Cooking on the Campfire

DutchmenSport wrote:
There was a day ... a LONG time ago ... when we only cooked over an open fire ... back in our tent days ... when the kids were little ...

We fixed absolutely everything over the fire, from coffee to toast, to steaks, to pastas. When we were breaking in our camping style, we started with a lot of canned foods that could easily be warmed up with any kind of heat. That quickly migrated to a more diversified menu, to the point where absolutely everything we ate at home, we simply took camping with us.

We continued cooking over an open fire for a long time, but then one day realized we were sick and tired of trying to clean pots and pans and griddles and grates and wire supports, and tripods, and all of that soot and black and charred stuff. We went through cans and cans of spray oven cleaner over the years and realized eventually, the food was great, but the clean up was awful.

Long story short, we moved to a Coleman gas stove, and Coleman gas griddle, that eventually migrated to gas stoves, and finally electric griddles and skillets. We have a wood-charcoal fire pit at home, and every time we use it (which is quite a lot), have to deal with the black. So, when camping, we are not pretty much all electric. Much cleaner, better even temperatures, and not near as challenging any more. (I suppose that's what happens when you get older ... you start looking for the easier way to do things.)

We don't regret anything from our past, especially the fun we did have using an open fire. But, when you get older, you really do start looking for easier ways to get thing done.

But to answer your question... anything you can fix on a stove or an oven, you can fix over a fire. The secret is to control the amount of heat.

Look up Dutch Oven Cooking on the internet and you'll get a bazillion ideas.

We fixed chicken, steaks, hamburgers, hotdogs, ham steaks, bacon, potatoes - fried, baked, mashed, scalloped, and quartered over a fire.

We backed a cake once (now that I really remember ... what a disaster, but the kids had a blast!)

We had Lasagna, spaghetti, noodles, and even rice.

We had hot chocolate, pop corn, smores, pizza, (really), Pop Tarts, toast, waffles, pan cakes, stews, turkey (not the entire bird, turkey parts), lamb, crab, lobster, green beans, Brussel sprouts, stewed tomatoes, cauliflower, CORN ON THE COB (lots and lots)... soak the corn, husk and all for several hours, then simply place on the coals and keep rotating, takes about 5 minutes. Pull back the husks and enjoy! Marvelous! Oh, the list goes on and on! We did it all I think. Nothing elaborate, just good old home cooking!

Do I miss cooking over a fire? actually ... no! But I won't trade the memories for anything!

Thanks for the giggles, head nodding and smiles your post inspired on my end and for pointing out what I always say to my non camping of any sort older sister's comment: "I thought camping was hot dogs and hamburgers",when I run my menus by her. There is NOTHING (well almost. Can't do mousse but pate is fine and for those who are thinking pate!?! all aghast I say it's just cold meatloaf and let em eat cake otherwise;)) you can't cook over a firepit.

I still enjoy cooking over an open fire or charcoal grill prolly as camping is the only time I can indulge in my love of outdoor cookery. Living in the middle of Manhattan has it's disadvantages.

Us at West, photogenic and organizational inspiration in many ways!:C

We almost always make Potato Bombs! Get an apple corer and core the center (length wise) of a large russet. Save the plug and break it in two.
Now fill the center of the spud with what ever you want,,Cheese,ham,corn,garlic,onion,turkey,more cheese,bacon bits,butter tabs, garlic butter tabs,a little salt some pepper, some more garlic, a dash or two of Frank's hot sauce, more cheese,peas,sour cream...or anything else youd have with a spud. Snap the core plug in half and insert into the hole to keep the stuff in,sprinkle garlic,salt and pepper on the outside (I use a homemade spice rub) then wrap then foil and lay them on the coals of the fire,, after ten or so minutes turn them over and have a beverage of choice, turn them one more time. Pull them out and enjoy your Potato Bombs!!

There was a day ... a LONG time ago ... when we only cooked over an open fire ... back in our tent days ... when the kids were little ...

We fixed absolutely everything over the fire, from coffee to toast, to steaks, to pastas. When we were breaking in our camping style, we started with a lot of canned foods that could easily be warmed up with any kind of heat. That quickly migrated to a more diversified menu, to the point where absolutely everything we ate at home, we simply took camping with us.

We continued cooking over an open fire for a long time, but then one day realized we were sick and tired of trying to clean pots and pans and griddles and grates and wire supports, and tripods, and all of that soot and black and charred stuff. We went through cans and cans of spray oven cleaner over the years and realized eventually, the food was great, but the clean up was awful.

Long story short, we moved to a Coleman gas stove, and Coleman gas griddle, that eventually migrated to gas stoves, and finally electric griddles and skillets. We have a wood-charcoal fire pit at home, and every time we use it (which is quite a lot), have to deal with the black. So, when camping, we are not pretty much all electric. Much cleaner, better even temperatures, and not near as challenging any more. (I suppose that's what happens when you get older ... you start looking for the easier way to do things.)

We don't regret anything from our past, especially the fun we did have using an open fire. But, when you get older, you really do start looking for easier ways to get thing done.

But to answer your question... anything you can fix on a stove or an oven, you can fix over a fire. The secret is to control the amount of heat.

Look up Dutch Oven Cooking on the internet and you'll get a bazillion ideas.

We fixed chicken, steaks, hamburgers, hotdogs, ham steaks, bacon, potatoes - fried, baked, mashed, scalloped, and quartered over a fire.

We backed a cake once (now that I really remember ... what a disaster, but the kids had a blast!)

We had Lasagna, spaghetti, noodles, and even rice.

We had hot chocolate, pop corn, smores, pizza, (really), Pop Tarts, toast, waffles, pan cakes, stews, turkey (not the entire bird, turkey parts), lamb, crab, lobster, green beans, Brussel sprouts, stewed tomatoes, cauliflower, CORN ON THE COB (lots and lots)... soak the corn, husk and all for several hours, then simply place on the coals and keep rotating, takes about 5 minutes. Pull back the husks and enjoy! Marvelous! Oh, the list goes on and on! We did it all I think. Nothing elaborate, just good old home cooking!

Do I miss cooking over a fire? actually ... no! But I won't trade the memories for anything!

And let's not forget what is maybe the first thing many learn to cook on a campfire (after hot dogs).

Lay out a piece of HD foil. Place some hamburger, a diced potato and sliced carrots/corn in the middle. Season with some butter, salt and pepper and then fold the foil and seal up as best you can. Then do the same with another piece of foil, only make the fold point on the bottom. Lay on the coals and use tongs to flip once in a while. The burger will cook fastest so try to keep the veges on the bottom most of the time, next to the coals.

We made these in Boy Scouts and thought we were really on to something. It tastes surprisingly yummy. Great if you have kids. They each get to make and cook their own.

I don't normally cook over the campfire but when I have Ribeye steak and burgers turned out great. Also I have cooked my baked potatoes in the coals as already mentioned.

Wrap some potatoes in foil and put them right on the coals of the fire, turn a couple of times, great baked potatoes!

A traditional dutch oven (the cast iron kind with stubby little feet and a rather big rim around the outside of the lid) makes for a lot more campfire cooking flexibility. You basically put a few coals underneath, somewhat more on top (generally), and can bake most anything although obviously things that aren't especially sensitive to precise temperature and time constraints are easier. I've made a tasty pineapple upside down cake in a dutch oven, with the only difficulty being that it wasn't quite level so the pineapple part tended to slide off the cake when served upside-down. Potatoes and roasts and baked beans and so forth are super easy in a dutch oven, and biscuits or rolls or bread not too hard.

Campfire donuts/crullers are fun and pretty easy. Basically take a bit of biscuit dough, wrap it (in a thin spiral layer) around a stick or camp fork, and cook it rather like a hot dog. Moderate temperature for a relatively long time works better than high heat and quick cooking, which leaves the middle doughy often. Once cooked, roll in a bit of butter and then cinnamon sugar and eat. Canned biscuits, the kind that you thwock the side of the can to open, work pretty well for this if you don't feel like mixing something up.

We like a campfire too for bacon or side pork;

Thin cut steaks, sauteed veggies, vegetables steamed in foil, apples and cinnamon steamed in foil. My favorite veggie for this is fast becoming asparagus. Burgers, hotdogs, chicken tenders. Anything you can cook otherwise can be cooked over a campfire you just have to start the fire early, produce some coals and adapt a bit. For making hot water or cooking eggs and sausage or bacon you can't beat a hobo stove which uses less wood for those meals than you'd need just to get a campfire started.

Here are some pics that really need no explanation :B ;















Ever made pizza on a campfire?

Here's how we've done it.