Jack’s post about his new camping toy got me thinking about camping and outdoor cooking.YUM!
At home the convenience of the gas grill is to much to pass up. Fire it up and start cooking, but when camping it’s always charcoal or wood.
Turkeys, pigs, big chunks of beef roasted in elaboratly constructed pits. Slow cooked for hours while playing horseshoes, drinking a few happy sodas…ahh.
Cakes, biscuits,beans, rice dishes, and about anything else you can think of done in the dutch ovens…
I even bring a large commercial wok for cooking directly on the camp fire.
A big part of the fun for me is the cooking.
Is it spring yet??
I never lost a little fish
yes, I’m free to say
It always was the biggest fish
I caught that got away
…Eugene Field
We have oysters on the tidelands of our community beach here. And some large firepits. Gather some driftwood, put an old rack from a frig over the burned down wood and roast the oysters in their shells.
A little melted butter with some liquid smoke and you have a feast.
For you deer hunters. Know how the front shoulders don’t tend to have a lot of meat? I keep the whole shoulders on a couple smaller deer. Cook in a ‘browning bag’. You can do them on a grill or in the oven - with or without vegetables. Makes a super roast.
you are only allowed to use gas here now, no fire no fuel or alchohol stoves - gas only. I see a generation or two of people who light fires without knowing how to keep them safe.
Charcoal only for me. Save the gas to put in your car! I love to BBQ the real (slow) way, and I use a New Braunfels BBQ smoker with the external firebox.
Where people mess up with charcoal is using lighter fluid to start it…you can taste it in the meat. Use a chimney starter instead, it fires up with newspaper.
Some purists don’t like the smell of Kingsford and use only lump charcoal – I usually mix the two – the lump charcoal burns hotter and faster, the kingsford more slowly and evenly. I have a deal with a cabinetmaker for getting smoke wood – pecan and cherry are my favorites. I don’t soak the wood inwater, too much creasote and stale smoke. I burn it in 1" x 12" sticks, just like a little campfire on top of the charcoal that got everything going.
Y’all will get to taste my BBQ at the Idaho fish-in this year…can’t wait for that trip!
Charcoal (Kingsford, lump or combo of the two) with small chunks of hardwood in a Weber bullet smoker. Yum!
Definitely agree with Danbob about the chimney starter. A little vegetable oil on a paper towel under the chimney can really get things going and not leave an aftertaste.
The Shack Nasties are settin’ in! “Sound Off” has turned to our favorite camp meals and how to cook 'em! Lot’s of good ideas and suggestions guy’s! But me and Mike have about 10 weeks befor we can use them.
I feel more like I do now than I did when I got here!
I went on earlier about the Weber gas grill I have. We also have a fire pit here on the farm, brick lined and on goes the dutch oven. This is a twice a year ritual, game night, as in game (venison, goose, what is on hand) you can eat. I also smoke game (again, venison, trout,salmon, especially Lake Superior Lake Trout) in a homemade smoker. I have my son in Oregon send me a box of Alder and Vine Maple. Good enough for my Indian friends that smoke, good enough for me. It cost about $20.00 to get a big box of the chips, twigs and things to Michigan but worth it. We call it flavor of Oregon…I suppose smoking would be another subject??? Jonezee
Well, Jonezee – instead of starting another thread, we could define the difference between hot smoking (BBQ) and cold smoking.
;~)
Cold smoking is how folks make jerky, smoked fish, smoked cheese, smoked hams, and other smoky treats. It often involves a brining process, the temperatures are very low, and the time involved is very long – sometimes 10 hours and more. The key is that the brine and long smoking time also act as a preservative,so the meat will also keep for a long time.
Hot smoking can just be called ‘BBQ’, but because some folks think BBQ is the same as grilling, people that make competition BBQ put the meat in their…smokers. I’ve had the chance to tag along with friends who enter BBQ competitions every summer…oh, my, it’s good.
My BBQ smoker (I’m not sure about the bullet smoker mentioned earlier–nice units, by the way) is great for hot smoking, but I can only do cold smoking on very cold, windy days – did some smoked jerky the other day when the temps here hit -16–but otherwise it’s tough to keep the temps down far enough. I BBQ at about 220-250 F. Cold smoking happens way under that.
So, on my list for 06 is a vertical, shelf-type cold smoker that runs on charcoal. Lots of info out there for building one from an old fridge, but modern fridges are full of plastic and paint inside – bad news. Plans are also available for building hot smokers from steel barrels…easier, but you have to have a welder to build it.
I tried to condense it down, please correct me if I got something wrong. I was confused about the issue for years until my Cajun friend showed me how to do both hot and cold smoking!
Gas or charcoal, … For grilling, … I use gas at home, … for BBQ’ing, … I use oak charcoal. Someof the best charcoal I can find is made from the barrel slats from the JD distillery.
I have a friend that built a smoker out of an old oil fuel tank.I think it is about 500 gal cut a door in the side and mounted a 30 steel drum on the end as the fire box.He smokes entire deer in that thing.Its HUGE.He tought me the art of smoking using Sasafrass wood and Persimion wood.Man I’m getting hungry thinking about it.That mest is sweet and tender.
JonBob - Yes, cold smoke is the way to go with jerky and fish. I use a rock salt brine and some game gets a rub in the brine too. Plain ole brown sugar and salt have been a long standby for me. Some fish gets the ground pepper treatment also. The oiler the fish, the better the flavor it seems. Trout is my favorite on the smoker. Clean the critter, de-head and split down the center and leave the skin and bones in. I’m hungry, gotta go…
It’s charcoal for me all the way. Never owned a gas grill, don’t plan to. What could be better than sitting in the sun out on the patio enjoying a frosty beverage smelling the grill while you wait for the charcoal to get ready? If you happen to BBQing a brisket even better. You get to enjoy that smell for 12 or 13 hours and that taste for 2 or 3 days!
ah yes, light the wood fired grill, hear the fire station siren go off. The neighbour over the back fence has called the fire brigade out of spite. In his old age he objects to anyone or anything restricting his enjoyment of life. No child, dog, car or fire may impede on his life of ease and pleasure. He has petitioned to the authorities that such things as fires dogs and cars are dangerous and must be regulated against for the betterment of mankind. To light the grill a visit (at your cost) by the environmental proteciton officer is required. If by any chance you actually are allowed to light your woodfire you must adhere to certain regulations - you cannot light the fire if your neighbour’s laundry is outside drying, you cannot have a lit fire for more than 2 hours, you cannot have a lit fire after dark, if any of your neighbours object at anytime the fire permit is revoked. You may only light a fire when the fire risk is designated as low. unfortunately the only time the fire risk is low is when its raining or snowing. Welcome to New Zealand, the land of eco-tourism open green spaces and over regulation.
I made a really nice smoker from a 55 gallon barrel. I cut a hole in the side for a pipe and ran about 10ft. of stove pipe to a smaller barrel that I made into a wood stove. I bolted angle iron inside the 55 gallon barrel and put round racks from Weber grills into it. I cut the top from the large barrel and drilled a bunch of holes in it and placed it above the pipe to diffuse the smoke. For a top, I used the cover from my Weber grill. I could get a nice fire going in the small stove and cold smoke lots of meat.
My dad did an annual pig roast on charcoal.
Cut an old water heater lengthwise, hinged it and added a spit. It did a great job, but not as good as four native Tongian ‘boys’ who produced a full size pig over a driftwood fire, turned by hand, on our beach for an annual community get-together. That was a FEAST!
I once took 17th place at the American Royal BBQ contest. Its one of the largest if not the largest BBQ contests in the country, hundreds of contestants…so 17th aint to bad.
I used two smokers I made myself out of 55 gal drums. Fire box on one end, flue pipe on the other, smoke across the meat. The fuel for this mess was a mixture of charcoal, oak, hickory, cherry and apple wood. You can’t do that kind of cooking with gas.
I grill on a Weber kettle. You can’t match the flavor of charcoal with gas.
jo;
I’d move!!
Dudley;
Got one ordered!
Our Opening day menu will be Deep fried wild Turkey Thursday evening, a fish fry Friday Evening and Mexican Fiesta Saturday!
I feel more like I do now than I did when I got here!
