Campfire Cooking Grates

The Beauty of Campfire Cooking Grates

While some campsites have built-in grates positioned over the fire pit or ring, these do have disadvantages. For one, these built-in devices cannot be adjusted to make them lower or higher from the flame. Also, many of them are too small to cook all the food you need for a meal.

If you've camped without the already-present grate, you may have had to look for a large flat rock to place your cooking pot on top of. The good thing about the grate is that searching for a rock will be a thing of the past.

Cooking grates serve as a steady and reliable place to put your cookware. Usually made of heavy-duty steel, they are ideal for setting your aluminum, stainless steel or iron pot or pan over a campfire. The grates come in all sizes. They are easily portable and most of them fold for convenient storage and transporting.

Purchasing the Grate

Which one will suit you and your camping needs the best? Campfire grates comes in three basic sizes--small, medium and large. They range in cost from $50 for the largest one to $25 for the small. Brands on Sale is a good website to go to when you want to check out grates. These have legs that fold so that they take up less room when traveling.

Lighting the Fire Under the Grate

Getting the fire right--not too high or low-- with starter wood and then continuing with charcoal briquettes is key for outdoor cooking on a grate. You want the fire just right so that your food won't burn and also so that you won't have to wait too long to eat. In other words, if the fire is too weak, it's going to take a long time to make dinner.

Tips on Starting the Fire

Here are some tips on starting the fire:

• Crumple dry paper (newspaper is fine) and place it on the bottom of the fire pit.
• Place dry twigs and leaves (also known as tinder) in a crisscross pattern on top of the paper.
• Light the paper and the twigs.
• When the tinder burns well, then add hardwood branches or kindling, logs or charcoal briquettes to the fire.
• Add more fuel until the bed is a layer of red glowing coals.
• Once a bed of coals forms, you can stop adding fuel and let it burn down.
• Place the cooking grate over the pit.

Now you are ready to cook! Hopefully, you came well-prepared on your trip, made a camping list, and have all you need for your meal-over-an-open-fire dinner. Hot pads and oven mitts are important no matter where you cook; be sure to pack a few.

Recipes For Dinner on the Grate

What can you cook on the grate? You can think of it like the gas grill you have at home. Hotdogs, hamburgers, steaks and shish-kabobs work well for those who want something quick and tasty. If you want to do a little more fancy preparations, try these recipes over the cooking grate. While the meal cooks, take advantage of your surroundings and go on a short hike.

• Girl Scout Dinners

Who knows more about camping than the boy or girl scouts? This dinner in foil can be cooked to perfection on top of the grate.

• Ground beef
• Potatoes, sliced
• Carrots, sliced
• Onions, sliced
• Salt
• Pepper
• Butter
• Water

The beauty of these is that each one can be made to suit each person's likes. Cut large squares of aluminum foil and place a hamburger patty in the center of the foil. On top of the meat add a layer of the vegetables, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dab with butter and a little water. Seal the edges of the foil, wrapping the ingredients tightly inside. Place the foil packets on top of a low grate (nearer to the coals) and cook until done, about 1 hour.

• Campfire Brunswick Stew

• 3 pounds of a mixture of stewing beef and chicken
• 4 ham hocks
• 5 to 8 cups of water, depending on desired consistency
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 1 teaspoon of parsley
• 3 stalks celery, cubed
• 5 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 large potatoes, cubed
• 2 yellow or white onions, cubed
• 2 cans of whole tomatoes with liquid
• 2 cups of fresh or frozen corn
• 2 cups of lima beans
• Salt
• Pepper

Place the first ten ingredients in a heavy kettle and set over a cooking grate. At first, add only five cups of water. You can add more if needed, as the vegetables cook. Cook the meal over a fire for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are almost tender. Add the rest of the ingredients, cook for 15 minutes and then simmer for 10. Stir often. Serve in bowls with hot corn bread.

Cleaning Campfire Cooking Grates

You can clean the grate with the same cleaning supplies you use to clean your other camping cookware. Water, a scouring pad, or grill brush, along with some Comet will do the trick. Rinse well and dry before storing.

Summary

You will discover that there is nothing quite like dinner cooked on a campfire cooking grate.

After dinner, hopefully you will still have room for dessert. Now it's time to toast some marshmallows. Simply remove the grate--be careful since it could still be very hot--and stick your toasting sticks near the smoldering coals to create a gooey marshmallow treat.