The Camp Cooking Fire

Fresh yabbies ready for the Cooking Fire

The old bushies’ secret to lighting a camp fire is to start small and build it up. Don’t throw logs, bushes and leaves into a great heap and expect a good fire as a result.

Don’t be afraid to use firelighters. There is a time and place for rubbing two sticks together. Getting your cooking fire going is not the ideal time or place for that. Start with just a few twigs, leaves and paper and gradually build your fire up.

When you have a good bed of coals, get your long handled shovel and build a small cooking fire along side the main fire.

Search around for good firewood. Pick it up along the road and cart it into your camp if you have to. Tour bus operators often do this, well before camping at night.

You may see little heaps of firewood along the side of the Stuart Highway from time to time. This had me wondering for quite a while until I saw a tour bus parked beside one of these heaps. The passengers had all scattered through the dead timber on the side of the road to gather firewood. The heap of wood left over was what they were unable to fit on the roof rack of the bus.

The heavier the wood, the better the coals you will have, and coals are the secret of camp fire cooking. Cook your toast over a flame if you have to in the morning, but only use good hot red coals for cooking. Look for small dead but still standing Mulga.

You will recognise it after a while by its smooth grey colour and its solid weight. Don’t try to cut it or break it up. It is tough and will fly in all directions. Mulga splinters will cause very serious infection so treat it carefully.

There is an excellent book, Camp Oven Cooking, written by Jack Absalom and his Uncle. This book is full of practical tips and recipes.

But cooking in the camp oven is not rocket science. With a bit of common sense and a sense of smell, almost any one can turn out fabulous meals without much fuss.

My tips for successful Outback Oven cooking are;

• Keep your camp oven clean and well oiled

• Wait until you have a supply of good coals.

• Make a good bed of coals and place your camp oven meal on it.

• Spread some more coals on the lid and leave it until you can smell your meal cooking. You may have to add more coals or shift the oven onto a bed of fresh coals after a while. Don’t be tempted to hurry it up a bit by adding flames around the oven. You will burn your meal for sure.

• Keep the oven protected from any wind. Dig a hole in the sand if you have to.

• Be patient. Sit down, have a beer and wait for that tasty smell to hit your nostrils before you even look inside it.

Camp fire cooking in the oven is easy. As long as you don’t keep piling on the coals or light any fires near your oven, your meal should never burn.

• Jaffle iron cooking is similar to camp oven cooking, in that having a bed of good coals for your cooking fire and being patient are the secrets of success.

• Butter your bread and put the buttered side onto the open jaffle iron.

• Put in your favourite filling (don’t forget the salt and pepper or basil if you like it), place it on the coals and keep smelling.

• Turn it regularly.

• I like to pre cook the bacon a bit in the jaffle iron before putting in the bread, egg, tomato, cheese and basil.

• Bacon, cheese and tomato jaffles made at the breakfast camp are a good lunch time meal eaten cold.

If you have a good fluorescent or LED light for your camp you can eat after dark when there are no flies around.

My mob always carries a 20 litre (4 Gal.) stainless steel pot. They fill it with water and sit it on the main fire for a supply of hot water for washing and showering.

Now you are ready to have some of your own camp fire cooking fun.

From Cooking fires to the Camping Menu