If there's already a fire, why cook on a stove?

[HAAANK]

Here I am about to pull the trigger on a camp stove and having serious second thoughts. I don't consider myself a gear enthusiast or gadget guy. If I can get by with out I'll typically pass on an item. We camp wth three kids and part of the experience is having a fire. We don't have our camping totally dialed in yet and up until now have been thinking that a stove could be a simplifying device to the chaos of camping with kids.

If there's already a fire, why cook on a stove?

 

[4xFar Adventures]

Reasons I carry a stove.

Fire restrictions. Usually only gas stoves are allowed and you need a CA fire permit to use it.
You don't have to wait for a good bed of embers.
Better heat control. Moving that grate up and down is a pita.
You can actually grill. Do you know anyone who uses the rusty fire ring grill to grill?

When open wood fires are allowed, I usually plan to have sausage links or hot dogs for dinner at least once. That's about the extent of fire cooking I do. Of course the drought over the past few years has driven a lot of that decision making. I'm curious to see how things go this summer.

 

[Billy "Poserlander" Badly]

You can't always have a fire when camping, and sometimes when you can, wood is hard to come by. Cooking over a fire requires building the fire first, and usually it takes time for a fire to be "ready" for cooking. You can't cook everything over a fire, at least not without a few extra gadgets. You often don't have a choice about where your fire is, and if the weather is rainy, it sucks to stand in the rain trying to cook on a potentially smoky fire.

A stove is portable/movable, quick, easy and can boil/grill/saute with the push of a button.

 

[The other Sean]

making coffee first thing in the morning is much nicer when all you need to do is turn the dial and light a burner.

I've also found having a fire in the morning is not needed most times and gets in the way of the days activities.

 

[caleath]

For some folks ..cooking over fire can be intimidating...its not as easy as it looks. Temp control is not adjustable as with gas etc. I have cooked over fire for a few decades..scouts ..son is an Eagle Scout.
I try to stick to foods that can just be rehydrated or cooked with boiling water. Less mess to clean up and lighter than carrying stove. I use an alcohol stove or a single burner gas back packing stove. Now I do enjoy a steak sometimes and will just bring a grate to cook over or my homemade disc cooker for use on a camp fire.

If I cook on a campfire I use one of these...this on isnt mine but made exactly like it.

 

[Jeepney]

We have brats for dinner and i was gonna grill it on the firepit. Well i barely got the fire going and it started raining on me. We ate a little bit past dinner time. Do i use it, yeah, but i won't totally rely on it.

I don't stay away from them, always have foil and i make sure the grill is hot/seasoned/clean before i eat the rust off it. My wife wants some cast iron for cooking on the firepit but them are so heavy and i'm trying to get my rolling weight down.

I do have a butane-powered grill (iwatani) which can do most of my grilling needs.

 

[Arizona Overland]

Biggest thing I can think of is fire bans. I believe there will be more and more restrictions put in place concerning campfires in the future.

 

[HAAANK]

All great points here. I like the idea of not having to rely on a campfire. Maybe only using it for special meals when/where permitted.


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[Art]

All great points here. I like the idea of not having to rely on a campfire. Maybe only using it for special meals when/where permitted.

For me who has more of a camping background the ability to use a stove is like a multi-tool. You dont always need every part of it but when you dont have it, you'll probably need it. If you make a plan to not use it then you'll be fine but prepare for the worst (especially if you go out with a family).

 

[Tim]

Like a few others have said, sometimes when you are late into camp, tied or just want a cup of coffee in the morning something quick and easy is the answer. Having said that I usually have more than one option to cook on with me. I have a gas ring, Kelly kettle and a BBQ plate that fits over the spare wheel if an open fire is an option. I've also heard concerns about what people may have burnt in established fire pits at camps sites possibly contaminating food cooked over it.


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[HAAANK]

View attachment 20774 For some folks ..cooking over fire can be intimidating...its not as easy as it looks. Temp control is not adjustable as with gas etc. I have cooked over fire for a few decades..scouts ..son is an Eagle Scout.
I try to stick to foods that can just be rehydrated or cooked with boiling water. Less mess to clean up and lighter than carrying stove. I use an alcohol stove or a single burner gas back packing stove. Now I do enjoy a steak sometimes and will just bring a grate to cook over or my homemade disc cooker for use on a camp fire.

If I cook on a campfire I use one of these...this on isnt mine but made exactly like it.

That disc cooker looks great. Is that from a plow or did you put some carbon steel on an English wheel?

 

[Roger352]

Believe me I love cooking over a open fire, but like so many here have said its not always possible for a number reasons. If its just me I take a single gas cooker but if we are camping as a family then its a double ring cooker.

 

[Egan]

I also would rather cook over the fire when camping. I actually take charcoal and use a chimney starter. When you are done cooking throw some wood on the coals and you have a fire. But I also always carry s homemade skottle, I used a turkey fryer and an old cast iron wok, it works great. I also carry an ultra light backpacking stove, a jetboil knockoff to boil water for my coffee press or any emergency cooking.

 

[Winterpeg]

Rain.

Waking up to a downpour makes cooking breakfast a little tough to do on an open fire... then that can also make lunch and supper difficult if not impossible if your firepit is covered in 3 inches of water... makes it tough to light ;)

 

[HAAANK]

Ahh, what's a few inches of water, light harder! ;)

 

[HAAANK]

Now that I'm convinced I should get a stove I think I'm going to pass on the traditional Coleman dual burner sheet metal set up and do something closer to a turkey fryer base but able to break down like the skottle. I typically bring a cast iron combo cooker, sometimes a dutch oven, sometimes a cast iron comal. the modular fryer approach gives me decent flexibility and truthfully I may even do two...we'll see.

 

[Lindenwood]

We got a Biolite for Christmas. We only used it once, but it seems very tedious. You fill it with little sticks and chunks of wood, and the heat from the fire charges a battery which powers a fan inside the furnace. It works well for starting a good fire, but the fuel burns out in about a minute when getting it hot enough to cook with, so you would constantly be lifting off the cooking surface to add fuel. It is theoretically supposed to charge accessories, but you literally get about 30 seconds of power out of it before the fuel burns off and it stops charging.

We have always been lucky enough to be in places where fires are allowed, and in situations where they have added to the fun. We enjoy cooking over them, and bring a standalone grate and either cook meats directly or use a pan, with generally great luck. However, in light of this discussion, we might look for an actual fuel-powered camp stove in the future.

 

[HAAANK]

We got a Biolite for Christmas. We only used it once, but it seems very tedious. You fill it with little sticks and chunks of wood, and the heat from the fire charges a battery which powers a fan inside the furnace. It works well for starting a good fire, but the fuel burns out in about a minute when getting it hot enough to cook with, so you would constantly be lifting off the cooking surface to add fuel. It is theoretically supposed to charge accessories, but you literally get about 30 seconds of power out of it before the fuel burns off and it stops charging.

We have always been lucky enough to be in places where fires are allowed, and in situations where they have added to the fun. We enjoy cooking over them, and bring a standalone grate and either cook meats directly or use a pan, with generally great luck. However, in light of this discussion, we might look for an actual fuel-powered camp stove in the future.

That's pretty interesting about biolite. Always kinda wondered about them. I love the concept of rocket type stoves but have found that keeping them fueled is a bit of a chore. I too love cooking over a fire, had a wood fired oven for a couple years and it was great to work with.

 

[caleath]

That disc cooker looks great. Is that from a plow or did you put some carbon steel on an English wheel?

its a plow disc...we call them cowboy wok

 

[HAAANK]

its a plow disc...we call them cowboy wok

Nice!