Cooking in the Ground

[naicidrac]

Hello all,
I can't wait to use this site for my everyday backyard cooking, but for now I am new and have a question about campfire cooking. I am going camping this weekend and I want to cook some food. I have decided that I am going to use charcoal, and if there is not a grill or I decide not to take a small throw away grill I wanted to see how to cook using the ground as my grill. I am thinking that I can just dig a hole and throwl the coals down in there. I am not for sure if I will need to dig a small trench out so the coals can get air? I just wanted to ask you guys exactly how to do it. Thanks for the help.

 

[Andy M.]

People have been building campfires and cooking on them for centuries.

Clear an area well beyond the area of the fire to prevent accidental spreading of the fire (dried grass, leaves, pine needles, etc. You want bare dirt around the fire). You can surround the fire with rocks if you like. Build the fire at ground level and it will get the air it needs.

 

[naicidrac]

Thanks Andy, but what about cooking with charcoal? Can I just dig a hole and put charcoal down there to cook on?

 

[Andy M.]

Why do you feel you have to dig a hole? What do you plan to cook?

 

[naicidrac]

I just thought it might keep the fire more concentrated. I am planing to cook chicken in the evening and breakfast burritos in the morning. So I guess what you are suggesting is just to clear out a nice area with a dirft floor. Place some stones around and throw the charcoal in the middle of the stones. Then when they get hot I am ready to cook.

 

[Andy M.]

Exactly. All you have to do is have a way to have the food at the appropriate distance from the fire so it cooks properly.

 

[naicidrac]

Thanks Andy for all the help.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Where are you going camping? Most if not all tent campsites have at least small firepits already set up, & if they don't, you definitely MUST ASK ahead of time if it's ok to start digging firepits - something I don't think any campsite will agree to. And if you're camping in a wilderness area, they definitely will not want you digging any pits.

You don't sound like someone who has done this a lot, & thus might want to do some websearches on campcooking. Even if you did dig a pit (a big waste of time in my opinion), you'll still need some way to support your food - especially the pan or foil packet for your "breakfast burritos". How do you plan to do this safely?

Do yourself a favor & bring along a small hibachi-type grill. You'll actually enjoy making your meals & cooking them won't take up so much time that you don't get to enjoy your trip, & won't pose as much of a danger to the environment.

 

[YT2095]

we used to do exactly this on the beach, find a nice sheltered dune area, dig a hole, fill it with dry brush and dry driftwood and start the fire, you can cook on this as normal, but also wrap up some potatoes in foil, throw them into the fire and then cover the whole thing back up again with sand from around the edges, you MUST leave a marker where the fire was or you`ll never find your spuds again after you`ve enjoyed your day.
you`ll have some nice hot baked potatoes to look forwards too when you get back