Cook » Cooking over wood and charcoal – the secrets of fireside cooking

Cooking over wood and charcoal – the secrets of fireside cooking

Adam Porthouse 14th September 2020

Cooking over wood is the most primeval form of cooking there is, simple, yet paradoxically not as easy as the modern techniques we have become accustomed to, it remains an ancient artform, one which is immensely rewarding. There are many benefits to the occasional resurrection of these techniques as an experience.

There is an unbeatable satisfaction to be gained from cooking over fire in the wild, or even closer to home. Being outdoors, at one with nature, your senses are fully heightened, and the process feels like a closed circle, without the trappings of modern life. The process is so much more engaging, without the trappings of time, or distractions of modern life, it is escapism at it’s simplest. Children love the experience and learn so much, and they can contribute to the meal in so many ways, form collecting sticks, lighting the fire, and watching the food cook, than they might not do at home.

And of course, there is the flavour, which is like no other. The wood or charcoal you use becomes one of the ingredients. The process by which meat is cooked with heat and smoke imparts flavours and caramelisation it is difficult to replicate at home. The blistering heat and subtle touch of smoke can do incredible things to food. The humble barbeque is perhaps as close as we get, but the experience is still not quite the same.

Of course, lighting a fire and cooking a meal isn’t easy, and in many ways it shouldn’t be, which is what makes success all the more satisfying.

Choosing the right meat

In some ways, this step comes first, since you will have sourced the meat before you cook wherever you have chosen. Meat from the Dorset Meat Company will of course have been aged and prepared perfectly, so you know the ingredients are perfect, and the rest is down to you and your cooking. Steaks are the simplest options, or try meat prepared with your own marinades or rubs beforehand. Do as much preparation as possible beforehand, to limit the labour in the field, and how many utensils you need to take with you. Larger cuts of meat will cook well, either on a spit or ‘Asado’, but will take longer to cook, and need careful management of heat.

Where to light your fire

Once the preserve of the woodsman, There are now many options for using fires at home, with an excellent range of fire bowls available, such as those from Kadai. If cooking at home with a fire bowl, your main consideration is whether smoke may affect your neighbours, and the choice of wood. You can also make your own fire pit, but choose your location carefully, to avoid fences and trees etc, and ensure the pit is enclosed with stones or bricks to prevent spread.

To go further afield, there are a few considerations. You should always have the permission of the landowner, and avoid areas of high fire risk. Some beaches allow fires, and some don’t, so if this is your chosen spot, then make sure you check first. Whether at home or in the field, careful consideration of others is important, along with thought for the chosen environment and good common sense and discretion.

It also goes without saying that wherever you choose for your fire, there should never ever be any trace that you were there. Make sure the fire is fully extinguished and any trace removed, and always have enough water with you to extinguish the fire just in case.

Choosing the right wood

Your choice of wood will be driven by what you are trying to cook, and of course what you can source. For simple cooking of steaks, charcoal is the simplest option. It creates balanced heat, has a neutral flavour, and hardly any smoke. Any charcoal you use should be sustainably sourced, and avoid the instant type as it contains chemicals and accelerants which will impart undesirable flavours.

Varying tree species provide surprisingly different flavours. For the best burn to generate good coals and embers, you should look for hard woods, such as oak, beech, and ash. Wood should be seasoned, which effectively means it has been dried. If collecting your own wood, the same principles apply, look for the driest wood you can find (and make sure you have the landowners permission!) Dead wood is ideal, and if on the beach, driftwood is perfect too, having been salt dried over long periods of time. Never chop green or live wood, not only will it damage the tree, it will also be wet, and create a very smoky burn, as it is up to 60% water. Any wood which has been treated should also be avoided at all costs as it will contain very nasty chemicals.

Preparing the fire

Fire is a carefully balanced chemical reaction between, fuel, air and heat. A successful fire is all about managing the relationship between the three; remove any one, and the fire will stop burning. Understanding this is key to creating a carefully managed and efficient fire for cooking.
Always use traditional lighting techniques, with paper, fine wood, and then larger wood. Just like a recipe, a fire is a careful construction of ingredients, and once you know the principles, lighting a good fire is simple every time. A ‘cold’ fire needs a large surface area of fuel, which is why paper will always burn much more readily than the logs themselves. Then allow careful grading of fuel sizes through sticks and kindling. Build your fire to allow plenty of airflow, and once lit, don’t be tempted to move it until well established, otherwise you interrupt the airflow.
Once your fire is established, add more wood of equal size, and allow to burn evenly until you have a good collection of embers and glowing coals on which to cook. This is where you decide how you want to cook your meat, as the amount of wood which is still burning and creating flames and smoke will affect the smokiness and heat transfer to your meat. You can always create zones within your fire, so that one side contains burning wood, whilst the other is glowing embers. Careful fire management is key.

spitbank

Cooking

You will of course need some form of grill in it’s simplest from, or a trivet and a pan. Dorset based blacksmiths Lloyd and Co make an excellent range of tripods, grills and trivets for authentic fireside experience. You can of course make your own tripod to hang a grill from, or use one from a barbeque, simply balanced on some stones or logs.

One of the key factors in fireside cooking is the ‘Maillard reaction’, whereby the sugars and amino acids in the meat combine at temperature to create new compounds with a distinctive flavour; complex, savoury, and aromatic. Getting this right requires careful control, as take things too far and the meat begins to carbonise, or burn effectively. So watching the process is key. Meat should be turned or rotated regularly, to ensure that heat is not being applied to one part of the meat for too long.

Another way to manage temperature is to vary the distance between the food and the embers. You can also rearrange embers, and align logs as they burn to create a larger surface area for more efficient heat emission.

No recipe can tell you how long to cook over a fire for, this is where your judgement comes in. To check your meat is cooked to the correct internal temperature, a small probe thermometer is ideal, but if you don’t have one, then skewer with a knife, and if the knife feels too hot to touch, you can be confident the meat is cooked. Always rest the meat before serving, to allow it to relax and become tender.

Cooking over wood and charcoal is an art, but one which is deeply rooted in human instinct, many of the principles will already be there. If you are new to cooking then the joy and learning will be exponential, but once started, and the fire is lit inside you, you can become much more adventurous!