We’ve covered the art of campervan cooking, but what about al fresco campfire cooking? That’s what we’re looking at here. Compared to stoves and barbeques, campfires seem hard work, complicated, and unable to produce competitive results.
However, this isn’t the case, as we shall explain.
Why use a campfire?
Portable barbeques, camping stoves, and campervan kitchens exist because they are effective and convenient. We’re not advocating that everyone ditches these portable kitchen options and revert to campfires, but we do wish to point out a campfire is still a perfectly viable option for cooking.
Campfires are cheap, surprisingly versatile, and can add a delicious smoky flavour to food, which varies depending on the type of wood used. Camping grounds that allow fires may keep firewood for you to use, and it pays to ask before arrival.
Campfire options
It depends on where you camp, concerning rules and regulations for campfires. Campfires on the ground might be allowed, but many camping grounds require campfires to be raised off the ground.
Portable fire pit
This is the easiest and safest option for campfire cooking. Well-designed, portable fire pits burn a clean, hot fire that’s easily controlled and safely confined. Furthermore, cooking accessories can very easily be used with them.
Models tend to have a specific grill plate as an optional extra. These are useful for the same type of cooking as a barbeque grill plate. However, you can also use a tripod, which hangs a pot, grill, or kettle over the flames.
From scratch
Building a campfire from scratch is straightforward but is different to a bonfire. Rather than constructing a roughly pyramid-shaped fire, a campfire for cooking is flat.
The simplest way is to build a tiny canyon with stones and burn wood in the gap, placing a grill plate on the stones. If you’re using a tripod, use stones to create a perimeter for the fire instead.
Alternatively, if you want to do it properly, you construct a horseshoe shape with stones or heavy green (not dried) wood. If there is one, have a larger, flatter stone at the base of the U because it will act as a kind of chimney. Inside the whole area of this horseshoe, place crumpled paper (or tinder) and kindling, then light it.
Once the kindling is burning, add the larger pieces of firewood in a single layer on top. The idea is to burn similarly sized pieces of firewood so they burn down into coals evenly. When this happens, you can move the coals into a higher pile at one end and a lower pile at the other, like you might with a charcoal barbeque. This gives you the campfire equivalent of high, medium, and low temperature settings, which is very useful for cooking different types of food.
Campfire safety
To get a clean, hot fire, you need dry fuel. Damp or fresh wood doesn’t burn well and smokes terribly. You may want to source some from a hardware store or bring some from your own woodshed. This is one of the downsides of a campfire compared to barbeques and gas cookers – the availability of suitable wood can be an issue.
Location is very important. If there are pre-existing sites of campfires from someone else, use these to avoid peppering the area with more. Crucially, the fire must be at least several metres away from buildings, trees, bushes, and the like.
Wind is one of the deciding factors with a fire, just like the availability of wood. Brisk winds can carry sparks that risk igniting fires elsewhere. If you’re by the sea, it’s best if there is an offshore wind; if you’re inland, little or no wind is best.
You also need to keep water or preferably sand by the fire in case of an emergency.
Useful tools for campfire cooking
There is a small collection of extremely useful cooking tools, which are: tongs, spatula, ladle, and a Dutch oven lid lifter, if you’re using one. Below are our top-rated of each for campfire cooking.
Weber Precision Tongs and Spatula
Price: £34 | VIEW OFFER
Weber has a well-deserved reputation for barbequing gear that you only need to buy once. These are stainless steel with a non-slip handle. The tongs have a hands-free locking mechanism, and both come with loops for hanging them with. In addition, both are long enough to move and flip cooking food without cooking your hand.
Vogue Ladle
Price: £12.24 – £28.10 | VIEW OFFER
The word vogue sounds a little out of place in a camping context, but this ladle is ideal for serving food from a pot or Dutch oven. Available in a range of sizes from 125ml to 1 litre, this stainless steel ladle is durable and has a useful hooked end for hanging.
Petromax Dutch Oven Lid Lifter
Price: £16.31 | VIEW OFFER
Heavy duty pots like a Dutch oven need a heavy duty lid lifter, which is why such things exist. This one from Petromax is very sturdy and surprisingly ergonomic. It’s over 30cm long, so your hands are far enough away not to get singed.
Campfire cookbooks
Campfire cooking can be a lot more than steak, burgers, and jacket potatoes if you want it to be. With a little inspiration, you can conjure up an impressive three-course meal. To help you along with this, culinary minds have been working to build a remarkable repertoire of recipes.
Below are a couple of recommended cookbooks on the subject, which include a range of basic and intricate recipes for cookers, barbeques, and campfires alike.
The Camping Cookbook: Over 60 Delicious Recipes for Every Outdoor Occasion
Price: £7.99 | VIEW OFFER
The Campfire Cookbook: 80 Imaginative Recipes for Cooking Outdoors
Price: £12.99 | VIEW OFFER
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