Off Grid “Campfire” Cooking

Have you ever considered how you would cook for you and your family if you had no access to a fuel source other than wood? Being that you’re here on American Partisan I’m guessing that the answer to that question is probably going to be “yes” for the majority of you. Have you actually obtained the tools to make “campfire cooking” easier and more efficient? Have you spent time cooking on said equipment to learn how to use it effectively (Because cooking over coals is NOT the same as cooking over your kitchen stove, a propane burner, or even the same as an old-fashioned wood cookstove. Again, you’re here, so I’m going to assume that you most likely have at least some plans for feeding yourself and those you are responsible for. Hopefully those plans don’t stop at freeze dried foods and MRE’s- yes, those options have a very important place, but nobody wants to eat freeze dried foods or MRE’s long term. Community cooking is where it’s at for feeding a group of people long term. There is a reason that in the past families predominantly ate meals as an entire family unit, or often in a community group, and why they still do in many places (personally I think it is a shame that society has moved away from that practice) It’s more efficient to build a single fire and to cook one large meal all at once to feed a group of people. In addition, if you have a large amount of perishable food, you share it with other people while it is still edible, rather than letting it spoil.  Off grid cooking is something that gets some coverage in the preparedness community, and NC Scout has talked about it in Radio Contra before. While it’s not as interesting to most people as guns, ammo, and gear, off grid cooking for groups of people is a vital skill to have, not to mention that enjoying a hot meal around a fire is a great mood booster after a long day. Let’s talk about a few ways to make the task of preparing food easier.
Once you realize that you may need to cook meals over a fire for groups of people, how are you going to do it? A lot of people I have talked to about this seem to think that they’ll take their pots and pans out of the kitchen and sit them directly on the coals, at which point they’ll be well on their way to a delicious meal. Well, not so much- those pots and pans in your kitchen, when put on a good cooking fire, will have holes burnt through the bottoms of them in short order, probably making a spectacular, and possibly dangerous, mess in the process. In addition, that “non-stick” frying pan in your kitchen- have you ever burnt the coating off of one of them on your stove? How long is that going to last on a fire? Not long at all, and I don’t know about yourself, but I don’t care to eat my eggs garnished with Teflon, or whatever they put in that coating. Also- if you do manage to successfully prepare some food on your fire, how are you going to pick that hot pot up and move it off of the fire so you can serve food out of it?
First off, before you can begin cooking, you need to know a little about firewood. Here in North Carolina we have an abundance of trees, specifically pine, oak of several different varieties, maple, poplar, sweetgum, and hickory. Softwoods like pine can make a good source of wood for a campfire, if you don’t mind the smoke, and if you have well-seasoned wood, but you probably don’t want to cook on them. Pine will give your food a distinct flavor, and also does not produce a good coal bed for cooking. Likewise, poplar, sweetgum, and maple do not tend to give that great of a coal bed for cooking, and also tend to burn up fairly quickly, so they make good campfire wood, but aren’t great for cooking. This isn’t to say you can’t cook with these woods, you definitely can, but they aren’t ideal. This leaves us with hickory and oak, which are both excellent choices for cooking fires. I have seen people try to shove a pot of food that they are trying to cook in the middle of a flaming campfire, which is not what you want. You want to get the oak or hickory, or whatever local varieties of hardwood you have, burnt down to where they have a nice even coal bed, much like when you use a charcoal grill. One little side note for those of you in more urban areas- Bradford Pear trees are everywhere as landscaping trees in central NC, and probably in other areas- they don’t produce edible fruit, but they make EXCELLENT coals for cooking. Once you have your coal bed and are ready to begin cooking, those glowing coals need to be scooped up or raked out to the side of the fire and arranged under or around your cookware. One tool that is awesome for this is a plain old square point shovel with 4-8 holes, approximately ¾”-1” in diameter, cut or drilled in the blade. This allows your ashes to fall through, while letting you keep the bigger coals. You can use a round point shovel as well, it just won’t work as well. Flea markets are great places to pick up used shovels for a couple of dollars.

The next question would be, now that you have a pretty little pile of coals sitting beside your fire, what do you do with them? In order to make the most of the coals for general cooking, you need one of two things- a cast iron camp oven such as the ones that Lodge cookware sells in various sizes and depths (I highly recommend them if you want a versatile piece of cookware) or a Dutch oven combined with a trivet. The legs built into the camp oven, or the trivet, serve to get the cookware off of the coals to give the coals some airflow, and also so you don’t burn your food or ruin your cookware. Normally the best way to cook with a camp oven is to place to coals in a ring around the bottom of the pot, NOT directly under it (placing coals directly under the pot will often burn your food, I periodically re-teach myself this lesson) and then cover the lid with coals. A lid lifter is a wonderful thing to have to remove these lids, but if you don’t have one, I have found that a plain old wrecking bar or a claw hammer will work just fine. The camp ovens can also be stacked on top of each other if you like, although I have never had much luck using them this way. If you are using a Dutch oven with a domed lid, you can flip the lid over to create a bowl of sorts, this will just make it harder to lift the lid. You may have to refresh your coals a few times, depending on how long your food has to cook. Also, depending on how much the wind is blowing, you may need to adjust the amount or placement of your coals to control heat- wind will make coals burn hotter, and burn out faster. Note: cast iron heats and cools slowly, so give the cookware time to preheat, and also don’t EVER put cold water on a hot cast iron pan, you will most likely ruin the pan. Also, as previously mentioned, don’t put the iron directly on the coals, that’s a good way to ruin a pan. That cookware can be just as important to your family’s survival as your weapons and comms gear, so you don’t want to risk ruining it.

If you decided to go with a trivet instead of a camp oven, there are several other ways you can utilize it. I don’t know about you, but I dread the thought of a world without coffee, and while instant coffee is better than nothing, it sure isn’t my first choice. A coffee percolator made of enameled steel, or stainless steel, is right at home on a trivet, and will make some awesome coffee. Likewise, if you have a good cast iron skillet handy, they work perfectly on a trivet. Small cast iron “bean pots” will work on a trivet, although they are best hung on a tripod over your fire. Even the lowly USGI canteen cup and/or mess kit can be used on a trivet for cooking in a pinch. I’ll cover how to make a simple, effective trivet, and a simple tripod, in a future post.

A Dutch oven can cook a LOT of food in the larger sizes, but it still won’t always cut it. If you are cooking larger quantities of food than what a Dutch oven will handle, you may find yourself cooking in a large iron pot over your fire. Even just a few years ago, if you went riding around in rural areas in the Southeastern US, you would see large iron pots all over the place, either sitting in someone’s front yard, or turned into a flower pot. Many of them are cracked or have had holes drilled in them, but plenty of them are still serviceable as well. Recently, it seems like many of them have either succumbed to scrap metal buyers, or have made their way into antique shops to be sold at insane prices. I have had some luck picking up decent pots at flea markets and yard sales, but you are taking a risk, as they sometimes have hairline cracks that are hard to see. If you prefer to avoid the risk, or don’t want to spend the time hunting for one, Agri Supply Company, based in Garner, NC, has a selection of decent quality cast iron pots in various sizes. They also have a nice Discada, which I don’t have any personal experience with, but I plan to remedy that soon. Also, they sell a decent tripod, and some pretty good stands for their pots. If you decide to go much bigger than a 2-3 gallon pot my personal recommendation would be to use a stand instead of a tripod. I would also recommend if you want smaller items such as skillets and Dutch ovens, stick to Lodge Cookware which is made in the United States, or with vintage US made items. I have found them to be much more satisfactory, and much higher quality than the Chinese made iron cookware. Those are just my opinions based off of my personal experience, for what they are worth.
Usually flea market and antique store finds have been neglected, and they need to be cleaned up and re seasoned, which is fairly simple to do, but can be time consuming. For cleaning any cast iron cookware that isn’t plated I like electrolytic rust removal, it is simple, effective, and you can easily find instructions on how to do it on the web. Seasoning is as simple as coating the cookware with a light coat of your preferred oil or fat- lard, Crisco, vegetable oil, flaxseed oil, etc., and baking it for a few hours until the oil has polymerized into your new seasoning. I normally do this six times for my cookware, and it continues to get better the more you cook with it. To this note please don’t use soap on cast iron- you will damage the seasoning that you worked so hard to build. Warm water will remove most gunk, as will a dry rag and some salt, sand, or cornmeal, or a copper scouring pad. When you are done, dry and re-oil your iron, and it will be ready for you the next time you need it. Oh, and metal spatulas and utensils are your friend when using cast iron. Skip the plastic stuff. Dexter Russel makes some nice stuff. My wife and I use their pancake turner every single day with our iron skillets.
I’ll be putting up an article soon on how to make some of the simple tools mentioned, such as trivets, tripods, and lid lifters. Sure, you can buy those items, but why spend $35 on a trivet when you can make one for less than $5, and have the satisfaction of using something you made? Use the $30 you have left over and buy some rice and beans, another Baofeng, or some more mags, etc.
There are some really good resources out there for more information and supplies for cooking over a wood fire. A few of the ones I find useful are:
Townsends
Townsend’s Youtube Channel
Kent Rollins
Kent Rollins Youtube Channel
Lehmans
Hopefully you can make use of some of this information!

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About the Author: wwes

WWES is a high school vocational teacher in North Carolina who teaches students how to grow plants and livestock, along with welding and metal fabrication. He is always looking to grow his knowledge base, and enjoys increasing his self sufficiency through growing and preserving food, as well as raising livestock.

32 Comments

  1. Anonymous February 17, 2021 at 06:45

    5

  2. Phil February 17, 2021 at 06:50

    This is a great post.
    I would bet money that the average Yahoo these days has absolutely no idea how to cook with cast iron over a fire. My wife refuses to even use my cast iron skillets because she is afraid of them. Doesn’t matter how many times I tell her or show her how easy they are to use and take care of.
    I still have one of my Granny’s and it has to be as old as I am. She has been gone for forty years now and it was in daily use and just gorgeous condition as far back as I can remember.
    I LOVE cast iron cookware!

    • wwes February 17, 2021 at 11:04

      Thanks! And I think you’re right, it seems like a lot of folks think cooking over a fire is some sort of black magic.
      Once my wife started using the cast iron pans that I had she almost won’t use anything else now, she loves them. I have been looking for some iron bread pans and bundt cake pans for her, but haven’t found those for her yet.

      • Coyyote February 17, 2021 at 11:44

        My wife has almost a dozen cast iron skillets and pans, besides the 4 various sized Dutch ovens and a couple large camping pots. Wont use anything else here either. I am not sure why but a prime rib roast from a Dutch oven beats a traditional oven or stove top method by a longshot, even though prepared similarly.

        • wwes February 17, 2021 at 12:50

          I know what you mean, I’d rather eat something like that from a dutch oven any day. I think the cast iron skillets make better tasting food on the stovetop too, compared to the “non-stick” stuff.

  3. anonymous February 17, 2021 at 07:04

    Very nice introduction to cooking on fire outdoors – a lot of information inside. Here in south Texas, we keep a small nested set of skillets for heating individual sides. Easy to refill when cooking in groups, they are inserted along the edge of the fire.
    Our meats are usually grilled, making them suitable eating wrapped in tortillas. Look up recipes on-line, they are pretty easy to eat in camp but do require a small flat surface for rolling them flat. A flipped over cold skillet at least 10″ in diameter will work fine.
    Thanks again for the post.

    • wwes February 17, 2021 at 11:00

      Thank you! I like to do the same thing with the skillets, I have a couple of sets, I’m only missing a few hard to find sizes, mine go from #3-#14, just missing #2, #11, and #13 skillets because I don’t want to pay the insane amounts of money that they usually go for. I love using a #3 skillet for cooking eggs for myself, 3 eggs will make a nice “egg patty” in that size skillet.
      I haven’t made any tortillas before, but I did pick up a small cast iron tortilla press a few months ago that seems like it should work well.

  4. James February 17, 2021 at 07:34

    Thanks wwes,good info and contacts.I feel any who can feed a large group off a fire ect.(hell,even with a commercial kitchen)is a huge benefit to any group,best I could do is cut veggies ect. and gather wood.
    In the hills of New England have oak/maple and a lot of pine as primary wood,the pine burns despite what folks say well in a good wood stove running hot and if running hot creosote is no issue,been doing it for decades while at end of night putting in some oak/maple and letting stove burn at slower rate for sleep.I can heat ect. on this stove but due to being almost zero clearance not cook foods(perhaps a slow crock style cook worth a shot).
    I find myself in any place for a period of time would move beyond fire pit as soon as possible,till then,work with what you have.
    Have you done any solar cooking in right conditions,worth looking into?

    • wwes February 17, 2021 at 10:52

      Thanks for the kind words, I was hoping that this would be useful for everyone. You’re right, well seasoned pine burns just fine in a stove, especially mixed with hardwoods. It’ll work to cook with over a campfire too, but I have trouble producing good coals to cook with dutch ovens with it. I have used a stew pot hanging over the fire with pine before, and that worked ok. I usually stick with hardwoods for most everything though, just because I have a plentiful supply of them, more than I can use. And I agree completely, a wood cookstove would be the preferred way to cook if you have access to one.
      I haven’t ever tried solar, I would love to try it, but I haven’t made that jump yet. There are too many projects on the to-do list, that seems to be a constant state. I am hoping to build a wood fired dehydrator before long too. I built the stove for it, I just need to build the rest. I used this as a rough idea:
      https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=85480.0

  5. Coyyote February 17, 2021 at 07:40

    Best cookin ever comes out of a Dutch oven Antelope stew, fresh white Lilly flour bisquits & peach cobbler with Cowboy coffee that will stand the spoon up in your cup. All on a snowy winter day.
    Catch some of Kent Rollins videos for recipes, tips and tricks of Chuck wagon cooking

  6. Rooster February 17, 2021 at 07:42

    I like to visit the larger sports retailers and look at their cast cookware. Often the larger pots sit on the shelf and a manager may make you a deal if you ask. Most folks have no interest in cooking this way as they dont know how, and why, when door dash brings you meals twice a day. Flea markets are mostly a bust for cast iron stuff as everybody has a “collectible” to sell you but estate auctions and antique shops tend to have some deals. If you cook you should have a complete set of this type of cookware…since teotwawki has come to visit.
    r

    • wwes February 17, 2021 at 10:40

      Along with what you said, sometimes stores will put their cast iron on clearance once or twice a year. I have bought some Lodge iron dirt cheap at Walmart when it was on clearance.
      I still was finding some iron deals at flea markets before the covid madness messed that up, but most of the deals I would find were pans that needed some TLC, or ones that were so covered in seasoning that you couldn’t read the brand on the bottom. Usually if it’s cheap, not cracked, and has a smooth bottom I buy it. If I don’t want it once it’s clean it makes a good present. I got a set of 2 griswold skillets and a Loth skillet for $5 because they were covered in melted plastic from a house fire, they turned out beautiful once cleaned and re-seasoned. The cast iron seller booths aren’t worth looking at unless you’re looking for something very specific.

  7. Coyyote February 17, 2021 at 07:54

    If you do a lot of this a Dutch oven cook table will save you bending over a lot and save your back.
    IF you run across any Griswald cast irons at a flea market, these are pure gold. If the people have not priced them in the hundreds – buy em. No longer made and the ones we have are our hands down favorites

    • Coyyote February 17, 2021 at 08:17

      One other thought. If you want to get into this and cannot have a roaring campfire in your backyard substitute charcoal briquettes for coals. On the web there are charts to give you a ballpark number to put under and on top of various sized ovens to maintain a specific oven temperature like you would with the oven in your kitchen.

      • wwes February 17, 2021 at 10:33

        Briquettes work great, thanks for mentioning that, I never even thought to mention it in the article. And I agree 100% on Griswold cast iron, it is my favorite to use. Wagner, Wapak, Favorite, and the old pre-1960’s Lodge stuff are all great too. If the bottom is smooth rather than rough you probably have a pan made before the 1960’s One thing about the Griswold cookware- if it has both Wagner and Griswold on the pan, or if it says USA on it it was made much later and the quality is nowhere near as good. It also isn’t worth near as much.

  8. Anonymous February 17, 2021 at 12:32

    4.5

  9. Johnny Paratrooper February 17, 2021 at 12:58

    This is brilliant.

    • wwes February 17, 2021 at 14:10

      Thanks! Soon I’m planning to put up the instructions for how to make the trivets and tripods that I use.

  10. Sanders February 17, 2021 at 15:05

    Good article! One of my hobbies is 4-wheel driving and camping. Seems to have gotten quite popular and is now called, “Overlanding”. There are a lot of blogs and youtube channels that cover outdoor cooking. You’ll find everything from cooking with the latest and greatest camping tech to coals and cast iron.
    I’m hoping to find an Australian Bedourie Camp Oven, which is an Aussie spun Carbon Steel Cooking Pot. Only problem seems to be that I cannot find anyone selling them in this country. It is a $35 (Aus) lightweight pot, but shipping brings it to around $120, unless I can find someone traveling to Australia to bring one back for me. https://southernmetalspinners.com.au/bedourie-oven-12/
    Just a lighter weight option that isn’t aluminum.

    • Sanders February 17, 2021 at 17:19

      Townsends 1796 Beef Pie recipe from his youtube video has become a regular meal in our household. Simple, easy to make and very flavorful. The only thing we’ve done different is use a dark beer for our liquid. You can make it in the oven, too.
      Another cast iron cooking channel that is pretty good is outdoorcastironcook on youtube. They have a lot of good recipes and how-to’s.
      A nice portable Dutch oven tabletop can be made with the lid from a 55 gal steel drum. Or, if I’m in the back yard, the drum is the stand so I don’t have to hunch down over it.

      • wwes February 18, 2021 at 09:56

        I haven’t tried the beef pie, but that might have to go on the to-do list. I have made hard tack using the method that he shows and it’s really simple. It needs to be soaked in coffee or something to be edible without breaking teeth though.
        That youtube channel has some delicious and simple looking recipes. And I’ll have to give your Dutch oven table a try, seems like it would make things a little easier.

  11. HP February 17, 2021 at 15:51

    Good post! Reminds me of my boy scout days (pre homo takeover). Many of the Amish merchants in my area sell outdoor cooking equipment. They’re as experienced as anyone with this type of cooking. Many of their products are handmade locally and these guys are pretty innovative. For anyone in/near Amish country- it may benefit you to patronize them for this and other types of products. We buy all of our feed and ag supplies from them. Top quality, fair pricing, deep knowledge, plus some of these guys like to trade. Disclaimer: no, Im not a Yoder.

    • wwes February 17, 2021 at 15:59

      You can also find a lot of items in Amish areas that you just don’t find in other places.
      Lehmans is another store that carries a lot of non-electric items and I believe caters to a lot of Amish needs, I just edited the post and put in a link to their site.

  12. RB in GA February 17, 2021 at 19:59

    I’d like to add that you can find a lot of good info on Bushcraft sites. I personally like Corporal’s Corner. He has some really good recipies that can easily be scaled up for groups.

    • NC Scout February 17, 2021 at 20:24

      He seems like a solid dude.

    • wwes February 18, 2021 at 09:48

      I just checked out his videos, there is a LOT of information there, thanks for the recommendation

  13. HighCountry February 17, 2021 at 21:20

    We use cast iron cookware almost everyday. There is nothing else like it. I have not used cast iron over a campfire yet.
    Another option for outdoor cooking is the Rocket Stove. It is not for baking but for stove top cooking and frying it is excellent. It uses small pieces of wood and the sides are insulated so all the heat goes out the top. The smoke signature is vey small. I have four rocket stoves and the best by far is the SliverFire Rocket stove.
    https://www.silverfire.us/survivor-rocket-stove-p10

    • wwes February 18, 2021 at 09:43

      That’s a nice looking rocket stove. I’ve never had one of my own, I have just seen others use them, they’re pretty amazing for the amount of heat they put out with just a small amount of wood.

      • Johnny Paratrooper February 18, 2021 at 12:16

        The “Rocket” stove earns it’s name in spades. You can even bury them in the ground for a more efficient burn and less of a heat signature. It also won’t tip over and spill your food or water. Although this method isn’t recommended if you plan to pack up and leave quickly. The soil content could potentially melt to your stove as well. But some elbow grease will knock that stuff loose in most, but not all, cases.

  14. Anonymous February 18, 2021 at 08:15

    4

  15. Trapper February 18, 2021 at 10:15

    Great article! Thanks. Reminds me up days growing up. Using Dutch ovens n pots for family gatherings, church socials, etc. Hardwood keeps good coals, but whatever you have. Can always make up some charcoal ahead of time, ie cover that fire with ash n dirt n let the wood cook down some till cooking time. Old tire rims work good as a platform to to set pans on or even pots. Just have to suze em ahead of time.

  16. GK February 20, 2021 at 20:39

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