There are several options for heat sources for cooking outdoors. My favorite for savory dishes is the campfire. There is a primal feeling with cooking your food over fire, and the smoke provides an extra depth of flavor. However, using a campfire for cooking requires skill. Here are some of my favorite tips for how to build (and maintain and extinguish) the perfect campfire for cooking.
Campfire for Cooking Step 1: The Setting
Wildfires have been all too common, too wide-spread, and all too deadly in the West. Thus, the first step in creating the perfect campfire for cooking is to ensure that you have selected a safe spot for starting a fire that won’t risk unattended spread.
Check local fire danger ratings and permit to make sure that fires are allowed in the area of your outdoor adventure. Then, away from brush, plants, trees, or any sort of dry tinder that could easily ignite from a spark. Be aware of conditions like wind that could carry sparks and when in doubt revert back to backpacking or campfire stove for heat.
Campfire for Cooking Step 2: Collecting Your Fuel
After selecting the perfect spot for your fire, it’s time to gather your materials to burn. Fire fuel can be divided into three categories:
Tinder is the smallest of fuel that easily ignites. In the wild, this can consist of moss and small twigs. Or bring your own from home, but more about that when we talk about getting the fire started. Expect your tinder to burn quickly, so have the larger kindling at the ready.
Kindling is small sticks of wood that will take longer to burn that your tinder. Its purpose is to build heat for a longer duration to allow your logs to catch fire and burn.
Fuel Logs are the core of your fires heat source. Plan on collecting 2-3 times as much wood as you will think you will need as you do not want to run out of fuel mid-cook.
Moisture is the enemy of a hot fire so always remember to keep your burning materials dry.
Campfire for Cooking Step 3: Getting Things Started
Starting a successful fire can be tricky, especially in inclement weather, so you will want to have a reliable fire starter. While there are many options from the low-tech flint and some moss to the fancier “never fail” starter that you can buy at your favorite camping stores, here are a few of my go-tos:
- A Few Briquettes. Choose “match-light” with the lighter fluid embedded. These also work great if you plan to do any Dutch Oven cooking.
- Egg Carton, Dryer Lint, Wood Chips, and Wax. These make-ahead starters are perfect for the outdoor cooks who are like me are also a little crafty. Simply take an empty cardboard egg carton, fill each cup with a mixture of lint and wood chips, and then cover with wax. Cut into individual cups when the wax cools.
- Cotton Balls Coated in Petroleum Jelly. This may seem a little unconventional but works great especially for backpacking trips where you are limited on space and materials you want to carry.
Next, you will need to build a structure of kindling and fuel logs around your starter. There are several different models for this including the “teepee”, “log cabin” and “lean-to.” My preferred method for cooking is the “log cabin” which gives you more of a flat base for your cooking. Whatever structure that you choose, the key is to give the structure access to enough oxygen to “breathe” while concentrating the fuel for the fire.
Campfire for Cooking Step 4: Managing your Pots
This part of the cooking process is crucial. You do not want your pots too close to the fire… where you could burn your oil within 2 seconds of adding it to your Cook-It-All (Done it.) You also don’t want your pots too far away from the heat and not be able to to bring your pasta water to a rolling boil (I’ve done this one too.)
There are a few different tools that I use to help with this. First, is a campfire grate. Most state, national, and forest service run campgrounds include these in their set-up. There are also several light-weight grates for sale like this one I picked up at Cabela’s. I use this for cooking meat and in conditions when I know I can maintain steady heat.
However, my preference is set-ups that allow you to adjust the distance from your cooking vessels to the flame. This allows you to control for different temperature needs of your recipe or variations in your fire temperature. Look for grills that allow you to adjust height or tripod systems where you can shorten or lengthen the chains that hold the pots.
My “go-to” is an anchor swing-arm system from TJ Metalworks. The swing-arm system holds both a pan and a pot and each can be adjusted separately, and thus, manage cooking heat separately. This is key to cook dishes like Butternut Squash Risotto.
Campfire for Cooking Step 5: Maintaining Heat
Keeping a steady heat on your fire relies on what type of fuel that you add and when you add the fuel.
The type of wood for your fire can be classified as either soft or hard, based on density. Softwoods, like cedar, douglas fir, and spruce, are easy to light and produce a flame traditionally associated with campfires. However, these woods also burn quickly and are not good for sustaining heat. In contrast, hardwoods, like elm, oak, and ash, can be difficult to ignite but burns slowly producing a long-lasting flame. I like using softwood for kindling and then adding the harder wood once there is a solid base
Like when you start a fire, you also want to be conscious that adding fuel to not smother your fire. Add new logs one when the previous ones are well-burned, but a good portion of the original fuel still remains. Only re-arrange logs when you need to boost the oxygen. Rearranged the logs too frequently can disrupt the core fire’s intensity.
Campfire for Cooking Step 6: Protecting Yourself and the Environment
Fires are hot and nothing can ruin an outdoor adventure faster than a serious burn. Remember, your pots will also get hot, and maintaining a fire will also require you moving your fuel to stoke the flame. Invest in some heat-resistant gloves and bring necessarily tools to move logs or charcoal.
Finally, the fire starter has a duty to make sure that your fire is fully out. Start to extinguish your fire at least 20 minutes before leaving it unattended by slowly sprinkling water over the coals in 3-5 rounds, string the coals in between. Dumping water will only lead to burst of hot steam. You’ll know when you are fully finished when no heat is being admitting from your fire site.
