Cooking over a campfire can make preparing dinner pretty darn easy. There’s only a tiny bit of prep involved, and hardly any clean up. What’s better than that?
Do you ever cook over a campfire? Salmon and roasted veggie foil packets are a great campfire meal, for example. Or perhaps shrimp or steak skewers… mmmm. Now we’re hungry!
If it’s been a while since you’ve cooked over a campfire, we suggest you give it another try. It can be a fun activity for everyone involved, and we’re sure the food will taste better than if you cooked it inside!
I’ve even made pancakes on a cast iron griddle over an open fire.
Nothing better than meat cooked over an open fire along with potatoes and onions in a cast iron skillet! It just imparts such a wonderful flavor. I understand what people are saying about the smoke but if it’s built properly a good fire is relatively smoke free. You throw a bunch of green, wet crappy wood in a pit and light it on fire with a half bottle of starter fluid, it’s going to smoke and smell.
We have never “cooked” over a campfire, unless roasting hotdogs is considered cooking. We rarely even do that.
Yep, I think roasting hot dogs and marshmallows definitely count as “cooking” over a campfire. 😀 Have a good afternoon, Neal. 🙂 –Diane
I love cooking over an open campfires. I’m in my late 60s and grew up cooking over a fire. There is nothing like the taste of food cooked that way. The problem now is that almost everywhere we go there are “fire bans” in effect plus you can’t use your own firewood. I loved to take apple and cherry to cook over. It produces a sweet smoke.
Just for the record: I have never enjoyed campfires, especially the smoke. When we first began camping, the campfire was what I had to cook with so adapted meals to be as easy and healthy as I could. With each upgrade in equipment: Coleman stove, charcoal then propane grills, then a camper with a cooktop and small microwave, now a small travel trailer with kitchen—I have adapted my cooking style and recipes. I thoroughly our trailer’s kitchen (depending on whether hooked up or boondocking) but still occasionally cook outdoors using a Blackstone griddle and a butane hurricane burner. Good riddance to campfire. The greatest impact on my meal prep is from having refrigeration and freezer. Now I can start a trip with almost a month’s worth of mostly prepared meals so I take only a few minutes to have a meal on the table and still have time and energy to do other things. Burn bans do not cause problems for us.
I was a Scout Leader for about 30 years and cooked many meals over an open fire. Now I cannot stand the smoke and it will put me into a coughing fit for about a half hour. The last and only time we had a campfire was 2016 when friends of ours came along and wanted to cook hotdogs and s’mores, I stayed well away and upwind of the fire, besides that I don’t want the smoke inside my motorhome. I believe that campgrounds should have a no campfire area and it is located upwind of the prevailing winds.
I’m laughing with you Joe. My boy scout troop camped every month or 11 times most years because November and December were hard to plan separate trips for. We used tents all winter in northern Ohio and cooked over open fires. It was great then, but now I am over it. I haven’t even fired up my Coleman white gas stove in years. I use an induction cooker. After 32 years of volunteer firefighting I, too, cannot stand smoke and cough and cough.
Until; about 10 years ago, we would cook most camping meals over wood fired coals. But conditions have changed, devastating fires, higher winds, regulations on wood, etc. Now we don’t even carry the grate, dutch oven and other open fire equipment in the rig. Sad, as we loved the hours of relaxation and family socialization of a good cook.
NEVER, since I think all campfires should be banned!!!
Agree.
Do marshmallows count? LOL
This is a skill set I’m glad to see the biggest group that don’t cook over a fire are in. While they are plugged in to an overpriced camp ground listening to their neighbors barking dog I’m sitting by a campfire watching the chipmunks, maybe hear an elk bugle and cooking my burgers.
Having to BUY firewood because of laws/regulations/rules has severely dampened my desire to cook over a campfire. When we are local we definitely take advantage of that great smoky flavor!
When we’re at a site that allows fires, 100% of our meals are cooked over the fire, year round. Doesn’t need to be a big fire, just enough hot coals to cook with. Tripod, cast iron grate, cast iron skillets & a griddle.
have not been a Boy Scout in too many years to count. Firering for comfort, not food. Marshmallows are exempt.
When camping in Utah up in the mountains with our two grandchildren, our grandson asked if he could cook hamburgers over the campfire. I asked if he had ever done that before. He said “No” but that he had seen his dad cook over a real campfire. I told him to “go for it”. Result: best burgers we ever ate!
I grew up in a family where cooking outdoors meant woodfire. My grandfather and father refused to even consider charcoal. To this day, at home, I use only charcoal. I’ve never had a propane grill.
Until the last few years, I did a lot of tent camping, often at campsites that were only a small clearing and a fire ring, and some backpacking. Again, all woodfire cooking. He and I even simmered beef stew over the campfire during some chilly fall camping. Unfortunately, my camping buddy passed away just before the pandemic and I haven’t found anyone else who enjoys it as rustic as I do.
Fortunately, about 5 yrs ago, I convinced my husband that a fairly small travel trailer would not be too rustic for him and allow us to do a bit more traveling in our retirement. So we got 20+’ hybrid travel trailer. But I still use the fire to cook dinner. I don’t even bring charcoal with me, much less a propane grill.
Nothing beats that woodfire flavor!