I'm considering trying my hand at campfire cooking. For the ones of you that have some experience at it, do you have any favorite size of pots or pans you prefer to use?
I have a couple of frying pans I've used in the house but would like to get something to make soups or something deeper with a lid. Also wondered if handles for hanging are preferred.
Any words of advise on cooking and favorite recipes are welcomed!
Posted 2013-04-04 8:47 AM (#151091 - in reply to #151076) Subject: RE: Campfire cooking question
Regular
Posts: 99 Location: Pleasant Plain, Ohio 45162
I have been trying my hand at Dutch oven cooking and anything you can cook in an oven, you can do in a Dutch oven. I have found Bryans Dutch Oven Cooking a useful site that tells how to control your temperature by adding coals and has got great recipes that are pretty easy to follow. Good Luck and have fun.
Posted 2013-04-04 11:57 AM (#151093 - in reply to #151076) Subject: RE: Campfire cooking question
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 322 Location: Fort Madison, Iowa
The frying pans I have are cast iron and I really like cooking with them once I figured out the temperature differences.
How would I know what is a good grade cast iron. Any suggestions on brand?
I've seen different sizes for Dutch ovens some that are 8, 10, 12 wide and 3, 5, 8" tall etc. What sizes have you found to be most useful & universal? I've also seen them with hanging handles and pan type handles. Do you hang you pans much? Do you find the bigger pans to be on the heavy side with food in them?
Thanks for Bryan's Dutch oven cooking, looks like lots of good information I'll need!
Posted 2013-04-04 7:41 PM (#151100 - in reply to #151076) Subject: RE: Campfire cooking question
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069 Location: MI.
Griswold, Wagner are some oldies but goodies and for newer ones, Lodge seems to be decent. We like the the 12 for a dutch...Cast iron is heavy period but cooking is so much tastier...
Posted 2013-04-05 7:29 PM (#151110 - in reply to #151076) Subject: RE: Campfire cooking question
Member
Posts: 7
Location: New Hampshire
Cooking over the campfire is great, food always tastes better. The hardest part is controlling the heat. A small rake or shovel is very helpful to have for moving coals around to control the heat. And as previous posters suggested use a cast iron pan.
If you ever decide to try cooking in a dutch oven definitely go to Byrons Dutch Oven Cooking website ( http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadutch/ ) probably one of the best sites out there. Some of my favorite recipes on his site are the Pot Roast, Hungarian Goulash, and Pineapple Upside Down Cake.
Posted 2013-04-07 11:51 AM (#151138 - in reply to #151076) Subject: RE: Campfire cooking question
Veteran
Posts: 186
Thanks for Byron's site, great one, I will be printing today while the weather is gloomy and we still have a few feet of snow on the ground. I don't usually hang my dutch oven, we always cook with coals below and above. You will need a good soft bristle hand held broom, or even long fiber soft horse brush will do - not a used dirty one :)- to brush the ash off the top.
Posted 2013-04-08 10:26 PM (#151194 - in reply to #151076) Subject: RE: Campfire cooking question
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522 Location: Tucumcari NM
Lodge cast iron is a good bet. The size of your pots will depend on the number of people you want to cook for. Use the same criteria that you would use at home. A fourteen inch dutch oven is a bit extreme for two people. A lid lifter is a handy gadget as is a fireplace shovel.
Posted 2013-04-09 2:20 PM (#151203 - in reply to #151076) Subject: RE: Campfire cooking question
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 322 Location: Fort Madison, Iowa
Thanks for your replies and Bryon's site is great! Once I got on Bryon's site I didn't get off the computer until I was done reading the whole thing. It helped answer a lot of questions and Bryon suggested for a beginner to purhcase a 12" Dutch oven to start with because it's versatile and a lot of recipes are for 12" ovens. He also recommended the Lodge brand which I can find locally.
My local Farm King store carries the Lodge brand in the pots and pan area of the store and some other brand with bigger sizes in the camping area. They carry a big selection of sizes so I was able to get a visual on the different sizes and I purchased a couple of cookbooks.
I plan to purchase two other sizes from Farm King in the future but the 12" Lodge Dutch oven I bought was from Wal Mart. I was surprise to find two Lodge pan sizes, griddle, lid holder, lid remover and gloves in their camping section and I get 10% off from there so the dutch oven was my best buy from there.
Now I have to decide which recipe to try first....
Campfire cooking question
