Campfire Cooking Kit Ultimate Guide
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Everything tastes better when it’s cooked over a campfire.
While campers will cook most of their meals with gas for convenience or because of burn bans, campfire cooking remains popular.
Campfire cooking means you need to plan ahead, but the rewards are delicious meals cooked at your campsite. You need to plan ahead because unlike a gas grill you can’t just flip a switch and have heat. You will also need a quality campfire cooking kit.
You must first build a campfire, wait for it to create coals, and keep the fire going.
This is a guide for campfire cooking beginners.
Campfires should only be used in designated areas, but it’s still possible to have a safe and enjoyable experience.
To prevent wildfires always practice leave no trace ethics when building a fire and remember that fire bans are often created because of people who don’t follow these rules.
First, let’s look at the best campfire cooking kits that will make cooking over a campfire simpler and more enjoyable.
Cast Iron Skillet, Pre Seasoned 2-In-1 Cast Iron Pan, 5 Qt Black Cast Iron Dutch Oven With Lid
This cast iron kit comes with everything you need to get started with campfire cooking. You can use the set as one Dutch oven or your can use the lid as a skillet. Or you can even cook 2 separate dishes at the same time.
Two-In-One Set
Cooking with the cast iron skillet feels like home.
A cast iron cook set with skillet as a lid for a Dutch oven is an easy way to make your camping trip much more enjoyable.
This two in one cooking set is perfect for any camper who loves to cook and bake, but doesn’t want to carry around multiple pans or utensils.
There are many benefits of using this simple and convenient pan because it provides you with the ability to not only cook food on top of the stove, but also inside your oven!
The pan can be used both indoors and outdoors so you don’t need to worry about setting up a tent next to the fire pit just so that you can have some pancakes for breakfast. All you need is this cast iron piece of equipment, which will fit right over top your normal campfire.
If you love the idea of cooking your food outdoors, then this is definitely a must-have tool that you should bring with you on every trip! It even comes pre-seasoned to release baked foods and doesn’t need any kind of special care or upkeep like other pans.
Durability and simplicity make it an excellent tool that you’ll definitely want to bring along on every camping trip.
Preseasoned Cast Iron Skillet
Comes Seasoned
Cook like your grandma did, but without the hassle of maintaining an old cast iron pan.
You will receive this skillet seasoned and ready to use though you can season it more if you are looking to create a more non-stick surface.
Cast iron frying pans are great for searing, roasting and stir-frying. They can be used on campfire or charcoal grill as well as in the oven up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit!
Pour Spout
Your family will love the delicious taste of your cooking without all that grease!
The cast iron skillet comes with a pour spout to simplify pouring out extra grease or sauces from the pan. Your family will love the delicious taste of your cooking without all that pesky oil!
Large Handle
It’ll make cooking a breeze!
If you’re like me, then cooking over a campfire is one of the best parts about camping. But since I don’t want to spend my time searching for rocks and sticks to make an oven, I bring along this cast iron skillet with the large handle that makes it easier to get things in and out of the fire.
Hole In Handle For Simple Storage
You’ll never forget where you put your skillet again!
One of the challenges with camping is where to store everything when we’re not camping. This skillet has a hole in the handle so that you can hang it on the wall.
Bruntmor Pre-Seasoned 7 Piece Heavy Duty Cast Iron Dutch Oven Camping Cooking Set with Vintage Carrying Storage Box
Bring back your love for cooking.
Whether you want to bake, grill, or even fry your food over a campfire, this set has what you need.
And to be make it even better they provide a wooden box to carry and store the gear in.
All of the items in this kit are made of cast-iron and provides even heat. Pre-seasoning with vegetable oil helps to prevent the food from sticking, while also making it taste better than ever before.
That means you can cook your favorite meals in the same way that your mother or grandmother once did.
And that’s what makes it so memorable to cook over a campfire.
Stanley The Bowl + Spork Compact Cook Set
Stanley Adventure Bowl + Spork Compact Cook Set 24oz
If you are car camping, you should use a cast iron Dutch oven or skillet to cook with a campfire. It’s simpler and easier to cook with these kitchen tools.
However, if you are going hiking or backpacking, you should always bring along at least a steel canteen cup with you. You want a steel cup with with you because in the worst case scenario, you can boil water to make it safe to drink.
But a better option is this Stanley cook set. I use it on my backpacking trips, even though we usually use a gas stove, because it’s like having two cooking items. On my guided tours, we have plenty of water so that I can put my coffee in the neoprene cup and my hot food in the steel cup.
Even if you want to make your own food, it’s nice to pour the hot liquid into the separate cup which makes it easier to hold than the steel cup.
How Long Does It Take To Cook Over A Campfire
It depends on how hot the coals are. If they’re not hot, it will take hours to cook even a small meal like potatoes for example, so you want it to be hot! And it can take an hour or more to get the coals ready for cooking at a campfire.
This is why for morning coffee or a quick meal, you should keep a gas stove handy because it’s quicker to heat things up. And save your campfire cooking for dinner.
If you want to cook all of your meals with a campfire, it’s important to keep a campfire going 24/7. Which is a challenge unless you have a large group.
Is Open Fire Cooking Healthy
Yes. As long as you avoid cooking with toxic wood (such as pressure treated lumber) and don’t inhale all of the smoke from you campfire, cooking over a campfire is as healthy as any other cooking method.
This assumes that you are cooking healthy foods on your campfire.
And remember, when on a campout, the calories in a S’more don’t count!
What Type Of Campfire Is Best For Cooking
While we call it campfire cooking, the actual cooking is similar to grilling with charcoal briquettes. You have to wait until the fire has burned down to coals before you can start cooking. And even when the coals are ready, it still takes an hour or so to cook anything.
Therefore, if you want really quick hot food, use a portable gas stove which can be brought right next to your campfire if needed to cook with quickly. Or build a charcoal chimney, or use charcoal briquettes which are ready in about 20 minutes.
If you want to cook over a traditional campfire with sticks on the fire, it’s important to let the wood burn down first so that you can keep your food above the hot part of the fire.
You can put your coals on one side of the fire and then build up flames in separate part of your campfire pit if you need flames for heat or ambiance.
What Is Your Most Trusted Tool When Cooking Outdoors
My most important tool is fire gloves. These are gloves that allow you to handle extremely hot things. I always wear them when tending to my campfire because I adjust the wood, the coals, and my cooking gear without fear of burning myself.
The next important tool is a shovel which can also be used to extinguish a fire if necessary.
The third item would be an adjustable cast-iron grill because it allows me to raise or lower the food to control the temperature.
What Is The Best Thing To Cook On An Open Fire
I love three things. I love having s’mores with friends on a brisk fall night. I love going camping and eating meat that’s been grilled over an open flame.
If you’re lucky enough to be near a beach with conveniently-placed logs, nothing tastes better than freshly caught fish baked on a little grill over the sand!
But there’s one more thing that still tops all those favorites of mine: being outdoors with family around an evening campfire! With just the right ingredients, perfect camping foods can be made complete from start to finish within minutes of stepping out into the wilderness. After all, it only takes about 5 minutes for hot dogs and marshmallows on sticks to cook on a campfire.
What Type Of Wood Is Best For A Campfire
Please avoid using pressure treated lumber which contains 80% of arsenic. The chemicals can leach into food being cooked on it or nearby, so think twice before you use pressure-treated wood for your campfire pit.
The best type of wood to use is either fruit or hard wood such as oak because it lights quickly, doesn’t cause much smoke when burning and adds great flavor to your dishes.
What Do You Need To Cook Over A Campfire You need hot coals. You need a grate or Dutch oven and patience. Basically, you need a heat source plus a cooking implement.
How To Make A Campfire For Cooking
I prefer the log cabin lay. It is simple to build and the fuel logs will last longer.
You start by placing two fuel logs parallel to each other. Then put your kindling across the two fuel logs. Then start stacking your fuel logs.
I use the Duraflame cubes as my fire starter. These are natural (compressed fatwood), affordable and easy to light. I used to use cotton balls with petroleum jelly but those are messy to make, store, and use.
Nothing beats a Bic lighter for reliability with waterproof matches as a backup.
