Campfire cooking the basics?

[loubielou31]

Inspired a bit by the campsite thread but it's something we would like to get into. What do we need for campfire cooking that we won't have already from cooking on a gas burner?

The easiest and cheapest way is to get some kind of grill, there are several pieces of kit you can buy, but we just use a barbeque grill, once the fire is going well with some good glowing embers, create an area at the edge of the fire using bricks or large stones then draw a good collection of embers underneath. You can then either cook directly on the grill or place a pot in to cook casseroles or whatever. We always take a good solid frying pan and saucepan, not non stick. But don't take your best ones as they will tarnished. As with all these things if you get into it there is an endless amount of kit you can buy, adjustable grills, dutch ovens, koitlich pots, etc, etc!

Large pans that you don't mind ruining by putting on a fire - as they'll go really black underneath. And they need to have wooden handles (not plastic).

And tin foil is good to wrap things in - onions, apples or bananas with half a flake bar in are great wrapped in foil and stuck on the fire. Can do jackets that way too, though you need a good hot fire for that.

If you want to be able to clean your pans again, you can coat the base and sides with a thick paste of some kind of detergent - hand soap, washing up liquid (not budget has to be thick) or a paste of washing powder.

The fire will blacken the pot but it will be much easier to wash off at the end of the camp. Top up the coating each time if you remember.

Also, pots with lids - prevents ash getting in when kids poke the fire and things like water and stews heat up faster.

We have this www.campfirecookinggrill.co.uk/ - in fact one of the pics on their site is ours from the first time we used it! We have the large rectangular one which fits everything on it, but they also have smaller ones and one that has its own charcoal tray in case you need a "raised off the ground" fire.

Can't recommend highly enough - we have had it for 3 years now.

sorry www.campfirecookinggrill.co.uk/

They do look good Hill! Can they really hold a kettle? Are they quite sturdy?

Very sturdy pootles - so long as the metal stake has been hammered into the ground enough then it can hold kettle, pans and anything else pretty much! I thought about getting the Rebel grill as well from them but we already have a fold up BBQ for campsites which don't allow fires on the ground, but when that breaks I might treat myself

I think they look great hillbilly, good to hear a personal review. Think we will def get one this year. Is the metal stake very long? Presume we will need a pretty decent hammer?

The metal stake is in 2 pieces which screw together. It all packs very nicely into a bag and is also very flat. Ours came with an oven glove too!

Surely you could bodge one of these with the grill/trays from an oven. Ours came from the church kitchen when they refitted. We use these on scout camp as our trays. They have four legs which fold out somehow, possibly made from super strong tent pegs or boundry stakes. (I need to look at it now) We also have cast iron grills that I think may've been drain cover type thingies. We dont usually cook directly on them so they dont get washed just brushed off when cold.

We use a Dutch oven most nights as it can cook for most of the day and it's only one pot to clean. We dig a hole, make a fire and then leave it for a few hours on the coals, covering it up with either earth or sand. Just throw a chook or lump of meat in with veggies, olive oil and a big glug of wine - its yummy, just falls apart and is great for breakkie the next morning.

We use a Dutch oven most nights as it can cook for most of the day and it's only one pot to clean. We dig a hole, make a fire and then leave it for a few hours on the coals, covering it up with either earth or sand. Just throw a chook or lump of meat in with veggies, olive oil and a big glug of wine - its yummy, just falls apart and is great for breakkie the next morning.

Hello, I love a bit of campfire cookery. We've done loads and the first time I did a cake I thought I was an absolute genius!

We've only camped in UK and OZ and we want to go to France this year. I am not bothered about swimming pools and kids clubs, I just want to know whether I can have a campfire. I can't find this information anywhere.

Any of you experts know what the deal is? If I find something conclusive will post back here.

Thanks!