• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS

Dish up the simple joy of healthy, down-home foods your family will LOVE… tonight.

Join 12,000+ families served since 2010!

  • Join Now
  • About
    • About Wardee & TCS
    • Our Team
    • FAQs & Help
    • Contact
  • Recipes
  • Blog
    • Recipes
    • Archives
  • Podcast
    • #AskWardee
    • Know Your Food with Wardee (retired)
  • Shop
    • Bible-Based Cooking Program
    • Print Textbooks
    • eBooks & eCourses
    • Recommended Tools & Supplies
    • More Books We Love
    • Complete Idiot’s Guide To Fermenting Foods
      • Errata
  • Login
You are here: Home » Food Preparation » Recipes » Techniques & Tutorials » 8 Tips for Cooking Over an Open Fire

Make a healthy dinner in 30 minutes or less... while spending $0 extra! Click here to get the Eat God's Way “30-Minute Skillet Dishes” worksheet + videos FREE!

8 Tips for Cooking Over an Open Fire

We only recommend products and services we wholeheartedly endorse. This post may contain special links through which we earn a small commission if you make a purchase (though your price is the same).

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

In all my years of cooking outside, I've learned a thing or two. Here are my 8 best tips for cooking over an open fire. Whether you're just getting started or you're a seasoned off-grid cook, I can't wait to hear your best tips. Be sure to share in the comments! | TraditionalCookingSchool.com

Does anyone else feel like a true pioneer when cooking outdoors over an open fire? I admit, it makes me want to hitch the horses to the wagon or strap on my gear and head into the mountain towering above our home.

Cooking outdoors is a favorite thing activity on our homestead, and it’s a good thing, because quite frequently we lose power — with an electric cooking stove, outdoors is the only way I can get supper on the table and bread baking. Cooking outdoors becomes a way of life when the hot weather comes. Because no one likes a sweaty kitchen, right?

In all my years of cooking outside, I’ve learned a thing or two. Here are my 8 best tips for cooking over an open fire. Whether you’re just getting started or you’re a seasoned off-grid cook, I can’t wait to hear your best tips. Be sure to share in the comments!

1. Realize you’re usually cooking over the coals, not the flame.

Most people assume “cooking over an open fire” means cooking food over a dancing flame of fire. While it can mean this, it usually means your food is actually cooking over the hot coals (either wood or charcoal). This is because the constant reliable heat comes from the coals, not the flames.

2. Create your coals from the right wood or charcoal.

If you choose to use wood, you’ll want dry or seasoned hard wood. Green wood smokes and doesn’t put off much heat. Some good wood choices are maple, alder, and oak. If you’re using charcoal, get the kind that isn’t treated with lighter fluid.

3. Start your fire about 15 minutes before you want to begin cooking.

If you’re just starting out with outdoor cooking, I recommend using charcoal. Yes, wood is more authentic, but if you’re anything like me and get frustrated or fail the first several times you try, you’re less likely to stick with it. Let’s make things easy on ourselves, folks!

4. All you need is a fire pit or ring, flame (or hot coals), a metal grate, and trusty cast iron.

We use wood when cooking over an open flame. All of my skillet meals, pan frying or grilling is done over a wood open flame with a large metal grate on top. I set my cast iron, Dutch ovens, or food on the grate directly over the heat source.

5. Make sure you have extra wood (or charcoal) stacked nearby.

You want to be able to add more easily as needed. And you will need to. 🙂

6. It’s much easier to add wood than take it away.

You can easily add wood to your fire to increase the heat, but if you crank up the heat too much, you’ll be waiting much longer for it cool. However, there is a short cut if you do happen to get your fire too hot — move dishes to the outer edge of your cooking area to “lower” the temperature.

7. Do your prep work inside first.

It’s much easier to chop, dice, rinse, and measure indoors. Put what you’ll need to cook the meal on a tray or in a bag for easy transport to the outdoor cooking area.

8. Bring all your food items and tools outside before you start cooking.

Then you’ll avoid running back and forth from the kitchen to the patio. My family doesn’t like burnt food and I don’t trust our dog not to help himself. 😉 I may also get sidetracked and forget about the food altogether… am I the only one who does that sort of thing?

What are your favorite ways to cook outdoors? What tips would you add?

Dutch oven cooking, smoking cheese, smoking meat, using a tripod, dishes nestled in the coals, and a cast iron skillet are the main ways of cooking over an open fire outside. There are many other ways to cook outdoors without power as well. In fact, we’ve got all of them covered in the Cooking Outside eCourse.

We only recommend products and services we wholeheartedly endorse. This post may contain special links through which we earn a small commission if you make a purchase (though your price is the same).

Posted in: Food Preparation Kitchen Tips & Organization Simple Living Techniques & Tutorials Tools & Equipment

About Melissa Norris

Melissa inspires people's faith and pioneer roots at MelissaKNorris.com sharing all aspects of Pioneering Today. She lives with her husband, two children, seven cows, and five chickens in their own little house in the big woods of the Pacific Northwest. Through heirloom gardening, preserving the harvest, from scratch traditional cooking, and modern homesteading techniques, she shares how to implement the best of the old-fashioned pioneer skills into your modern life. For daily inspiration and tips, join her on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and catch her bi-monthly Pioneering Today Podcast.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sheri says

    January 27, 2015 at 7:21 am

    Your timing is perfect! My (5 year old oven) has broken down…again! With the digital junk it will cost $311.00 just to replace the computer board. The first time it went down was when I used the “self clean” for the first time. I love baking but at what cost? I can “buy” a lot of bread for $311.00! I tried to find a oven that operated with “knobs” like my Mom’s old oven, the kind that rarely broke down, I don’t think they exist any more. So, I’m pulling out my Dutch Oven and going stove top & outdoor Pioneer cooking.

    Reply
    • Tiffany says

      January 27, 2015 at 8:10 am

      Sheri- I feel your pain. We opted for a used stove off of Craigslist with the nobs on the front so our son could cook without reaching to the back. It cost us less than $100 and has been going strong for years. It isn’t as pretty as the newer models, but that doesn’t matter to us.

      Reply
      • Sheri says

        January 27, 2015 at 1:14 pm

        You give me hope Tiffany and good for you for figuring out the marketing b.s. When we did our remodel I wanted a stove/oven= 1 unit with the microwave w/vent over the stove, but my husband wanted them separate. I have to remind myself…”The man does not cook” except for bringing home Papa Murphy’s pizza, and our microwave takes up counter space. He’s gonna miss his pizza!

        Reply
  2. Vic says

    January 31, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    What’s the best way for removing smoke from the outside of the cast iron pans without ruining them?

    Reply
    • Nancy in Alberta says

      February 3, 2015 at 10:24 pm

      When I was in Girl Guides, we rubbed dish washing liquid on the outside of our pots, and they cleaned like nothing else. I still do this.

      Reply
      • Nancy in Alberta says

        February 3, 2015 at 10:26 pm

        OK, …a little clarification: you have to rub the dish washing liquid on the pots before you cook. Sorry!

        Reply
        • Nancy in Alberta says

          February 3, 2015 at 10:28 pm

          Haha! I just reread my first comment, and it looks so silly! “Yes, I actually rub dish washing liquid on my pots to clean them – how ’bout you?”

          Reply
  3. Cindy says

    February 4, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    You don’t want to use dishwashing soap on your cast iron. Use sand if you must on the outside. I use bacon grease or olive oil on the inside and outside of my cast iron to clean it and keep it also like a non-stick pan. You want to heat up the pan over gentle heat with the oil on it. Let it soak in and then let it sit. Once cooled you can wipe off the inside and outside of the pan with a paper towel to clean it up. Repeat again with the oil and heat if necessary but don’t use soap.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hi and Welcome!

I’m Wardee Harmon and I help Christian families who know they should eat healthy but are tired of complicated, time-consuming, weird-tasting, and unsustainable “healthy” diets…

…who want to look and feel better, save time and money, and have more energy for enjoying family life and serving Him fully!… like I was. Click here for more…

Recently on the Blog

  • Fizzy Apple Cider Switchel (VAD)
  • VitaClay Review & Buyer’s Guide
  • How to Make Healthy Cookies #AskWardee 006
  • Bean and Barley Soup (Instant Pot, Stove Top)
  • Soaked Spelt Banana Bread (VAD)
  • Ancient Grains 101
  • How to Heal Digestive Issues Naturally (Leaky Gut, SIBO, IBS, Celiac & more)
  • How To Meal Plan In 4 Easy Steps (KYF103)
  • Debunking 4 Sourdough Myths (& How To Overcome Them)
  • How To Use A Pressure Cooker 101

Recently Commented

  • Tiranga on Homemade Sauerkraut In A Stoneware Crock
  • ronald ryan on 10 Tips For Using A Gas Grill As An Oven
  • Julia on How To Make Sour Cream
  • KM on The Best Sourdough English Muffins (Traditional Recipe)
  • Kathryn on Ginger-Lemon Mocktail: The Perfect Summer Drink
  • Anonymous on Anatomy of a Blended Soup
  • Brenda on Sourdough Nutty Cereal (like Grape Nuts)

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Before Footer

g-NOWF-glinz

…are what we eat! God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season.

We love working with other Christian families who love good food and want to eat according to God’s design…

Not only because we believe it’s the healthiest way, but because we want to give Him glory for creating good food as the best medicine!

Learn more about GNOWFGLINS here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOcH27DM1dI

Eat God’s Way Cooking Program

Our Eat God’s Way cooking program is for Christian families who know they should eat healthy but are tired of complicated, time-consuming, weird-tasting, and unsustainable “healthy” diets…

…who want to look and feel better, save time and money, and have more energy for enjoying family life and serving Him fully!

Join 12,000+ families served since 2010! Learn more here…

Copyright © 2025 Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS • About • Help • Privacy • Partners