Nothing seems to make food taste better than cooking it outdoors. Dining while camping in the great outdoors doesn't need to be isolated to sticking a hot dog on a stick, spreading out the cold cuts, or cracking open a can of raviolis and dumping them into a pan. When you’re cooking outdoors, you can experiment with many different cooking methods. Use white wine and vegetables and season to taste.
Try cooking without pots and pans using foil, or in cast iron pots. Dutch ovens are great for cooking on the campfire. Cooking speed can also be controlled by adjusting the distance between the food and the coals. Dutch Ovens and Skillets are great utensils and may be used for a variety of cooking methods—frying, roasting, baking, braising, and stewing. The cast iron helps to provide even heat. Coals can be placed around the Dutch oven and on top of the cover, if desired. The Dutch oven may even be buried with some coals for slow, even cooking.Dutch Ovens are portable pots typically with handles ideal for campfire cooking. It features a flanged lid for hot coals and inverts for use as a griddle. The oven also has legs so you can use it for fireplace cooking as well. Durable cast-iron construction makes the oven a long-lasting addition to your camping cookware.
Successful outdoor cookery calls for glowing coals, not active flames. The coals will give off even heat. You may be an “old hand” at building campfires, but here are some practical suggestions.Start by building a campfire using very dry wood. Let the fire burn down until the wood turns to red coals, then stir the coals. The goal is to have a clean burning, very hot campfire. Place a grate across the fire about 6" above the coals by placing rocks on either side of the fire to support the grate. Or you can place your dutch oven right on top of your coals.
Since different things take different lengths of time to cook, you need to experiment with the amount of coals and cooking times. Use fewer coals for foods that need to cook slowly at a lower temperature.
Soft woods such as pine, spruce, cedar, aspen, basswood, and birch burn quickly and leave ashes but few coals. Hard woods like oak, ash, hickory, apple, walnut, cherry, maple are better to use and burn slowly to provide excellent coals.
Here's an easy quick meal using foil for the kids!
HOBO HAMBURGER DINNER
In a large bowl combine ground beef or Turkey, salt and pepper (breadcrumbs & egg optional). Mix well. Shape into patties.
Place each patty onto 2 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil, (enough to cover and close). On each patty, place thin potato slices, sliced onion, and carrots. Seal aluminum foil tightly and cook the campfire for approximately 45 minutes.