Some of these recipes I've collected on my own. Some were from a camp cooking demonstration at a local state park. I've either tried them myself or seen them used by others.
Pudgie pie variations:
Pudgie pie makers are what a friend of mine refers to those cast iron camp cookers. They consist of two square sandwich-sized cast iron plates on long poles that come together to make sandwiches or pies on a campfire. Here are the basics to start: Pam the inside of both plates. Place a slice of bread on one plate. Spoon ingredients onto the bread. Top with another slice of bread and close the top plate over the sandwich. Trim off any bread that sticks out. Cook both sides over hot coals. Eat carefully; they’re very hot.
Pudgie pies: Use pie filling in the bread to make a little fruit pie. Add cinnamon-sugar to apple pie.
Pudgie pizza: Use pizza sauce, cheese and any toppings you like.
Pudgie sloppy joes: Use sloppy joes on you bread.
Pudgie tacos: Instead of bread, place a burrito-sized tortilla on the first plate. Put taco filling on the tortilla. Fold the tortilla over the fillings and tuck in all the sides to fit within the square.
Campfire popcorn:
Put oil and popcorn in the middle of a large doubled sheet of foil. Fold close, leaving enough room for the corn to pop. Wrap around the end of a long stick and shake over the campfire.
Tin Can Cooking:
-This stove can be made from a 1-gallon can. Using a triangular punch-type opener (some people call these “church keys”), make holes all around the can, near the bottom. Also, make a few holes near the top edge of the can. Make a grate from wire, and place it inside the can about 1” from top. (The picture shows a bought grate, but you can just take a piece of metal and punch holes in it also.) Burn charcoal inside the can and add the grate when the fire is ready. This stove is good for toasting, broiling, or frying.
-Bake a fruit cobbler: Use a can opener to take the top off a large can of fruit pie filling. Save the lid. Remove all paper labels from the can. Drain fruit liquid into dry biscuit mix and mix to the consistency of pancake batter. Pour the biscuit mixture into the can on top of the fruit and lay the lid on top of the biscuit. Place the can on hot coals and it will bake into a fruit cobbler.
Box Oven Cooking:
Use a cardboard box with a lid (such as a computer paper box). Cover the box and lid completely with heavy-duty foil, inside and out (shiny side out). With the box on its side, poke holes in either side to hold coat hangers. Crisscross the hangers about 6” from the top of the box; this will be used to hold baking pans. Place an aluminum pie tin or similar container of charcoal inside the box, underneath the “grill”. (Heat can be regulated according to the number of charcoal pieces used.) The lid of the box can be used as an oven door.
Planking:
This is the art of cooking on a board by reflected heat. It is used for meat and fish. Take a 1/2” thick plank and cover with aluminum foil. Either nail or tie with wire your piece of meat to the board. Prop the board up next to hot coals. The foil will reflect the heat of the coals and cook both sides of the meat.
Steaming:
Using a piece of wax paper, wrap a piece of fish to which you have added salt, pepper, lemon, butter or whatever you like. Then wrap well in a paper bag or newspaper that has been soaked in water. Place this packet on a bed of coals for 20-30 minutes (depending on size), turning once. If the paper becomes too dry, remove from fire and wet, then return to the coals. The fish cooks by steaming.
Campfire Popcorn
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In the center of an 18" x 18" square
of heavy or doubled foil, place one teaspoon of oil & one teaspoon of
popcorn. Bring foil corners together to make a pouch. Seal the edges by
folding, but allow room for the popcorn to pop. Tie each pouch to a long
stick with a string & hold the pouch over the hot coals. Shake
constantly until all the corn has popped. Season with butter & salt.
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Dakota Fireplace:
In the 1800’s, when the Dakota Territory was being settled, homesteaders found it difficult to keep a campfire going because of the constant wind. This was how they finally managed it:
Dig two holes in the ground, one lower than the other. Make then both about the same diameter as the pot to be put on it. Build a fire using small twigs in the higher hole. The second hole is used for ventilation, since a tunnel is dug at an angle between the holes. Set pot on top of the “fire hole”. The pot will protect the fire from wind, and the ventilation hole will provide the oxygen it needs. If it rains, the pot will keep the fire from going out while the water will “seep” into the lower hole. A Dakota fireplace is good for cooking one-pot meals, as in a stew.
Stick Cooking:
Lots of folks roast wieners or marshmallows on a stick, but try making biscuits that way:
Wrap canned biscuit dough around and over the end of a stick. Hold it over hot coals and allow it to cook slowly. (If you cook it too fast or over a flame, the outside is burned and the inside is gooey.) When the biscuit is done, pull it off the stick. Fill the hole with cheese, butter, cinnamon-sugar, pudding, icing, etc.
Stone Cooking:
In prehistoric times, before the advent of metal, people had to use different ways to cook without metal pots. Here are a few ways it was done:
-Find a very flat, smooth rock with absolutely no fissures in it. Place over hot coals and let it get very hot. Grease the rock (I just use Pam) and you can cook hamburgers, hot dogs, eggs, or anything that can be cooked by a frying pan.
-Boil water for tea, coffee or soups by placing small stones in hot coals. Add a few hot stones at a time to water (water can be in any container you like: coffee mug, bowl, small pot, etc.). As each stone cools in the water, take it out and replace it with more hot stones until the water boils (surprisingly, this doesn’t take long). The ashes on the stones will settle to the bottom of the water and can be strained out if you like. Add tea bag or instant coffee or whatever to the boiling water.
Other Non-utensil Cooking:
Here are some other ways you can imitate prehistoric and Native American cooking techniques:
-Bake potatoes by covering them with mud and putting them in hot coals.
-Cook corn-on-the-cob by soaking the whole ear (husks and all) in water and then putting them directly on hot coals.
-Use seashells as cups
for drinking
This site was last updated 01/10/07