. Gradually since the 1980s, studies have demonstrated the presence of fixed fire installations throughout the Bronze Age in Crete and particularly in LM III at the time of the Mycenaean influence. In this regard, we propose here a reevaluation of the fire structures found in the palatial settlement of Malia. Through a functional approach combining use-wear analysis of the archaeological material and the creation of an experimental index, this research aims to better understand the mechanism underlying the functional traces left on fire fixtures during their primary use and secondary alterations through fire that were so common in Minoan Crete. The comparative analysis of both corpora will provide new data for the identification of archaeological earthen and ceramic fire implements.