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You Can be a Wood Fire Cooking Master!
YUM...
Cooking over an open fire...who can resist that smokey flavor? That charred edged goodness? A few firewood tips and tools can get you there.
Invest a little money in a few great tools. Some of our favorites are:
Grilling Tongs, Oven Mitts, a Campfire Grill Grate, a Flipper, some Long Skewers, Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil, and a Cast Iron Skillet.
With these you can make a large number of great foods, from hot dogs and toasted marshmallows, to steak, fish, breakfast and more.
OUR TIPS:
The hottest part of your fire and best place to cook is NOT over the flames.
The flames actually burn the outside of your food, and leave in the inside undercooked. Get a good bed of coals established BEFORE you start cooking. If you have space, make a bed of coals off to one side, and use that as your cooking area. Add new wood to the other part of your fire, and replenish coals to the cooking side as needed.
Flip your food more often than you would on your grill. This helps your food cook evenly, and helps avoid burning over hot spots.
DO NOT add more wood when food is cooking! This keeps ashes and embers off your food - yuck!
Olive oil works well on meats - especially to avoid sticking to the grate. It’s so versatile, and will work great when using your skillet too.
Our Favorite - Foil Packets! Foil packets are a fun way to prepare meals (desserts too!) From meats and vegetables cooked together, to corn on the cob and so much more... and you can get the kids involved in choosing ingredients to try. And there’s no easier easy clean up!
About Your Firewood - choose pine for easy starting of your fire, and then add mesquite or eucalyptus for nice hot coals and fantastic flavor.
We have a good selection of locally sourced, perfectly seasoned firewood at great prices. And you can buy by the cord, truckload, or wheelbarrow.
Tips for cooking over an open fire.
So Easy • so good!
Campfire Strawberries
Ingredients
Strawberries
1 jar of marshmallow fluff
Fast and delicious, campfire strawberries are delectable anytime day or night. Pierce the top of a clean, ripe strawberry with a skewer or marshmallow poker, just like you would for roasting marshmallows. Dunk the bottom of the strawberry into a jar of marshmallow fluff. Toast the strawberry over the campfire until the fluff is golden brown. Enjoy while warm, and good luck eating just one.
BEST. BURGERS. EVER.
Burgers on the fire. BEST. BURGERS. EVER.
What’s your definition of a great hamburger?
Everyone has their own tastes, but responses to that question pretty much universally include “juicy”, “char marks”, and “smoky.” While the hamburger is considered a “simple” food, achieving ground beef perfection is anything but simple.
Grilling great hamburgers over a campfire - when you get them right they’re the best! Juicy. Char marks. Smoky flavor.
Here’s what you need to know:
Use the Right Wood
You want firewood that’s perfectly seasoned. Firewood in Tucson offers Mesquite and Eucalyptus - wonderful hardwoods for cooking. Pine is a great wood for starting your hardwoods, but don’t cook over pine alone.
Cook over Hot Coals, NOT Flames
Be patient! If you cook over flames, you will get meat that is black on the outside, and raw on the inside. Yuck! Wait until your fire has white coals, with flames no higher than an inch or two. If you have a large fire, you can create a pile of hot coals to one side, feeding your fire with new wood away from your cooking coals.
Use a Grate or Burger Basket
We prefer a burger basket because it gives more control over the distance from the heat. (If the fire pit comes with a grate, who knows what may have been cooked - or burned - on it by the campers before you!) The burger basket allows you to easily check the charring by just turning it. If your basket doesn’t have non-stick wires, a little cooking spray will do the trick.
Buy Good Meat!
Skip the frozen patties made by a machine. Buy a good quality 80/20 meat. Don’t worry about the fat. Much of it drips off as it cooks, and what remains inside the burger keeps it juicy and tasty.
Tip: Dimple your burger on one side with your thumb to prevent shrinkage.
Another Tip: You don’t need to go crazy with seasonings! Just some salt, pepper, and a light amount of garlic works well.
Pay Attention
Good burgers don’t happen by using a timer and walking away. They cook quickly, so stay right there, check the amount of charring frequently, and adjust as needed. Here’s what we like to do:
Cook the burgers away from the heat a bit, to the point where they are almost done, then put them close to the coals to finish with just the amount of char we like.
Most people like to do the charring first, and that’s fine. Just remember - no poking or smashing! Keep the juices inside the burger! Put your phone away and keep watch. It will be so worth it!
GRILL SOME KEBABS ON THE FIRE!
Recipe: Grilled Kebabs
Ingredients
1 zucchini, cut into chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons steak sauce (such as A1®)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
12 bamboo skewers
Directions
In a mixing bowl, whisk the ketchup, salt, steak sauce, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and water together until smooth. Add the beef cubes, and toss until evenly coated. Allow the meat to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, no longer than 4 hours.
Soak the skewers in warm water at least 15 minutes.
Place the zucchini, bell pepper, and pineapple in a mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and toss to coat.
Be sure your fire has a nice bed of coals, without high flames. Lightly oil the grate. Make the skewers by alternating beef, vegetables, and pineapple on the skewers. Discard any remaining marinade.
Tip: If you like you meat more well done, leave some space between pieces on your skewers. If you like them more rare, put them more tightly together.
Cook the skewers on the preheated grill, turning occasionally until cooked to your desired degree of doneness, about 10 minutes total for medium-rare.
foil packet monkey bread recipe
Better Make Extra!
Whether you cook this monkey bread over a campfire or in your back yard, the sweet smells of sugar and cinnamon are sure to attract others - so be sure to make plenty!
Ingredients:
1 can of biscuit dough
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp cold butter
Cooking Spray
Directions: Spray 2 large pieces of tin foil with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Stir cinnamon and sugar together. Break each biscuit into four pieces, and coat in the cinnamon and sugar mix. Put biscuits on one of the sprayed tin foil sheets. Cut butter into small pieces and place between the cut biscuits. Sprinkle remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture over the biscuit pieces. Cover with the remaining sheet of foil, crimp edges and cook on a grate over hot coals for 20 minutes or until biscuits are thoroughly cooked, turning frequently. Be careful! Steam will escape when you open the packet. Briefly cool and enjoy!
Foil Packet Breakfast
Easy and Delicious!
Whether you prefer roughing it or staying home, these Egg Bake Breakfast Foil Packets are a fun breakfast to make over the fire. It’s always fun to eat things in foil packets, plus there’s fewer dishes to wash!
The meat ingredients should be pre-cooked items, such as deli ham, precooked sausage, etc. Meats need much more time to cook than the eggs. If you add veggies, just cut them into small pieces and they will be crisp-tender when finished.
For best results place packets over your fire on a grill grate.
Ingredients: 4 Servings
1 - 28 oz. package shredded hash browns, thawed
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup diced ham (and/or cooked sausage)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Diced veggies as desired (broccoli, bell pepper, onion, etc.)
Directions:
1: Prepare campfire for medium-high heat. (Spread coals out)
2: Wisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl. (May be prepared ahead of time if kept cold.)
3: Stir in remaining ingredients, reserving about 1/2 cup of cheese.
4: Divide mixture among 18x12 inch pieces of heavy duty, nonstick foil. Fold foil to tightly seal packets.
5: Place packets on a grate over the fire; cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender and eggs are cooked through, turning once. Open packets carefully and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Variation:
Variation: May be served on a flour tortilla that has been lightly heated on the grate.
mesquite fire cooking
There’s just something special about the flavor you get cooking steak over a wood fire that can’t be duplicated using any other cooking method.
Mesquite is a slow-burning hardwood, great for grilling steaks, vegetables, and other quick-cooking, flavorful foods. Mesquite gives foods a lighter and sweeter flavor than hickory smoke.
Here’s a few tips for you: Use perfectly seasoned firewood. We offer Mesquite and Eucalyptus - wonderful hardwoods for cooking. We also offer Pine, a great wood for starting your hardwoods.
Place the pine on the bottom, and the Mesquite on top. The pine lights more easily, and will then ignite the Mesquite, which will burn into a bed of coals. You can use the high flames to heat up pans and boil water, but you want to cook your food over low flames or coals.
Be patient! If you cook over flames, you will get meat that is black on the outside, and raw on the inside. Yuck! Wait until your fire has a good bed of coals, with flames no higher than an inch or two. For a large fire, create a pile of hot coals to one side, feeding your fire with new wood away from your cooking coals.
Place a grill grate over your campfire, or use a metal cooking basket. Place the steaks over direct heat for no more than 5 minutes. Flip; cook for another 5 minutes. Have a water bottle handy to spray flare-ups. Move to the outer edges of the grate for less heat and cook to desired doneness.
Foil Packet Recipe!
Foil Packet Chicken Nachos
Ingredients
1 bag tortilla chips
2 cups shredded cooked chicken in bite sized pieces (we like rotisserie chicken)
1/2 cup red enchilada sauce
1 can (15-oz.) chopped fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
3 cups shredded Cheddar Jack or Colby/Jack cheese
Directions
We recommend heavy-duty foil.
• Prepare your fire with a good bed of coals and separate a bed of coals to one side, so that you are not cooking in flames.
• In a large bowl, combine the chicken, enchilada sauce and tomatoes. Divide tortilla chips between four large pieces of foil, then top chips with chicken mixture and then with cheese. Fold the foil to seal into packets.
• Place foil packets on a prepared grilling surface (not directly on the fire) and cook - turning often, until cheese is melted and chicken mixture is warmed through, about 15 minutes.
Optional ingredients you could include in the chicken mixture:
Canned black beans, drained
Diced onion and/or bell peppers
Sliced black olives
Optional toppings for serving:
Sour Cream
Fresh Cilantro, chopped
Avacado, diced (or prepared Gucamole)
Yum! Delicious nachos cooked over a wood fire! Easy and so good.
Campfire Apple Foil Packets
An easy and fairly healthy twist on dessert, the apple pie foil packet is a tasty treat!
Ingredients
1 Apple (sliced) - pick your favorite; we leave the peel on
1 tablespoon of Butter cut in pieces
1 ½ tablespoons of Brown Sugar
¼ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Yummy, optional add-ins:1 tablespoon Dried Cranberries, Chopped Nuts (we like pecans), or Granola (pictured).
Instructions
Place sliced apple, butter pieces, brown sugar, cinnamon, and the add-ins of your choice (about 1 Tablespoon) on heavy-duty foil. Fold the aluminum foil over the ingredients and fold the edges to create a sealed packet. Place the packet on a grill surface about 4 inches above campfire coals (not too close, and not over flames).
Let it cook for about 15 minutes, then enjoy!
Careful - contents will be hot.
Decadent Variations
Scoop on ice cream, drizzle with chocolate, or add a generous portion of whipped cream!
See our wood fire cooking tips also on this page...
Foil Packet Recipe
BBQ Chicken with Pineapple
Barbecue Chicken in Foil with barbecue sauce, pineapple and summer veggies is easy, quick, and delicious!
Ingredients for 4 packets:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 - 15 oz can pineapple slices (including juice)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic
1 red bell pepper, cut into squares
2 medium zucchini, sliced
4 slices of red onion about 1/4 inch thick
green onions, for garnish
For best results, use Heavy Duty foil
Instructions
Prepare your fire with a nice bed of coals. NOTE: (We have some great tips below in the “Firewood Cooking Master” section, right on this page.)
Cut 4 sheets of heavy duty foil, large enough to wrap 1 chicken breast and 1/4 of the veggies. Center the chicken on the foil, add veggies and 2-3 pineapple slices into each packet.
In a bowl, whisk together bbq sauce, juice from the can of pineapple slices, soy sauce, and garlic. Spread about 2 Tablespoons of the sauce on the chicken and make sure to reserve about ¼ cup.
Place chicken packets onto grilling surface and grill about 7 minutes per side. (For best results, you want the your fire to be "medium" heat, so don't grill too close to the bed of coals.)
Carefully open packets, baste with reserve sauce, garnish with green onions, and enjoy.
Campfire Pizza Recipe
Campfire Pizza Perfection!
Supplies:
• Cooking surface for pizza: Cast Iron Skillet, Pizza Stone, Baking Pan with edges,
or heavy duty foil if you have a grill grate.
• Oven mitts • Spatula • Cutting board
• Pizza Cutter (You’ll thank yourself - better than driving out to a campsite and then having to try to cut a pizza with a hunting knife!)
Ingredients
1 tube of refrigerated pizza dough or frozen pizza dough, thawed
1 jar of pizza sauce
2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni, mushrooms, vegetables, precooked sausage, ground beef, bacon - whatever you want! We have found the best results with 3 toppings or less.
Cooking oil (we like olive oil!)
Directions
Cooking time will vary depending on the intensity of your fire and the temperature outside.
Begin by spreading out the wood if the flames are too tall. We believe all foods cook best over a good bed of coals with low flames. (Think lightly toasted marshmallow, as opposed to one that bursts into flames and chars black in an instant!)
1. Oil a cast iron pan (or baking sheet, pizza stone etc.)
2. Spread the dough on the pan.
3. Place on the fire and cook until the bottom has browned (about 10 minutes but check often by gently lifting one edge with the spatula).
4. Remove from the fire and flip the crust in the pan.
5. Spread the pizza sauce in an even layer over dough. A thin layer is best.
6. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly on top of the sauce, followed by your toppings.
7. Cover with a foil tent, return to the heat and cook until the crust is done underneath, cheese is melted and the toppings are warm - approx. 10 minutes.
8. Transfer pizza to a cutting board and let cool slightly before cutting and serving. ENJOY!
Campfire Pizza - Easy and Delicious!
Foil Packet Recipe!
Grilled Sausage Foil Packets
Foil Packets are a great way to cook over a wood fire!
Please review our Wood Fire Cooking Tips below this recipe.
3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and halved
1/2 pound red potatoes, quartered
1 large onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 pound smoked sausage (cooked variety), cut into 1 inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon butter
1/3 cup water
Directions
You can cook this meal as one large foil packet, or a few smaller packets.
We recommend heavy-duty foil.
Prepare your fire with a good bed of coals.
On a large sheet of foil, place the green beans, red potatoes, onion, pepper and sausage. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with oil, and top with butter. Tightly seal foil around the ingredients, leaving only a small opening. Pour water into the opening, and seal.
Place foil packet on a prepared grilling surface (not directly on the fire). Cook 20 to 30 minutes, turning frequently, until sausage is browned and vegetables are tender.
Variations on this recipe include cut fingerling potatoes, cloves of garlic for robust flavor, zucchini or summer squash instead of green beans...go for it!
Foil packet meals are a great way to enjoy smokey flavor and easy clean up.