Category: Campfire Cooking

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10 Helpful Kitchen Tools for the Best Campfire Cooking

Camping is always an exciting adventure.

Wandering around the woods, singing campfire songs, listening to the birds chirping, sleeping in tents, gazing at the stars, enjoying the breeze and best of all campfire food! Cooking food on campfire can be fun but it also requires some planning and the right tools. It is indeed tempting to pack all your cooking tools but you must remember that too much baggage can become a burden. Most importantly, there is a special charm in cooking food outdoors with just a few basic kitchen tools. Here are the 10 helpful kitchen tools that are best for campfire cooking:

Cast Iron Frying Pan/Skillet

This might be heavy but is super durable. Cast iron can survive the intense heat of the campfire and will help you avoid ruining your kitchen tools like nonstick pans with plastic handles.

Metal Skewers or Toasting Fork

Roasting is a great way to make campfire food. You can use metal skewers to roast assorted veggies, kebabs, and of course marshmallows. If you have a grill, you can simply place the skewered items on the grill to cook or hold the skewers in your hand to roast items over the campfire. These are handy since they are compact and easy to clean. Toasting fork is also handy and you can roast marshmallows, sausages, kebabs and also toast over open flame.

Oven Mitts

As you would be cooking on campfire using cast iron cookware, metal skewers and more, you would need oven mitts to handle them as the campfire heats gets evenly transferred to even the lids and handles of the cookware.

Seasonings

You can invest in an all-in-one seasoning container that can hold pepper, salt, chili flakes, cayenne and other herbs and seasoning you prefer. You can even use vitamin and tablet organizers to store your seasoning to cook your food with. These are compact, lightweight and can easily be stored in your backpack.

Reusable Dinnerware

It is always recommended to use reusable dinnerware to ensure a clean campsite. There is nothing worse than arriving at a campsite to find pizza boxes, broken glass, Styrofoam plates and glasses lying around. Avoid wastage of plastic utensils and paper plates by using reusable dinnerware.

Tripod

Of course you can get by without a tripod but it comes super handy when it comes to cooking food on campfire as it reduces the chances of tripping. Tripods are lightweight, compact and help in balancing the food while you cook without worrying anything will fall over. It is best to get the one with foldable legs.

Camp Stove

There are plenty of fancy and expensive options available in camping stores but all you need is a simple two burner stove that will help in cooking your food and will also fold up so it’s easier to carry. There are also different sizes available, you can pick the one which is more suitable to your requirements and budget.

Fuel and Fire Starters

You can’t cook without a fire and you need something to start the fire. With fuel, it gets easier to start a fire, otherwise wood and dry branches are your friends. Majority of campsites offer firewood, so it is best to check with the camp authorizes before you start packing. If you want to do it the old fashion way and collect wood to start a fire, you would also need lighting liquid and a box of matches for that. If you are bringing along a charcoal grill, you would also need a spade to work with the coal.

Chopping Board and Knives

A knife is a necessity for all camping trips and not just for food. Make sure you take extra knifes that have sharp blades to cut meat, vegetables and for other purposes. Going camping without a knife would be the biggest mistake you would make. Take along a chopping board to make it easier to cut veggies and meat. Ensure that you pack the knives carefully. Furthermore, pack in a Swiss army knife or a pocket knife just in case.

Folding Double Wash Basin

Since you are taking reusable dinnerware, you would of course have to wash the dishes. A folding wash basin would be best for this purpose.

The list of essential kitchen tools for camping can vary as per your camping style, trip duration, and the facilities provided at the camping site. However, these are the basic kitchen tools that you would need to make the best campfire food. Ensure you pack enough to last throughout your trip.

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7 Easy Campfire Cooking Ideas for You to Try

Out in the open, on a camping trip, the last thing you need is to waste time.

With so many spectacular views to enjoy and so much to take in, food might be the last thing on your mind. Sadly though, you still need to eat to keep up your energy.

For first time campers, cooking food on a campfire is a totally different experience. It takes them some time to get used to the uneven flame of the campfire. They are so used to of an evenly burning stove that the dancing flames can seem daunting. But cooking food on a campfire is just another thing that’s best about a camping trip.

For all those people who don’t want to waste time in cooking, easy campfire cooking ideas can be a lifesaver. So, we’ve come up with some tricks to help you get the best out of your camping trip.

Dutch oven Cooking

If you keep sitting by the campfire, keeping an eye on the food and shaking the pan so it doesn’t burn your food, you’re surely going to miss some fun. The sun set is an amazing sight from your camp site but you can’t leave your spot. Well, now you can. All you need for that is a Dutch oven.

The heavy cast iron pot comes with a lid, which enables it to hold heat efficiently. You get ultimate ease with a Dutch oven. You can directly place it on fire or use a cooking tripod to hand it at a certain height. Unlike the cooking experience with a skillet/pan, you’d rather enjoy cooking with a Dutch oven. Why? It’s because you wouldn’t need to keep stirring the oven. Just leave it on fire and let it do all the work.

Foil Pack Cooking

Health conscious and want to bake food on your camping trip? That can be a problem as it’ll be hard to find an oven in a camping tent. The best alternative is foil pack cooking. Just wrap up the meat or vegetables in a foil pack and leave it on a grate. Make sure you keep an eye on the food though. Once done, just unwrap the food and hey presto! You have freshly baked food right there in the foods. How’s that for an easy campfire cooking idea?

Stick Cooking

We’ve all had our fair share of marshmallow on a stick and you can use the same trick to cook food. Things have changed a bit in the past years and now there is a vast range of metal sticks available, which makes the best fit for easy campfire cooking ideas.

Grilling

This is an intuitive cooking method, and offers a lot of ease and options too. With a vast range of grills and grates available in the market, you can have your pick. You don’t have to miss your BBQ in the middle of the woods. Just set up the grill and take advantage of one of the many easy campfire cooking ideas.

Rotisserie Cooking

With this cooking idea, you’ll almost feel like a native wood dweller. There are two ‘Y’ shaped sticks at either end of the campfire, with another stick resting horizontally on them. The main stick holds the food as the campfire gently cooks it. This is a great contraption to make roast meat.

Iron Cooking

A foldable iron tool makes for an amazing cooking tool and comes 6th on our easy campfire cooking ideas. It is shaped like a tong and is an effective tool for some quick cooking. Available in different shapes and sizes, just place the food in the tool, close it shut and hold it over the campfire. For all the grilled cheese sandwich lovers out there, here is the ultimate campfire sandwich maker.

Charcoal Grilling

You can satisfy your veggie appetite with another one of our many easy campfire cooking ideas. If you like to add the fiery and smoky touch to your veggies, here is your chance. Just place them directly on some charcoal pieces and within no time, you’ll have some well-done, smoky veggies ready to be devoured. Just make sure you keep an eye on the food since the extensive heat can easily burn them to a crisp. Keep changing their side every once in a while and you’ll do just fine.

Now you have the whole list of easy campfire cooking ideas so make sure you use them the next time you go camping. Don’t let burnt food ruin your trip. Use these ideas to hone your campfire cooking skills and amaze others. Have fun!

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Campfire Cooking Equipment You Can’t Live Without

Your favorite hobby, camping can’t be made any easier.

Your love for outdoors enables you to enjoy the fresh air amid all the problems you might have to face. What problems you ask? If you are a camping enthusiastic, being out there in the open wouldn’t be daunting for you but stepping away from the facilities of a homely life can dampen even the most cheery mood.

With no stoves out in the woods, you can’t expect to cook your favorite food. Or can you?

With an array of campfire cooking equipment now available everywhere, your camping trip doesn’t have to be a disappointment. Whenever and wherever you feel like camping, all you have to do is pack up your backpack and set out to enjoy the spectacular view of Mother Nature. But what essentials are supposed to go in your backpack?

Just so you don’t find yourself in a tight spot out camping, we’ve come up with a list of essential campfire cooking equipment that’ll provide an exceptional outdoor cooking experience.

Cooking Tripod

Constructed with heavy duty solid steel, a cooking tripod is the first item on your campfire cooking equipment list. A chain in the middle has an ‘S’ hook at the end, where you can hang the cooking pot. It’s great for easy cooking, without you having to worry about burning the food. There are a number of cooking tripods available in the market but you should go for the ones that offer height adjustments. People can make their own tripods out of branches and pieces of wood, but needless to say, a professional one does the job better.

Dutch Oven

If you want to get the ultimate cooking experience, you need to have a Dutch oven. The heavy cast iron pot comes with a lid, which enables it to hold heat efficiently. Although it does weigh a bit more than you’d be willing to take in your backpack, it comes with its fair share of benefits. It will easily attach to the tripod and in no time you’ll be enjoying hot, freshly cooked food. This campfire cooking equipment is perfect if you are taking along a vehicle to the camping spot.

Campfire Grill

You’ve caught your first fish and after proudly showing it around to the group, it’s time to cook it. BBQ is a great option and since it is the most intuitive method of cooking, you’ll be in need of a grill. There are a lot of styles and shapes of this essential campfire cooking equipment. You should go for a model that fits best with your camping trip needs.

If you can’t take too much weight with you, make sure you go for a lighter version that’s easy to carry around. You might also have to consider the size, shape and height of the grate. A grill is a much needed equipment for all the BBQ enthusiasts. So whether its fish, sausages, steak or burgers, having a grill in your pack will add excitement to your much needed getaway.

Skillet

For all those people who are concerned about the weight of the Dutch oven, we’ve got a lightweight option for you. Taking along a skillet or a pan will solve the weight issue and you’ll still be able to cook the food with ease. The disadvantage to this seemingly best option is that you’ll need a grate to place the skillet on. And since campfires don’t burn evenly like your stove at home, you would need to move the pan constantly. Takes a bit of work but it’ll make sure your first catch doesn’t burn to a crisp.

Tongs

Handling those hot pans and skillets will require a pair of metal tongs, especially if you use the Dutch oven. They are also a great toll for shuttling charcoals.

Spatula

When making a list of campfire cooking equipment, people just concentrate on cookware. They forget that cooking tools and accessories are just as important. you might be able to use the plastic knives and fork to cook food but why go to all that trouble? Simply add a spatula to your gear and enjoy the moment.

The next time you plan your trip, make sure you have these campfire cooking equipment in your backpack. You can always take stoves and grills out there but what’s the fun in that? When you’re out admiring Mother Nature, adopt the old ways and enjoy your trip.

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Clever Ways to Start a Fire without Using Matches

If you are fond of hunting or hiking then being oblivious to some clever ways to start a fire without matches can be a life-threatening situation. But if you know some of these techniques, this knowledge can turn into a life-saving skill especially in the survival situations.

In fact, if you know some useful yet ingenious ways to start a fire, it can make the difference of life and death!

There can be many reasons why you would run out of matches. For instance, as you are camping, you may lose or forget your backpack somewhere or rain or wind may render your matches absolutely useless.

So, to help you out with that and to make sure you don’t face any uncertain situation just because of this, we are sharing some smart and clever ways to start a fire without matches. Let’s have a look.

Friction Fire

In this method, you should create a hand drill. For this, take straight stick for a flat and spindle, along with wood piece as fire board. At the board’s edge make a V-shaped notch and by using pocketknife, bore a depression (round), close to the tip of V shape.

Now put the spindle in the depression, keeping your hands flattened on both sides. As you apply some downward pressure, use your hands and move back and forth, rotating the spindle. With adequate speed, this friction will result in an ember.

Now on a bark piece, gently dump the ember, and then blow it to make a flame by placing the ember in tinder. For this technique, aspen, cedar, cottonwood, basswood or branches of dried yucca are some of the best woods to be used.

Fire Using a Lens

If fortunately you are in a sunny day then you still have some chance to catch fire. Make lenses using hunting scopes, from glasses, telescopes or binoculars. Sit with your back towards the sun, hold your lens and let the sun rays pass through the lens – using the concave side of it. This way, you can let the emerging rays of lens to be focused on a single point on the tinder bundle. If you do not have a glass lens, you can also use smooth and clear ice to concentrate the sun rays. Lastly, you can polish an aluminum can bottom with a toothpaste or sand to reflect sun rays on your tinder.

Another item to use for this purpose is a balloon. Fill a balloon using water and tie its ends. Keep it as spherical as you can, and don’t blow it too much as this will distort the focal point of your sunlight. You may also squeeze the balloon, bringing it into a shape which will create a sharp light circle.

Battery and Steel Wool

Another useful yet ingenious way to start a fire without matches is through battery or steel wool. This technique is like moving closer to modern times and for this you can use your flashlight battery along with some steel wool to catch fire. All you need to do is to rub the terminals of battery across the steel wool and wait till its smolders. This will cause the fire to get transferred to wood quite instantly and before the whole steel wool get burned.

Catching a Spark

You can easily catch a spark just by striking a steel piece against quartzite or flint. But for this, you must arrange something that would catch the spark. So, once the spark is caught, you may easily transfer it to wood and turn it into full flame. Also, fungus on tinder is also effective in catching a spark and this fungus can be found easily on birch trees, but if not, you may also go with char cloth.

Fire Pistons

If you run out of matches but you were smart enough to bring with you fire piston then you can fight off the need of fire. Use a fire piston to compress a little bit air instantly. This compression will help in raising the internal temperature of the fire piston which will result in a spark. However, if you did not bring a fire piston then unfortunately, this will be really hard to make one right then and there in the forest.

The bottom line – All of these clever ways to start a fire without matches are proven and recommended. However, whenever you attempt any of these fire catching techniques, ensure all the usual precautions to handle the fire. While a well-managed fire can be a great reward, an unmanaged one can easily destroy everything.

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Eat to Survive – Eat Deliciously Cooked Meat with Primitive Tools

When you are camping in the woods, you want to leave modern ways of cooking food behind you.

You’re in the wilderness; act like it! When you’re camping, you’re hunting for game and then cooking it on the open fire. The meat you prepare and cook doesn’t have to be flavorless. Look at your surroundings to find edible plants that you can use to add flavor to the meat when cooking it.

If you’re cooking fish, meat, or whatever the catch of the day is, you need to use the following primitive tools to prepare a delicious and mouth-watering meal:

Grill

To make a grill in the woods, you need to start a fire and add coals to it to control the open flames required for cooking meat. Once the coal becomes red and hot, place the chain-link fence, using it as a grill. Put your meat on the grill to cook it. In no time, you will prepare and eat deliciously cooked meat with primitive tools.

Spik

This an old, but still golden method to cook meat when you go camping. Back then, it was a popular method used to roast pigs. However, you can use this method to cook just about any game. Once you hunt, kill, skin, and clean the animal such as deer, you can use a wet branch from a tree to pierce the meat from one end to the other.

Do not use a dry branch, as that will cause your meat to burn and fall into the fire. Prop the two ends of the branch on forked support to keep the meat in the air over the fire. Keep rotating the wet branch to cook all sides of the meat.

Griddle

To eat deliciously cooked meat with primitive tools, find flat and think rocks. Take the flat conductive sheet and place it flat on top of the open fire to heat it. Place the meat on the griddle to fry.

Stone Oven

Another fun way to cook the meat is to prepare it in a stone oven. You need to create a small chamber, filling it with stones. Make sure the chamber is large enough to fit the meat. Create a top and three walls, but leave one side uncovered. This will allow you to load and unload the meat easily. Place a stack of woods around the stone oven and start the fire. The heat from the fire will heat the stones and allow the chamber to warm up. You can control the temperature by removing and adding logs to the fire.

Ground Oven

Create a ground oven by digging a pit and starting a fire at the bottom of it. You need the fire to be raging so when you place the coals in the fire, they become hot instantly. There is no definite size of the pit you need to dig in the ground, as it varies according to the size of the game.

Once the fire is ready, place large stones on the fire to cover it. Next, place a layer of grass on top of the large stone. The grass will moisten the meat, making it soft and tender. Add another layer of grass on top of the first layer and add dirt on top of it to bury the food. You might need to cook the meat for one entire day or half a day depending on the size of the game and the heat generated.

To eat deliciously cooked meat with primitive tools, you can use the barrel stove method to prepare meat. You need a barrel that is cut rectangularly at the bottom. You will place the wood at the bottom of the barrel. Next, create several holes the size of nails halfway up on the barrel’s backside to create an air vent to allow air into it. Lastly, create a small section on top of the barrel to allow air and smoke to escape outside.

Dehydrate Food

You can dry the meat. There are several ways to dry the meat, but the most common way remains drying the meat under the sun. The sun will suck all the moisture out and preserve the food. You can also dry the food over a campfire or some other heat source. This method keeps the meat edible for several days.

If you want to eat deliciously cooked meat with primitive tools, you can use one or more of the methods mentioned here to cook and prepare your game.