I go camping a lot and I'm always in charge of the food. It's amazing how many people are completely clueless when it comes to cooking on an open fire.

There's many ways to cook on a fire, a lot are survivalist ways but I'll be going over methods for people who want to have a hearty meal while camping with some friends.

If you have meats that are still frozen or drinks that need to be cooled, find a spot in a river that has a decent current(you don't want stagnant water filled with bacteria on your beer cans) and create a barrier of rocks to keep it contained. The river is now your refrigerator and sometimes in the early morning and it can be a freezer.

For grilling I suggest getting a portable grilling screen preferably with legs.

I have one like this but it's more light weight and more portable.
http://image.sportsmansguide.com/dimage/92003_ts.JPG?cell=200,200&cvt=jpeg

If you don't have one with legs yank the screen from your grill or go buy one from walmart or your local grocery store, they have specials ones at my Martins that has a lip on it so food doesn't roll off. They're very cheap, no more than 5-6 bucks.

When I camp I have a large campfire pit that I use through out the night for light, heat and smoke to keep bugs away, next to it I create a smaller circle of rocks solely for cooking. It should be small enough to fit under your grill screens legs, if you have a normal legless grill screen, set the screen on the rocks and make sure it's 100 percent sturdy, you don't want to get 90 percent through your meal and then lose it. With this screen you can cook nearly anything you put your mind too, boil water and dry out wet clothing.

http://www.outfitterssupply.com/images/WCA132.jpg
Don't set it on the logs like this guy did, logs roll and most importantly they burn!

Now the reason why I don't like to cook on the main fire is you can't control your hot spots and you're always blowing on the base and a larger fire pit generates a lot more soot and dust than a small one which can fly up on the bottom of your food.

When it comes time to cook make sure your main fire has a nice set of embers going and by that I mean some thicker logs that are bright solid orange and look like they'll stay that way for a while. Transfer your choice embers to your smaller fire pit and place them under your screen. With some blowing and placement of some sticks you'll have a nice grilling temp in minutes.

Don't bring spices and things like that in the container, you should know how much spice is needed for whatever you're cooking so have all that stuff measured out and in plastic zip block bags, remember less shit you have to haul equals less effort and less of a chance of losing it. Any veggies or meat that need to be cut as prep work should be done at home. Potatoes brown without skin or when they aren't in water so a good trick is to cut them up and put them in large opening juice bottle filled with water.

Cooking spray is much needed not only for the screen but for foil packets. Any veggies, stews or anything like that should be cooked in foil. Don't get cheap foil, it burns, dish out the extra 50 cents for some Reynolds heavy duty. Some people coat their screens with foil before grilling, I think it's too messy and doesn't cook as evenly.

Foil packets are easy and if use them on your grill at home you'll pick this part right up. Remember don't layer the foil, one solid wrap should be more than enough and make one end easy to open so you can check on it to make sure it's cooked. Potatoes are harder to do in foil wraps especially in large amounts, I generally cook 2-3 potatoes a packet and no more, other wise you'll be there all night. Foil packets can be placed right on top of the embers of your large fire but make sure to check them often, it's easy to burn parts of your meal by doing this. If you have room on your screen I suggest cooking it on the screen.

As every cook knows timing is key. Unlike grilling at home you can't just slap your meat on and go inside the AC and drink a beer, you have to constantly monitor it because the heat on a fire isn't always even, hot spots are created and you have to maneuver your thickest cuts along with the hot spots while keeping your thinner cuts on the cooler spots to avoid burning. Always blow on the weakest parts of your fire, try to keep it even.

So there's a basic guide to cooking on a fire in the middle of no where. I might add some recipes and other tips depending on how well this thread is received.

Nicely written.

I'll keep this in mind next time I decide to forego a bed and sheets and internal plumbing.

Banana Boats

Ingredients

- a firm ripe banana per person (unpeeled)
- miniature marshmallows
- semisweet chocolate chips
- foil

1.) Peel back, but do not remove, a 1-inch-wide strip of banana peel.
2.) Cut a lengthwise slit in banana.
3.) Place marshmallows and chocolate chips evenly inside banana.
4.) Wrap in foil.
5.) Place in hot coals for about 5 minutes.

Orange Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

- 6 oranges
- 6 cups canned sweet potatoes
- 3/4 cup brown sugar

1.) Cut oranges in half and eat pulp.
2.) Mash canned sweet potatoes.
3.) Pack potatoes into orange shells.
4.) Sprinkle with a little brown sugar.
5.) Bake in embers.

Baked Eggs in the Shell

Ingredients

- eggs
- salt
- pepper
- bread (optional)
- margarine (optional)

1.) Pierce small end of eggs with a pin.
2.) Place eggs in hot ashes with small end up.
3.) Bake for 10 to 20 minutes.
4.) If desired, serve hot on buttered toast and season with salt and pepper.

Egg in a Hole, or Camper's Eggs

Ingredients

- eggs
- bread
- salt
- pepper
- margarine

1.) Butter the toast, as if you were making a grilled cheese.
2.) Cut a hole in the middle of the bread.
3.) Place toast in a pan.
4.) Crack an egg into the hole.
5.) Cook to your desired consistency.

I just thought that I'd toss out a few of my camping favourites. The screen is excellent advice.

haven't had an opportunity to try this (helping with cub scouts means you cant really get away with putting beer in the food...), but it looks damn tasty:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beer-Spuds/Detail.aspx

Nice guide.

Im going to be going camping when winter starts and this can come in handy. Last year we made bratwursts and burgers for dinner and in the morning we made eggs,bacon,ham,hash browns and toast. I made myself a crude eggs benedict. All over open flame with a pan and pots.

I need to find some more recipes.

I love to take two salmon fillets wrapped in tin foil with butter, salt, pepper, chopped basil + parsley, and a few slices of lemon. Plop that right over the grill.

I often do that while I grill vegetables directly on the grill.

just do it; all the alcohol gets cooked off because of the heat source, only the flavour remains.

The SAS Survival guide has plenty of tips on cooking when in a pinch, or even when you're just camping regularily (although some recipes are more for survival purposes )

I've got them on the grill now.

Those were some awesome beertatoes. It was a lot better than I expected it to be.

This is a brilliant thread, good job.