Camping

"And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat." Exodus 16:15   

"And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey." Exodus 16:31

This is My Father's World:
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/i/s/tismyfw.htm


When you go camping, you won't have manna falling from heaven to feed you. Can you imagine what a blessing that was for the Israelites who "camped" for forty straight years? No oven, no permanent home. Continually packing up and moving again and never going "home"? Wow...manna would have been a luxury for them.  

But no manna for you. You will need to cook! Cooking over an open fire is a thrill to some, and leaves alot to desired to others. Learning how to cook over an open fire can make all the difference. With your stove at home, they are designed to even heat the cooking surface (your pot or pan). This in turn, allows your food to be evenly cooked. There are no hot spots that cook quicker than other areas so your food cooks at the same speed, evenly and if you burn it, it all burns evenly too!

On a campfire, you DO have hot spots. There are areas where there may be more wood stacked up so it burns hotter, or areas where the flame is not as high so you have colder areas. You might have multiple kinds of wood being burned so you have some that burns hotter and quicker than other types of wood. There are many reasons for campfires to have hot spots.

The trick is to continually monitor your fire to see where the flame is, the high flame and low flame and to monitor your food just as carefully. If you have a grill over your campfire you can quickly figure out which areas of your pot or pan are cooking faster (maybe even burning) and you can move your pot or pan or continually stir the food to prevent it from cooking too quickly or burning.

Other times, if you are using a dutch oven, you can place the oven next to the campfire so it heats on one side - and you simply turn the oven every 5-10 minutes so the food inside is cooked evenly and doesn't burn. There are tripod stands you can purchase or make yourself that are set up over the campfire allowing you to hang a grill or a dutch oven over the flame and to adjust the height so you can adjust the cooking temperature. The one thing to remember when cooking with a tripod is you either need to continually add wood to keep the temperature somewhat even, or to lower the height of your cooking pot or grill as the wood burns down and the cooking temperature drops lower to the ground. Very easy - and dutch ovens DO work like ovens. You can bake cakes, pies, biscuits and other goodies in them. The heavy lid allows for a "baking" situation when you use it as such, or you can fill it with stew, chili or whatever you like and use it as a pot too.

If cooking over an open fire is too much for you or you want to leave camp but have dinner ready when you get back - try deep pit cooking. You will need a dutch oven with a lid and something to lift the oven out of the ground with. Dig a pit about 2-3 feet deep. Start a fire inside the pit and burn enough wood to produce alot of charcoal. Did you know you can make your own charcoal? Charcoal is simply wood that has been partially burned - just like parboiled rice is rice that has been partially cooked and then dried again. The trick is to stop the burning before the wood turns to complete ash. You want chunks of partially burned wood - that's charcoal!

While your wood is burning down to glowing coals, prepare your meal. If making stew, cut your veggies and meat and have all your items ready. If preparing a roast, have it seasoned and ready in the dutch oven. If preparing chili, (make sure you soak the beans overnight first!) have everything ready and in the dutch oven.

Once the wood in your pit is burned and is looking like glowing coals - you're ready. With a shovel remove about 1/3 to 1/2 of the hot coals and pile them next to your pit on the dirt. For stew, you can place the empty dutch oven in the pit, sitting directly on the hot coals, and let it get hot. Add a little oil, brown your meat and add your veggies and liquid and any seasonings you would like. Then place the lid on. Cover the dutch oven first with your remaining hot coals and then with dirt - you have just created your camping crockpot!!! You can do this with your chili, roasts or anything else you could put in a crockpot and leave at home. Leave everything buried for 4-8 hours depending on how large of a dutch oven you used and how many coals were left. It will continue to cook while you are off exploring.

When you're ready to eat, you need to carefully shovel out the dirt and what is left of the coals. Carefully lift the dutch oven out using the handle and oven mitts or a sturdy stick (the wooden handle of a shovel can work well). Make sure you do not shift the oven until you have brushed or blown off the dirt covering the lid. The contents should be ready to eat and very delicious - it may have a smokey flavor to it which is really unique and tasty!!! We have done this very thing in our backyard and our children have been fascinated each time by how easy it is and how it gets totally covered with dirt, continues to cook, and then gets dug up again.

The following links are filled with useful information and video clips and can help you learn how to cook over an open fire, start a camp fire and use a dutch oven:

http://www.howcast.com/videos/23121-How-To-Build-a-Campfire?p=596

http://www.howcast.com/videos/23235-How-To-Cook-Seven-Simple-Recipes-Over-a-Campfire (Funny and realistic video showing how to cook seven things over a campfire - don't miss this one!!!)

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadutch/dutch-oven-cooking-tips.htm (Excellent written information on cooking with a dutch oven).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2iG4aMKBCQ&feature=related (Part 1, what is a dutch oven and how to use it while camping).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfYQACZ8l8g&feature=related (Part 2, excellent video on making stew in your dutch oven with hot coals).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skZleiGIn6k&feature=related (Part 3, dutch oven cooking done very easily!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoJM-0CmzaU&feature=related (Civil War campfire cooking, a bit long but shows reality).

This is just to get you going. It isn't hard to cook over a campfire. Although many of the videos show charcoal briquettes, you can make your own charcoal using burned wood (as seen in two of the videos) or you can cook directly over the flame (seen in two videos). Cooking like this is actually alot of fun. Some hints to make it easy on the cook (usually mom) are:

1) Keep some handy snacks available so if your fire is slow or the meal is taking longer than anticipated, you can hand out small snacks to keep the munchies away with the kids until the meal is ready.

2) Make sure everyone is aware and practicing a "safe distance" when walking or being anywhere near the fire.

3) As seen in the Part 1, 2, 3 videos, use gallon sized plastic baggies to do your mixing in so you have less to wash up when doing the dishes. Simply mix and toss in the trash.

4) Keep a bucket of water near the fire in case something begins burning that shouldn't be burning or if you decide to leave the campsite suddenly.

5) You can take your fireplace poker with you or purchase special equipment to use for campfires to help you and making campfire cooking easier.

6) Always tie up your hair in a scrungy and keep all clothing tucked in near your body so they won't ignite as you lean towards the fire.

7) Don't be afraid to try new things over the campfire - you can make just about anything camping that you can at home!