June is National Great Outdoors Month, and that means it is time to go camping! Getting out into the wild should not be limited to hunting season. For me, venturing into the woods is a year-round activity. One of the best parts of camping is cooking over an open fire, as everything tastes better when it is cooked outside.
Certain items and conditions are essential to a successful outdoor cookout: fire and the rules of cooking over a campfire); the right skewers, cooking utensils and other essentials.
Fire
There are two places to start a fire: fire lays or rings; and firepits. Given the option, firepits are better between the two. Firepits are raised platforms, usually a shallow dish or round, that keep the fire off the ground. Many firepits are portable and can be carried to different locations.
The main benefit to a firepit is that it prevents scorching of the earth. This is very important if you prescribe to the doctrine of Leave No Trace. Theoretically, this means that the next camper should not see evidence that you were there. In other words, leave the area in its natural state. Even when you use a firepit, the ashes and other remnants of your fire should be bagged up and taken with you to be discarded in a proper trash receptacle.
If you do not have access to a firepit, a fire lay or ring might be your only option. A fire lay or ring is when you build a fire directly on the ground. If you must employ this method, do so in a location that has already been used. This is so you do not leave an additional scorched ground area. The same rules apply to a firepit. The remnants should be gathered and removed. The remnants should be discarded in a proper trash receptacle.
If you are backpacking, you may not be able to remove the remnants. In this case, the ashes and other remnants should be scattered about the area so that it blends in.
Remember, before you remove ashes and remnants from any fire, make sure that it is completely extinguished and “cold to the touch,” which means that you can place the palm of your hand on the remnants without feeling any heat.
Skewers
There is nothing better than a campfire. Even better than just having a campfire is cooking over it. When it comes to cooking over a campfire, hotdogs and S’more’s usually come to mind. If hotdogs and S’mores are on the menu, you will need some type of skewers to cook them with.
When it comes to skewers over a campfire, the longer the skewer, the better. This is so you can stay safely away from fire and not burn yourself. There are commercial metal skewers available for campfire cooking. Some even come with wooden handles to keep the heat of the fire from running up the skewer and burning your hands.
If you want to be more traditional, a long stick will also do the job. Find a stick that is long enough to prevent the individual from getting burned. Sharpen one end of the stick to a point to skewer whatever it is you want to cook. Just remember that eventually the stick will catch on fire. When your wooden skewer is no longer useful, just add it to the fire and find another stick.
Cooking utensils
Utensils that you should have to cook over an open campfire include spatulas, tongs, serving spoons, and double tined forks. Spatulas are used for flipping burgers and frying up eggs. Tongs are used for flipping or moving sausage, baked potatoes or ears of corn. Serving spoons are used for stirring or serving canned vegetables, chili or other semi-liquid foods. Last but not least are the double-tined forks, which makes me think of juicy steaks being grilled over an open fire. It does not get any better than that!
Like skewers, any utensil that you use should have a long handle. Household cooking utensils typically have handles that are too short to safely cook with over an open flame. Once again, the longer the utensils, the better—long enough to prevent burning yourself.
Cooking Essentials
If you are planning to cook over a campfire, there are some other necessary essentials. The first thing that I think about is heavy duty aluminum foil. Heavy duty foil has several uses. First, it is required for cooking delicacy such as Silver Turtles. Aluminum foil can also be used to cover a grill over the fire to prevent food from falling through the grill. It can also be placed over grills for easy clean up. I also like to use foil to place on picnic tables or other places used to prepare meals to prevent food smells from getting on the wooden picnic tables or metal tops. These smells could attract animals, including dangerous ones such as bears, wolves or even mountain lions.
Other essentials include non-stick sprays such as Pam to prevent food from sticking to grills or aluminum foil. Non-stick sprays are also helpful in cleaning up wherever food is cooked. Non-stick sprays can also be used around the top of pots that are used to heat vegetables, chili, etc. to prevent the contents from boiling over. Pots that boil over could put smells in the fire pit or lay and could in turn attract animals.
Additionally, fire starters, oven mitts and hotpot tongs are essential. Other essentials are whatever you can bring along to make cooking easier and safe. Just make sure whatever you bring must be strong, durable and resistant to open flames.
I bring charcoal briquettes just in case I need them. Some areas such as in the northern and western states have only lodgepole pine trees or other pines. These woods do not make as good a bed of coals as you would get with oak or other hard woods. Charcoal briquettes can also come infused with mesquite or other flavorful woods.
When it comes to camping, it is the campfire that is the central area where people congregate. It is where people tell tall tales and entertain each other. What makes the campfire even more of a memorable location is when it comes to cooking.
Having the right equipment when cooking over an open fire can eliminate unnecessary injuries and making whatever you cook the best it can be. Remember, just like the kitchen is the central area of most households, the camp kitchen is where the best memories are cooked up.
—Heidi Lyn Rao
