Recipe Index

Campfire cooking is a fantastic way to enjoy the great outdoors, and if you do it right, you'll be rewarded with some outstanding meals. These 10 tips will help you to cook over a campfire successfully and safely.

1. Use hot embers, not raging fires

There are two types of fires we generally enjoy when camping. There are the ones we gather around with dancing, flickering flames that are fantastic to look at and give off tremendous heat, keeping us warm and cozy on cool nights.

Then there are the beds of hot embers from a slow burning fire. These are the campfires that we want to cook on. They give off steady even heat, which is perfect for cooking.

If you've ever had a marshmallow catch fire while trying to toast it over open flame, you've already experienced the difference. Those dancing flames are hot, and give off uneven heat, creating hot spots. Not only is it difficult (and dangerous) to cook food that's engulfed in flames, it's also a quick way to end up with burned food.

For the most even heat, which will mimic stovetop or grill cooking, let your fire burn down until there are hot, glowing embers, and perhaps a low flame, before beginning to cook.

2. Choose the right cooking vessel

There are dozens of outdoor campfire cooking tools available to you, including everything from coffee pots, to campfire toasters, to nested cooking pots and pans, which are all designed to make cooking over a campfire easy. You don't need (and won't have space for) all of them.

I recommend selecting a couple of sturdy cooking vessels that you'll use over and over again. It will depend on the type of food that you cook the most. These are a few of my favorites.

Cast Iron Skillet

This is my favorite cooking pan for both cooking over fire, and on the stovetop or grill at home. Cast iron skillets are sturdy, reliable, available in many sizes, and will last you a lifetime if you care for them.

Dutch Oven

When you think about campfire cooking, a camp Dutch oven may be the first cooking vessel that you think of. For good reason, too. It holds plenty of food, and is ideal for so many camping recipes, like beef stew, campfire chili, soup, one-pot mac and cheese, turkey, and even bread or dessert.

They tend to be quite heavy and bulky, so I don't recommend packing them for a hike-in camping trip, but if your campsite is easily accessible, then I highly recommend purchasing one. For an average-sized family of 4 to 6 people, a 6 to 7-quart Dutch oven will work well.

Griddle

Griddles offer the same functionality as cast iron skillets, however, they are available in a multitude of shapes and sizes, and because they don't have the high sides that a cast iron skillet does, they are ideal for cooking foods that require flipping, like pancakes and burgers, or ones that require a larger rectangular space, like bacon.

Grill Basket

Grill baskets consist of a wire cage to enclose food and a long handle to hold the basket over the flame. They're ideal for cooking whole fish, or smaller pieces of vegetables or potatoes that may otherwise fall through the cooking grate.

Roasting Sticks

These are lightweight and there are many retractable ones available on the market. This is your go-to tool for marshmallows and hot dogs, but can also be used for making your favorite meat or vegetable kabobs, like these bang bang chicken skewers. Of course, you can always just use a stick, but avoid conifer branches so that you don't end up with extra sticky pine-flavored food.

Pie Iron

I wouldn't exactly say this is a necessary tool for campfire cooking, but it's sure a fun one to use, particularly for the kids. Pie irons are ideal for making anything that's encased in bread or pastry where you want a soft, melted center. Try making grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, pizza pockets, or hand pies with your favorite pie filling.

Aluminum Foil

This is the workhorse of campfire cooking. Don't leave home without a roll of foil as you can use it to cook almost anything, including chicken and potato foil packets, spiced plums, or even garlic bread. I recommend using a double layer of heavy duty foil when cooking over a fire.

3. Not all fires are created equal

The heat of your fire is going to be impacted by the type of wood that you're burning. Hardwoods, like oak, hickory, or birch are going to burn hotter and give off more heat than softwoods, like pine and cedar. Understanding this can help you determine where (or how high) to place your cooking grate, and how large the fire should be.

4. Remember that EVERYTHING is hot on a campfire

Cooking over an open fire is different from cooking on your stovetop. Spoons left resting in a Dutch oven, skillet handles, and the whole length of your hot dog fork are going to get very very hot during campfire cooking. Keep an oven mitt nearby, or on your hand while cooking so that you don't accidentally burn yourself.

5. Have room to move

Fires are unpredictable and the amount of heat can change without warning. Since you can't just turn down a campfire, always have a "cool zone" available on your cooking grate.

This is as simple as building your fire on one side of the grate and leaving the other side untouched. This way, if you need to turn down the heat to your skillet, you can simply slide it over to the cool side of the grate.

6. Give yourself plenty of time

Sometimes it gets windy. Sometimes it rains. Or snows. All of these things can make starting a fire and cooking a meal take longer than you might expect. Expect the unexpected and start early.

7. Expect it to be a little different every time

Cooking with fire can be incredibly satisfying, but it can also be incredibly frustrating because each time will be a little different. The type of wood you're using, the distance from the heat, and the outdoor conditions are all going to have an impact on the cook time.

Expect that each fire will be a little different, and don't rely on exact timing for your recipes. Use visual cues, and when cooking meat or poultry, use an instant read thermometer to determine doneness.

8. Keep feeding the fire

There's nothing quite as disappointing as having your fire go out while you're in the middle of cooking dinner. Once you've got an established fire with hot embers, continue to slowly feed the fire as you're cooking. Don't add a lot of wood at once, as this will result in large flames, but continue to add small pieces of wood or charcoal to maintain steady heat.

9. Have a plan for how you're going to cook

You've got your hot coals and something delicious to cook. Now what? You're not going to be able to just stand there and hold it over the fire unless it's on a skewer, stick, or in a pie iron. If you're cooking in a Dutch oven, you can go ahead and nestle the pot right into the coals, but for skillet or griddle meals, foil packs, or when you want to grill over the fire, you'll need a flat(ish) surface.

Many campgrounds and picnic areas have fire pits with cooking grates attached to them, which is ideal for most campfire recipes. But if you're off the grid, or in a remote area, or even your backyard, you might need something different. You can improvise by building up some rocks to support a metal rack, or you can purchase a portable rack with folding legs.

10. Use the correct utensils

The good news is that you don't need a lot of utensils. The goal is to be able to cook and remove your food from the heat without burning yourself, so if you bring nothing else along, remember a long handled spoon and a pair of tongs. Metal utensils are great, since they won't catch fire, but remember that they'll get hot, so always grab them with a cooking mitt or potholder.