Campfire Cooking & Safety

[eDJ_]

One of the great joys of being in camp is a having a campfire to cook on and later sit in the dark to look at the night sky and mellow out. It can add so much to the outdoor experience. But at this time most of the USA is in drought conditions with the much needed rain off in the future. So there are now burn bans as forest fires are popping up all around.

This fire is over the hill over me.

With that said, "firemanship" skills in camp should be stressed. Knowing how to prepare the camp for a secure campfire should be a matter of education those involved in or wanting to be involved in with Van Life & Camping should engage in.

Consider what "Smokey The Bear" stood for and give "Smokey's" website a look please.

https://smokeybear.com/en/prevention-how-tos/campfire-safety

 

[bullfrog]

Hope it keeps it’s distance and you get some rain to wet down the leaves. Praying for you!

 

[LoupGarou]

There's a saying; "White Man build big fire, sit far away, Red Man build small fire, sit close."

I prefer small simple twig type fires and have been experimenting with cooking/grilling over a Charcoal Chimney Starter and have had great success. So much so, that the Charcoal Chimney Starter has actually burned out from use. I've since replaced it with a folding one to make it easier to pack and store.

Never cook over open flame it'll soot up the pots and pans and sets you up for disaster. Only cook over HOT coals.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

.....I prefer small simple twig type fires .....
Never cook over open flame it'll soot up the pots and pans and sets you up for disaster. Only cook over HOT coals.

I've cooked over an open fire for decades, no problem. Only an issue if you want your cookware to look pristine. The loose soot wipes off easily and the hard stuff absorbs heat better and protects.

It takes a long time to develop hot coals with no flame (soot).
Twig fires require constant tending.

 

[vanbrat]

I like to use Pie Irons and have made a small reflector oven but have not used it yet. And of course, the ever lovin' sharp stick stuff. We have a big grill/rack here at home for over the fire pit but of course that is stuck in the ground with cement, so it doesn't get to go with us anywhere.
The pie irons do though, and they are fun to use. Just be sure to get the iron ones as the aluminum ones will melt on a really hot fire. Learned that the hard way.
We have used the sharp stick for everything from steak stirps to bacon wrapped shrimp to biscuits' to roasted apples.

 

[user 22017]

I've cooked over an open fire for decades, no problem. Only an issue if you want your cookware to look pristine. The loose soot wipes off easily and the hard stuff absorbs heat better and protects.

I feel the same way. My camping pots and pans don't end up in my S&B kitchen.

 

[WanderingRose]

I like cast iron for cooking over open fires…already blackened, takes the heat well, what’s not to love?

A favorite technique hubby and I used to use was preparing 12 charcoal briquettes on a piece of heavy duty foil, and when they were ready they would be arranged 6 on the bottom and 6 on the top of a double pie iron or panini.

This would cook two pork chops, chicken breasts, salmon steaks or whatever in about 10 minutes.

And, can be done easily wherever you happen to be, with easy cleanup folding the cooled ash onto the foil.

 

[nature lover]

I strongly prefer campfire cooking too. Otherwise, I am an East coaster, where we don’t have as bad of drought, if I lived where it was a problem, I wouldn’t do it. But one of the best benefits of cooking over a campfire is the smoke covers up the stink and you don’t have to come out of the woods to find a shower as often .

 

[BelgianPup]

Pie irons... What? I had to ask Mr. Google...

Oh... I didn't know they had a name. I always called them Those Hinged, Folding Cooking Things.

I seem to learn something new every day!

 

[D'L]

Never cook over open flame it'll soot up the pots and pans and sets you up for disaster. Only cook over HOT coals.

Ha. I have always cooked over an open flame campfire. Never had one single problem. And, as noted above, the soot wipes right off. If your pans get a little blacker, who cares. But if you do care, a quick scrub with some fine steel wool and they look new again.

 

[D'L]

What I have used is a rack I(shelf) from an old refrigerator, scrounged from one I found dumped in an inappropriate place. You just build up your rocks or dirt or whatever, build your fire, put the rack on top, put your pot or skillet on top of that and you're good to go.

 

[rvwandering]

If you want to be sure that having a campfire is okay, check this website for regional fire restrictions. It's a BLM site so it has information for the western states only. https://www.blm.gov/programs/fire/fire-restrictions

 

[LoupGarou]

Ha. I have always cooked over an open flame campfire. Never had one single problem. And, as noted above, the soot wipes right off. If your pans get a little blacker, who cares. But if you do care, a quick scrub with some fine steel wool and they look new again.

Consider changing your cooking style. When you cook over hot coals you don’t have near the cleanup. You’ll have very little soot, if none at all. No need for steel wool.

 

[eDJ_]

Forest & Wild Fires are no joking matter with the various law enforcement agencies who monitor campers and those in the sticks & bricks. Open fire bans have been issued all over this part of the world.

I notice on TV News they are reporting the drought level is down to just over 60%. But the damage has been done with so much dry brush laying about.

I took this photo of the sunset at 5:15 pm (eastern time) last night.
Most of us think, "Red sky at night, a sailor's delight". Within seven hours of this sunset it began to rain and is still raining as I post this. (Friday Nov 11) This sunset likely owes to all of the smoke in the air from the huge fires. So lets hope fire safety will be on everyone's minds.

This photo was taken just up the street from Marshall University's Football Stadium.

 

[nature lover]

Pie irons? Maybe that’s why we always called the mountain pies here in Pennsylvania. Um Um Good. My favorite is a nice piece of ham with Swiss cheese and onion on sourdough, of course.

 

[WanderingRose]

This is similar to what I have, mine being blackened with use, of course, and I also have one that is a waffle iron.

They aren’t cheap, but they are permanent, like any cast iron that is properly cared for.

 

[WanderingRose]

These are big enough to prepare a meal for one, or meat for two.

 

[vanbrat]

Mine are smaller. And I found them in a thrift store. I have one for me and one for hubby. That way we can each have our own flavored whatever... I have done sweet fruity pies and grilled cheeses and a few other super easy things. But want to play around with them a bit more. Again, I cannot say enough, spend for the iron ones NOT the aluminum things. I tried to burn off some stuck-on crumbs and forgot what I was doing and when I went back a few minutes later they were melted and gone.

 

[user 22017]

This is similar to what I have, mine being blackened with use, of course, and I also have one that is a waffle iron.

They aren’t cheap, but they are permanent, like any cast iron that is properly cared for.

My mom had some in the 1960's or early '70's. She gave us kids white bread, margarine and some cans of pie filling to cook them over the campfire. I don't recall thinking they were especially yummy (like s'mores), but we ate them and had fun baking them. They were much smaller than yours. IIRC, they were too small for what we were attempting, lol.

I watched a show last week about a chef visiting friends and it was a potluck with mostly chefs bringing the food and cooking. A bunch of them were gathered around a fire (or outdoor oven) cooking with pie irons. Think they were making reubens. They had a name for the pie irons. I had never heard them called that. Can't find the video/show and can't remember the name. Thinking he was visiting Canada or the UK.

I was surprised to see chefs using them... even if just for fun.

 

[JT646]

Mini "oven":
https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/89937/
I stumbled onto this a few years ago...and made one of these. Works pretty well and stores easily.
YMMV