Cooking in the outdoors

[Fretyenot]

Hello reader. So as a newb I have loads of questions but i'll keep it to one at a time.

I see loads of videos of people cooking on camp fires, but they have all used tinfoil. I don't have a problem with this at all, I'm no eco warrior, but I was wondering if there was an alternative. Obviously I have seen Ray Mears using Banana leaves etc but what can we use in the British wilderness?

I'd like to cook on a "proper" camp fire so any information would be awesome. Thank you for any replies peoples.

 

[copper_head]

Burdock leaves are a good alternative to RM's banana leaves.

 

[Toddy]

I don't use tinfoil, I use pots

Tbh, it depends on what you're cooking. If you don't want to ponasse fish then they cook well with their bellies stuffed with herbs, the whole wrapped in grass and then encased in mud.
Hedgehog (not allowed now I think ? ) and young rabbits likewise.
Spuds are better wrapped in foil, but you can do them in a well closed pot, better yet if you've made a clay dish and let it dry out really well, then bake it and the spuds in the hot ashes overnight. It takes ages though, so you won't get your dinner in a hurry.
Leaves can be used, butterburr is excellent, but dockens and mallows are very good too. Better wrapped, tied and streamed rather than roasted though.
Things like cheese pieces wrapped in tinfoil and roasted are hard to beat though, and I haven't yet found a way of doing them other than frying....all the calorific impact of a neutron bomb.

Why the query ? what would you like to cook ?

cheers,
Toddy

cross posted with copper_head.....hadn't thought of burdock there you go, we learn something new every day
M

 

[Fretyenot]

Fantastic replies guys, thank you.

Like a child in a candy store I want to try and cook everything so may have to take many people with me and become a feeder . I've only every cooked on a gas stove but would like to Wild camp in my hammock and have a fire to cook on, though why I never considered pots I'll never know. I'm not a vegetarian, so fish and meats and now for some reason I'm craving melted cheese.....

 

[Toddy]

....it's a dreadful addiction is roasted cheese

You have no idea how many folks will have had their dinners, but will read threads like this and suddenly find themselves in the notion for bite to eat

cheers,
M

 

[santaman2000]

Fantastic replies guys, thank you.

Like a child in a candy store I want to try and cook everything so may have to take many people with me and become a feeder . I've only every cooked on a gas stove but would like to Wild camp in my hammock and have a fire to cook on, though why I never considered pots I'll never know. I'm not a vegetarian, so fish and meats and now for some reason I'm craving melted cheese.....

LOL. Nose around the forum a bit. You'll find several thread about cooking with billy cans, mess tins, canteen mugs, and dutch ovens.

 

[British Red]

You'll find several thread about cooking with billy cans, mess tins, canteen mugs, and dutch ovens.

Or even just sticks

Spatchcock3 by British Red, on Flickr

Spatchcock4 by British Red, on Flickr

 

[andibs]

Burdock leaves are a good alternative to RM's banana leaves.

Sod for soup though!!

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I'd like to cook on a "proper" camp fire so any information would be awesome. Thank you for any replies peoples.

For some dishes, you can just cook straight on the coals:

Or just use a stick of green wood:

If you are in an area with suitable rock (not something easy to find down here in kent), you can also cook on a rock next to the fire...

Julia

 

[Ruud]

some green birch branches do a passable job for grilling meat, can take up to 15 minutes above a fire. Take bark off to avoid some bitter spots

 

[British Red]

Or go the other way - anything you can cook in a Wok at home can be cooked in a Wok on a fire. I like lemon chicken myself

Lemon Chicken on fire by British Red, on Flickr

Never seen the fun in eating poorly myself - Woks are very thin and light and the handles come off many. You can boil, fry, steam and most other things in them.

 

[Toddy]

Good point, I take one when I can too. It's very easy to cook in over a fire. It stir fries, or bakes, or steams, or stews.

M

 

[JonathanD]

Dock leaves wilted beforehand over the fire work really well. Cooked venison and fish that way.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Just had a thought. You can also cook inside fruit and veg. Take an orange, cut a circle out the top, hollow it out, fill with an egg, place on the embers. Can also be done with an onion...

Remember for millennia man kind cooked on fires without access to even pots, let alone tin foil...

One day bcuk really should write a camp fire cooking book...

Julia

 

[British Red]

Most things work....this sweet cherry bannock was baked in those dish things that come in Zebra Billy cans

bannock by British Red, on Flickr

 

[Fretyenot]

Wow, I'm completely blown away. All that food looks amazing so I'll just invite all of you out with me. Amazing skills folks, and thank you so much for sharing. I really can't wait to give them a go. Just got some zebra cans and that Bannock would go down a treat. A Cook book with techniques should be done by you all post haste, honestly amazed.

Thanks again:You_Rock_

 

[copper_head]

A uncoated steel frying pan is a good purchase for campfire cooking, great for bannock!