Cooking over an open fire.

[Jacky]

Hey guys. The following question might seem a bit stupid.. but I'm very new at this whole thing (and have barely cooked even with modern appliances in my life - I be lazy) so please bare with me.

Is it possible to cook mushrooms and meat over an open fire by just impaling them with a stick and hovering them on the edge of the flame? Is this safe? I've visited quite a few sites.. and I just see alot of pan malarky and I'm wondering if it's neccessary i like to keep this basic . Will simply cooking the food properly get rid of any nasties that I shouldn't eat?

I apologise if anything of this nature has been posted previously, but I haven't noticed anything in previous pages and a recap for utter begginners like myself couldn't hurt.

Thanks very much in advance,
Jack.

 

[cronos]

I am no Keith Floyd, but I have cooked over open fires. I think it not only comes down to what you are cooking, but also what you are burning on the fire. I have never had any problems and nor has my cooking killed anyone, well not that I am aware of.

Cronos

 

[stovie]

Me and the boys love cooking over the fire. And skewering meat and veg on wittled sticks is great fun and perfectly safe (no different to kebabs on a BBQ). I find the secret is to have a good bed of coals to cook over and not roaring flames That way you have control over what you are cooking, and don't end up with charcoal on the outside and raw in the middle....

Half the fun is experimenting

 

[cronos]

Nicely put there stovie

Cronos

 

[Jacky]

Many thanks guys!

I guess time depends on the size of what meat you are cooking, but are there any estimates on how long you should cook 'em for? Or is it best to go by how they look?

 

[Abbe Osram]

Hey guys. The following question might seem a bit stupid.. but I'm very new at this whole thing (and have barely cooked even with modern appliances in my life - I be lazy) so please bare with me.

Is it possible to cook mushrooms and meat over an open fire by just impaling them with a stick and hovering them on the edge of the flame? Is this safe? I've visited quite a few sites.. and I just see alot of pan malarky and I'm wondering if it's neccessary i like to keep this basic . Will simply cooking the food properly get rid of any nasties that I shouldn't eat?

I apologise if anything of this nature has been posted previously, but I haven't noticed anything in previous pages and a recap for utter begginners like myself couldn't hurt.

Thanks very much in advance,
Jack.

I don’t see a problem BBQ on a stick some mushrooms but don’t have flames, rather choose the time later when the flames stopped and you are left with the coal and embers. With the meat you will have to check what it is. Bacon you can hang over the fire, a sausage too but I would not do it with a big chunk of meat. I rather would cut the big chunk of meat in small stripes and fry them over the coals. Some meat is dangerous if eaten red, like pig and bear and chicken. Bear meat I would boil for a while and then roast it later to give it a nice cover.

A good way to cook in the open is the fire pit cooking. Dig a hole in the ground. (50 cm ) deep put in a layer of stones, 10 fist size stones. Make a fire and heat up some more 10 stones. After ca 1.5 hours when the stones are gray hot you carefully with the stick move the ash to the side and put the meat onto the stones, With a fork type of stick you lift now some of the hot stones onto the meat. The meat can be wrapped into moist moss. Hold a stick in the middle of the pit and fill the pit with sand. Take out the stick and put water into the hole until you hear a sound from the hot stones. Depending on the size of the meat you open the pit after some hours and get nicely cooked meat.

Make sure that you get your meat especially chicken really well done and you will be save.

cheers
Abbe

 

[stovie]

Bear meat I would boil for a while and then roast it later to give it a nice cover.
Abbe

Hmmm! Now where in Sussex can I get some bear

 

[running bare]

Hmmm! Now where in Sussex can I get some bear

I usually find that if i drop my trousers and look back I find a bear behind

 

[ScottC]

You need to make sure that you aren't using a toxic stick, I read an article once where some scouts in America had died after roasting marshmellows on an open fire because the stick they were using gave off toxic fumes when burned.

 

[stovie]

I usually find that if i drop my trousers and look back I find a bear behind

You want to be careful doing that...someone might roast it

 

[torjusg]

I roast moose meat quite often.

Burn a fire until it is just coals since charred meat is not very tasty. Put a green stick in it and turn it over the coals until it is brown and nice on the outside. I guess one could wait until it is cooked through, but I usually cut off the roasted meat and put it back over the coals. Even frozen meat works good this way.

Another tip. If you have caught a fish and don't have salt. Put a stick through the mouth and out the other end with the intestines still in it. Roast it over the coals and the flesh will turn out sufficiently salty. And the intestines will be deliciously cooked as well.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[Abbe Osram]

Hmmm! Now where in Sussex can I get some bear

My Bushcraft brother, the world is bigger than Sussex. LOL
Come up to my place and I give you a tour, we might see some bears too.

Abbe

 

[wolf]

i have found that when people are in a situation when they are really hungry,then this is the time they will undercook their food,the aroma of even bread cooking can bring it out of the coals before its ready...

 

[Jacky]

Thinnish strips, cook 'till crispy, make sure it isn't undercooked on the inside. Got it. Anything else I should be aware about or have I got this just about covered?

Thanks for the replies, lots of useful information!

I'm sure I'll find some way of bagging a bear...

 

[falling rain]

Be patient when cooking food on an open fire. It's ready when it's ready. Cook it slowly by keeping your kebab not too close to the coals/embers and slightly over cook meat if your unsure if the middle is cooked or not. Break a piece open and examine it before consuming. All vegetables and generally speaking most mushrooms are fine raw so it makes no difference with these if they're under cooked, but if you've washed them in suspect water or your eating wild roots/greens etc cook thoroughly anyway. Same for stews/soups etc take things slowly and allow to heat thoroughly and cook slowly, you'll appreciate the wait when it's finally ready. I love cooking on an open fire and tending to the food it's harder than at home on the hob and another good skill to have ..........and be adventurous cooking is great fun

 

[benmatthews90]

ha lol
i wonder what bear tastes like

 

[Tantalus]

about the only thing you can not cook on a skewer is soup

bamboo makes nice cooking sticks, soak them in water a while first to stop them bursting gloriously into flames though

another way to do it is to rest both ends of the stick on 2 flat rocks and roll backwards and forwards to cook evenly

avoid river stones , they can explode when hot, scattering embers all over everyone sitting close to the fire

as mentioned before , make a bigger fire than you need and rake a few hot coals out of the bottom of the fire to one side where you can cook over them, and still keep the fire burning

potatoes and other root veggies are nice wrapped in tinfoil and bunged into the embers and covered over for an hour or so.

you cant really do too much wrong as long as you get it all cooked well enough not to be raw and manage to take it off before it ends up as charcoal

if in doubt take the food off the fire for a min and cut into it with a knife,(preferably the biggest bit cos it will take longest to cook ) you will know if it is raw when it bleeds or when veggies are still rock hard, you can always put it back over the fire for a few minutes longer

Tant

 

[Ogri the trog]

Now that I'm getting the munchies, I'll add a few easy ones to start off with.
Baked potatos either wrapped in foil or not, just plonk them in the raked out embers for a few hours - great if you have an evening activity planned, cook them while your busy. You'll need a glove etc to hold and eat but if you cut off the top, scoop out a hollow and crack an egg into the hole, return it to the fire for a few minutes - magic.
Next comes the apples, any sort will do. Remove the core (ally tent poles were made for this job) then stuff the middle with raisins and brown sugar. Cook like the spuds mentioned earlier, wrapped in foil. Oh boy they taste good.
Twists or dampers cooked on the end of a green stick are a staple here. Make a firm-ish dough with flour and water (add whatever else you want - experiment) get a green stick about as think as your thumb, scrape off the bark down to the white wood inside and form a rough point on the end. Roll the dough into a long sausage and coil it around the stick starting at the point so when it's cooked you get a cone of hot bread. When its golden brown, tap the stick near the cone and slide your damper off the end. Stuff butter and jam down inside and see if you can resist the temptation to cook another one.

Thats enough - I'm off on a raid

Ogri the trog

 

[Buckshot]

ha lol
i wonder what bear tastes like

Chicken
Doesn't everything taste like chicken

 

[philaw]

I tried ostrich kebabs with chilli at a food fair last weekend. It was fantastic! I only wish I'd left some room, so I could have tried what the final stall had: camel and antelope kebabs! I just hope it's not that Tibetan one, or there'll be none left to be the olympic mascots.