There is no reason to skimp on food or flavor when you are communing with the great outdoors during a camping trip. Campfire cooking can be a challenge but with a bit of preparation and the proper tools, you can create easy, tasty concoctions sure to satisfy most appetites. The key word is challenge because you are likely going to have a few misses as you practice cooking over an open fire!
Roasting Options
Roasting is the easiest of all campfire cooking options as takes just a few implements to cook your food over the flame. Long forks are used for cooking hot dogs, marshmallows and anything else that can be skewered as well. Kabobs are popular and easy to make and almost any type of meat can be seasoned and skewered like shrimp, chicken, pork and beef along with vegetable favorites like potatoes, carrots, peppers and cherry tomatoes.
There are even these cast iron molds with long handles in which you can cook food over the fire as well. You can create sandwich pockets in them as well as cook biscuits, eggs and even mini-pies.
Grilling Ideas
One of the most popular campfire cooking methods is grilling food and using a grill over a flame to heat other food as well. Hamburgers, steaks, chicken breast and pork chops all do well over an open-flamed grill and you can even create vegetable pockets from aluminum foil to place on the grill as well. All you need is a good fire, a wire grill sheet and a stand of some sort to hold the grill sheet in place over the fire.
Dutch Oven Ideas
Many boy scouts and girl scouts are familiar with the Dutch oven style of campfire cooking as it is virtually a tradition with their troops. You can literally cook almost anything in a cast iron Dutch oven pot over a nice warm fire or hot coals. For easy clean-up, you will want to line the cast iron Dutch oven with aluminum foil although many true blue campfire cooking enthusiasts say that “seasoning” the cast iron pot is the best way to go.
You can cook lasagna, cobblers, casseroles and more using the Dutch oven campfire cooking methods. The secret to cooking the food in a consistent, even manner is keeping the hot coals hot without losing any heat. It takes some mastering and you cannot wander off too far during the cooking process but the rewards are quite tasty!
Campfire cooking has become a chore that many people look forward to during their camping trips because they often fix tasty foods they normally would not at home. Plus, there is something about eating dinner out in the fresh air with the accompanying flickering lights of the campfire that enhances the experience.
