Whenever I go camping I make sure that I have my Dutch Oven (with its lid) and my 1 foot by 3 feet cast iron slab for cooking dinners on the camp fire.
When you're camping you don't want to spend hours cooking a meal like you might at home. You just want to throw something on the fire and turn it once in a while during breaks between Uncle Brian's exciting ghost stories.
The first thing to do is light a fire a few hours before you want to start cooking so that you will have glowing embers by the time you've (hopefully) wrangled that night's dinner out of the lake. Fish are always a great campfire food and probably one of the most popular right after marshmallows.
After spending quality time honing your sense, centering yourself and becoming one with the raw wilderness around you, you've finally caught a fish! It's more than your wife expected, so the trip is off to a great start! If you want to use a Dutch Oven (basically a pot with a lid that you put directly on the glowing embers) you can cut the fish into pieces (after cleaning it) and put the pieces into the oven. Add some oil or butter and mix it in with the fish. Feel free to add some salt and pepper or whatever kind of spice you like. Let the fish bake in there nice and slow. While the fish is baking, roll some potatoes in tin foil (reflective side facing inwards) and put them directly on the glowing embers to bake. Move the fish pieces around every once in a while and check every now and then to see if they cooked all the way through. Then just poke the potatoes with something sharp to see if they're cooked and you are good to go.
When I want to fry the fish, I just use my 3 foot long cast iron slab. A 3 foot fish is enough to feed 3-4 good eaters, so depending on the size of your group you might need more fish. The great thing with frying the fish this way is that you can fry the whole fish at once. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the Fish and threw them on the plate of cast iron. Place the plate on fire and going to the races. Turn the fish every few minutes. I like the crispy fried skin, the taste is incredible! If the fish is shorter than three feet can be roasted potatoes and vegetables on the plate too.
You can also steam the fish in a warehouse fire. Wrap in aluminum foil (reflective surface in sight), but not too much. Place the wrapped fish directly on the grill and turn the package every fewminutes. Check every 15 minutes or so to see if it's done. The length of time it takes to cook will depend on the temperature and quantity of the embers.
Cooking hamburgers and steaks is no problem either. Brush a bit of oil on the hamburger paddies and throw them on the slab. For the steaks, brush them with oil and thrown them on as well, but wait until they are done before you add any seasoning. You don't want the seasoning to burn and possibly ruin the steak.
After you're done cooking make sure the fire is out and shovel dirt on top of it. Also be sure to keep any fuel for the fire, wood, leaves, and flammable materials away from the fire pit. Safety first!
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