Having a campfire is a big part of camping or hanging out at home. But do you know what type of campfire to make? Some are best for heat and light, others are best for cooking over.
Creating a Campfire for Cooking- Movies and tv shows often have a roaring fire with pots and other items cooking over the flames.
It's not impossible to cook that way, you'll usually end up with burnt and undercooked food.
Hot coals and embers are much better to cook with, as they give out good steady heat, and it's easier to control the temperature by adding or taking away hot coals.
Flame tends to burn and not get that hot, at least not hot enough to cook the inside of your food before it scorches the outside.
Build a Criss-Cross fire if you want a campfire to cook over.
You build this by simply placing a crisscross of logs stacked on one another.
I find it easier to light by creating a small depression in the ground, starting a small fire with dry kindling first, adding more small twigs, and then building the crisscrossed logs above the fire.the fire's shape provides a flat platform to cook things over, the logs will eventually collapse on themselves.
This is not a problem, as it's the hot embers and coals that this sort of fire makes that you then use for cooking.
If you want to sit around a campfire and cook? How can you have a good campfire that does both? Build a Keyhole Fire pit.
You cut a keyhole shape in the ground and start a Tepee fire in the round part of the keyhole. This fire provides light and warmth.
You can either wait for the Tepee fire to create enough hot embers or start a second fire for cooking with.
If you decide to wait, then rake hot embers from the main fire into the slot where you can cook food.
For warmth and light -The Tepee is a classic-looking campfire and ideal for creating a quick fire to warm up with.
Pile up dry tinder kindling and set it alight. Then start placing sticks around it in a tepee shape, ensuring you don't smother the fire.
As the fire gets bigger, you can use larger sticks and logs.
This good fire puts out a tall flame and heat in all directions, making it an ideal campfire to sit around in the evening. You will need plenty of fuel close to hand as this fire burns quickly.
Or just stack logs like a log cabin and put smaller branches in the middle and light it .
Photos are not mine they are from google and scouting scouts .
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