Cooking Over a Campfire


 
Eric Aarseth

Eric Aarseth

TVWBB Super Fan
Do any of you have recommendations for either commercial or homemade grates to use to cook over a campfire? The reason I ask is based on the road trip I took with my family this summer.

This summer we took a major trip down from AK through California. One stop was at Jedediah Smith State Park in Northern California. If you have never been, I highly recommend the time and effort. You end up camping among humongous redwoods. HUMBLING. But this is a grilling forum so I'll get to the point.

I hadn't planned to do much grilling on the trip other than what I could accomplish on my Weber Q (performed like a champ BTW). At the park, however, I saw a large Hispanic group/family grilling over an oak-fueled campfire with a portable grate stretched over the coals. Each individual would go to about three different tubs to pull out a chunk(s) of different meat to grill on the grate. It was individual cooking like a fondue, crossed with kebab cooking. I wanted to be adopted. Everyone was happy, and when they caught me staring (I was walking my corgi Tucker) they immediately invited me over. I didn't cook, but learned a number of handy things. One, apparently transporting wood across state lines can be a big deal (i.e. you have to buy labeled boxes of CA oak). Two, a sturdy portable grate is a good thing. Three, long tools are handy.

Now I've sat around 100's of campfires, but other than to roast marshmallows or cook hot dogs on a stick, never seriously considered cooking the meal over/in coals. I still don't have a decent grate, but have accumulated a number of foil cooking and dutch oven concepts. A new summer is approaching, and though we don't have oak readily available in Alaska, a birch wood fire is easily at hand.
 
Eric I've done a bit of camp cooking...not sure if you are looking for something fairly compact and easy to store..lodge just started selling these racks..not huge but I'm a bit CI fan myself..I think I will be getting one soon..they are 15x11 and 50 bucks..
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These fold up racks are ok ..I have cooked on these but they don't seem to last long!

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Of course you can always take along a weber grate and set it up over the fire..done this lots!

Hope ya find what your looking for!
 
Love CI as well, I'll have to check that out. At first blush seems like I'll fight the size (too small), but once a fire burns down to coals not that large of a footprint. Easy to do kebabs or a spatchcock chicken on that size grate.

What have you used as a stand to hold that grate?

Edit: As I think about it, everyplace I camp has a fire pit with a grate over it. The Lodge grate would work perfectly over that grate.
 
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Eric Aarseth said:
Love CI as well, I'll have to check that out. At first blush seems like I'll fight the size (too small), but once a fire burns down to coals not that large of a footprint. Easy to do kebabs or a spatchcock chicken on that size grate.

What have you used as a stand to hold that grate?
Click to expand...

I agree on the size as well but I'm a bit of a CI junkie. I am not sure what I would use to hold that lodge grill grate...normally we just use some well placed rocks around the fire (I know not high tech but it works) I've seen a lot of the stands that are supported just on one end but I have been kind of skeptical of those...

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Morgan C. said:
I agree on the size as well but I'm a bit of a CI junkie. I am not sure what I would use to hold that lodge grill grate...normally we just use some well placed rocks around the fire (I know not high tech but it works) I've seen a lot of the stands that are supported just on one end but I have been kind of skeptical of those...
Click to expand...

Didn't see this post before I edited my original response. Most places we go already have a fire pit with a rough grate. The lodge grate would work perfectly over that grate. I'm sure I could figure out some type of spacer if I needed additional height. I'm going to keep looking. One thing I "found" was some fireplace inserts. Even though I grill year-round, there are several days that staying indoors would be nice. Kind of excited and some new opportunities/toys!
 
A square grate i guess is best for campfire cooking(easy setup even if you use stones as a base)). I would stay away from CI on a grate that you will move around to mutch,the weight and coldown is just 2 of the perks.

You asked me in another post what grate i use on my 22". Here it is = https://www.cast-iron-grate.com/

So i usually bring my original grate if we going out in the forest to grill. But as i said the round shape isent helping. But since we rarely cook outside the yard...I can live with it. :)
 
Eric

I threw the old hot plate and two good grills when I bough the Weber Q

Have a good hunt around some one is bound to have an old hotplate ready to be tossed out.

Keith:):)
 
I have one of the Lodge grates mentioned above. Works pretty good on top of a 22.5 kettle grate for searing. Does not fit an 18.5 inch kettle which for me personally would have been preferred.

One other option that no one mentioned was a Schwenkgrill. When it is folded up, it really won't take up that much more space than some of the other options. There was a thread a while back on one of the forum discussing them. I brought one back from Germany but they can be ordered in the States also. For cooking over an open fire they are the ticket as far as I am concerned. Downside is that they won't work if your fire pit is too deep and doesn't allow the grill to move properly.
 
In the past, I did a LOT of camping and back packing. When car camping, when you consider the varying conditons from site to site you are likely to encounter, the most efficient way to cook is to take your own grill. The Smoky Joe is an excellent choice for this kind of use. If you have more room in the vehicle you can actually transport a larger grill, if you deem it necessary.

I had a pop up camper and would take a portable screen room along with me. We often had LOTS of guests visit us because of the bug cover offered by the screen room. Sitting around a camp site enjoying a grilled meal is hard to beat. Our camper offered an outside propane gas range (you can substitute a Coleman stove) and using the stoves along with a grill makes for a VERY versatile outfit.

Just a thought or two...

Dale53
 
Most of our parks around here have a grate over the fire pit. I got myself some cast grates from an old BBQ that I sat on top of the old rusty grate.
 
Building REAL campfires in the wilderness has gotten a bad press and is not allowed in many State and National Parks because of fire hazard. When I was a youngster (back before Noah...;)), there was a lot of literature on camping (Horace Kephardt's "Camping and Woodcraft" etc.) on the real skills needed to do a good job in the bush. I was brought up on a farm with lots of woods so I had a great practice area to learn various outdoor skills close to home and help if I got into trouble. I had great parents and grand parents who were very helpful and encouraging.

The best information available came from the books of Townsend Whelen. His book (written with the help of another famous outdoorsman, Bradford Angier) "On Your Own in the Wilderness" has a LOT of excellent information. Those books are still available from used book stores:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000QJHD8W/tvwb-20

At any rate, his treatise on how to build and maintain a cooking fire did me in VERY good stead. Using his directions, I often built a reflector fire and turned whole chickens on a spit in front of hot coals with GREAT results (just like you get with rotisserie chicken on a Weber Grill). Most libraries rotate their books for the "next new things" but you might try your local library to see if you want to own this book. They will not be available forever (Amazon also has copies for $265:eek: collector items). However, the link I show above gives you a book for less than $30.00 for those who might be interested.

You could make a whole career out of cooking out-of-doors with available picked up items...

FWIW
Dale53
 
In years past, I was a scout leader when coffee cans were still made of tin. We would use a Weber grill grate over coffee cans and a brick or 2 placed atop the cans.
There were also iron stakes with a hook in them to hold a grate.
 
For cooking over a campfire I use an old washing machine tub I salvaged with a 22.5" weber kettle grate. The tub fits inside most forest service fire rings or on top of the cooking grate on those rings if provided. We camp a lot and I actually do most all of our cooking on a jumbo joe but occasionally I'll take the tub instead and cook over the campfire especially if the place we camp doesn't have a campfire ring. Then the tub doubles as a place to cook and a place to have a campfire.
 
When I was a scout leader, I would (best as I could) make the boys cook over the wood campfire. They of course would have to make the fire. Want to feel some anxiety? Give an 11 year old boy a razor sharp Gransfors Hatchet and watch him make kindling (we did a fair bit of training with hatchets first). Where we are there are always fire rings with grates. The times that their haven't been, we used a spare 22.5 round and set it on rocks. Always worked great. Breakfast we would usually cook over the stoves.

Growing up, my dad was into backpacking and we never had a stove. This was the late 70's, early 80's and I remember issues with wood being pretty scarse in populated backwoods. In really remote areas, I don't think it is a big deal, but in places like yosemite, it is probably better to stick to gas/charcoal. However, I learned skills that so many seem to lack and opportunities seem to be diminishing. My dad is a city boy as am I, but I have tried to make up for it. A little bit.
 
I am a big BBQ guy. In fact, I BBQ about 4-5x every week. That's right! 70% of my meals are cooked on the grill or BBQ using charcoal/wood.

I used to love gas in apt living, but once I went old school, I never went back to gas. Gas is only good for grilling burgers and steaks. I can get that same flavor on my stovetop. With charcoal/wood, you can BBQ low and slow. With gas, you really can't cook low and slow because the gas grills suck up more moisture and the food usually comes out dryer.

Charcoal grills are usually eyesores, so if you're a image freak, stainless is your best bet. But to me, it would be just furniture. If you're not into the veneer, then I suggest the Char-Griller 5050 from this product line That's right, Char-Griller. I personally use the Char-griller for all my exterior cooking. They make fantastic grills, aimed at the home-BBQer.

They started out with the basic cylinder model, with a modular fire box attachment. They have a new product, and it's currently being sold at Lowes. The 5050! This one has the gas and the BBQ. So you have everything you need to really experiment with low and slow or have a quick grill on gas. As a home brewer, you might find BBQ'ing as fun as brewing, and just as time-consuming. Mild warning with C-Grillers: they are screwed together pretty simply, so they may appear not as sturdy if not properly tightened up, making it feel wobbly. Don't be fooled. A good ratchet will tighten it up. They make great products for entry/intermediate level, and they sell mods/parts for all their grills.

I am on my second Char-griller spanning 10 years, and I still have the same firebox from day 1.
Yesterday I found a very interesting video on this topic on Youtube, I think someone can come in handy.Hope this helps.
 
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I might reply more later I may not...I'am still using off and on my dad's old Weber that is well over 30 years old and it can grill bbq or do low and slow like none other... And you can definitely do low and slow on a gas/propane grill with out any worry of the product coming out dry...To each there own.
 
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