Mastering the Art of Campfire Cooking

In most parts of the world, the snow has melted and the flowers have bloomed. For many people, this means packing up their tents and sleeping bags and taking to the woods for a weekend retreat. The fantastic weather brings out opportunities for so many activities such as hiking, sailing, and of course the most important part of any vacation – Incredible food. While the traditional camping trip calls for hot dogs and hamburgers, people have fled to the internet to share their innovative twists on modern campfire cooking. From nachos to chicken wings, the opportunities for culinary creativity are near-limitless. If you’re having trouble deciding what to pack in that cooler for your upcoming camping trip, here are a few ideas to help inspire your campfire cooking.

Kabobs

As you’ll probably already have the skewers to roast up some marshmallows with, why not use them to spear up some chicken and veggies? The great thing about kabobs is how versatile they are. You can glaze up some beef and peppers for a teriyaki skewer, or layer chicken and pineapple for a Hawaiian kabob. Even if you can’t eat meat, all you have to do is substitute for more fruit or veggies. And, you’ll have a vegetarian meal that you can roast right over the fire.

Burgers, with a twist!

My mom used to layer slices of cheese in between two hamburger patties. After sealing the ends nice and tight you’d grill it up and call it a “Juicy Lucy,” although I can’t say for sure she came up with the name. They can be topped with anything your little grill master heart desires. Whether you wanna stick to the traditional lettuce, pickles, and tomato, or spice it up with some jalapeno, bacon, or even onion rings if you have them available.

You can even put together a burger bar with a plethora of options for the family to choose from. Just be sure to include all the typical condiments, because some may choose to stick to the traditional camping burger!

Nachos

As long as you have tin foil, you can throw anything on the fire. Create a kind of bowl with a sheet of tin foil and toss in some tortilla chips, cheese, and jalapenos. If you want to, you can load your nachos up with any kind of meat, some beans, sour cream, and salsa. The great thing about campfire nachos is that each person can create their own bowl and just eat straight out of it. There’s no need to bring any plates or silverware, just enjoy your own personal fiesta!

Seafood boil

If you wanna eat like a king, bring along every kind of shellfish you can find. And, mix them in with some mixed veggies in a tin foil pouch. The typical seafood boil has whole corn cobs, carrots, potatoes, and onions, but don’t be afraid to cook up other veggies like squash or zucchini. When you’re done cooking the pouch over the fire, dump the whole thing on top of some newspapers and dig in.

Note that it’s not a great idea to keep your shells and scraps out as wild animals will smell it and come sniffing out a midnight snack. Remember to pack away all trash and keep it either hanging out of reach or in your vehicle.

Breakfast foods

Chances are, you won’t be eating breakfast until the next day, so it can often be an overlooked aspect of campfire cooking. Breakfast foods may seem a little trickier, but there are plenty of camping skillets out there to fry some eggs up in. Eggs are the easiest breakfast food to cook up in the woods, but if you feel like preparing some pancake mix ahead of time, you can also use a camping skillet to cook up some pancakes. Of course, you’ll have to keep your mix in a cooler where it won’t spoil. There are plenty of pancake mix recipes that don’t require eggs or milk, so if you’d rather not risk it I’d suggest looking up some of those recipes instead.

One of the hardest things to live without when staying out in the wilderness is that morning cup of coffee or tea. If you can’t have a productive morning without your fix, look into investing in a coffee press or small camping stove to boil water so you don’t have to start a fire up in the morning.

Don’t be afraid to get crazy

The days of traditional hot dogs and s’mores are behind us. Yes, the good ol’ burger takes us back to the days of Memorial day cook-outs, but why stop there when there is so much that can be created and experimented with? Bring on the camping trips where we eat like kings and queens of the forest and explore the art of campfire cooking.

My name is Alyssa. If you’d like to call me Lys, feel free. Hopefully, you liked my guest post for Travelinsightpedia. For more, you can also visit my website at airborneblonde.