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Passing Through

On The Fire

If you are going to cook over a fire, work by preference over the coals; they can usually be raked out of the general conflagaration and arrayed to your requirements without much trouble.

A bed of hardwood embers (or coco husks or driftwood or whatever you can get) two centimeters deep will boil a pan of liquid, simmer a pot of rice at its edge, and grill toast all at a perfect even heat. Just rake out more as you need them with a stick. This way no support system is required to suspend your billy over open flames, which are of course at the whim of the winds.

Nothing is more frustrating than a roaring fire that won't even heat your pot. The handles and lid stay cooler when you cook over coals, and you can get close to the action without the fire in your face.

One of the traditional fire-forms is the keyhole hearth, where the main conflagaration is circular, with an avenue of coals raked to the front apron. Keep the fire going as needed, but its vagaries needn't affect your cooking.

Since the fire and its updraught are on the other side of the pot, incidental smoke will be carried away from you, all things being equal.

You can still use wood to fuel your fire and maintain a minimal footprint by using a can stove.

Procure a new, clean paint can from the hardware store. Cut an arching hole in the bottom front of the can the size of your palm, through which to stoke the stove, and another smaller one at the top rear for the flue. Use thumb-thick wood for fuel. You can easily balance a pot or comal* on top and rake out coals as needed.

If you are cooking over some form of camping stove, fueled with whatever it is; you're on your own. These things are imbued with innate evil and often deserve the imprecations directed at them. The most important adjunct you can carry is a windbreak on stiff wire armature. The next is the care and feeding kit of the stove that you own. These things have become less troublesome over the last few decades, but still stink of unburnt hydrodcarbons in use, and require you to carry heavy and dangerous fuel substances.

Never cook inside a tent. They burn fast.

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