Most beginners try to cook over flames and end up with food that is charred outside and raw inside. The fix is simple: cook over coals, not fire. A bed of glowing embers gives steady, even heat you can actually control. Once you understand that one idea, campfire cooking stops being a gamble and becomes a skill you can repeat trip after trip.
Cook over coals, not flames
Flames are unpredictable. They flare, drop, and lick up the sides of your pot, depositing soot and scorching food in seconds. A bed of coals radiates a steady, even heat, much like the burner on a stove. The whole goal of a cooking fire is to produce a deep bed of embers and then cook on those, with the flames mostly burned down.
This is the single biggest difference between a campfire built for warmth and one built for food. If you already know how to get a fire going, the cooking part is mostly about timing and patience. If you are still getting comfortable lighting one, start with how to build a campfire and come back here once that part is reliable.
You are not cooking on the fire. You are cooking on what the fire leaves behind.
Building a cooking fire and managing the coals
Build your fire the way you normally would, but light it earlier than you think you need to. Hardwoods like oak, ash, maple, and hickory burn down into dense, long-lasting coals. Softwoods like pine catch fast but burn out quickly and leave little behind, so they are better as kindling than as cooking fuel.
Let the fire burn hard for 30 to 45 minutes. You want it to collapse into a thick bed of orange embers covered in a thin grey ash. That ashing-over is the sign the coals are ready. Keep feeding a small flame off to one side so you can rake fresh coals over as the first batch fades.
Reading the heat with your hand
You do not need a thermometer. Hold your palm about a hand's width above the coals and count how many seconds you can keep it there comfortably:
- 2 seconds: high heat, good for searing meat or boiling water fast.
- 4 seconds: medium heat, the workhorse for most cooking.
- 6 seconds or more: low heat, good for simmering, baking, and anything that needs time.
Set up heat zones
One of the most useful tricks is to rake your coals into a slope or to one side, leaving part of the cooking area hot and part of it cool. This gives you two or three zones to work with instead of one. Sear over the hot side, then move food to the cooler side to finish without burning. It also gives you somewhere safe to set a pot when something is ready before the rest of the meal.
Methods that work every time
Direct grilling
Lay a small grill grate across two flat rocks or green logs set on either side of the coals. Cook meat, fish, and vegetables straight on the grate the way you would on a barbecue. Keep the grate a few inches above the embers and use your hand test to judge the heat before you commit food to it.
A pot on a tripod or pot-hanger
For boiling, soups, and stews, hang a pot over the coals from a tripod or a simple pot-hanger. A tripod of three lashed poles lets you raise or lower the pot to control the heat, which matters more than people expect. Higher to simmer, lower to bring to a boil. A billy can on a hanger is the classic setup and one of the most forgiving ways to cook outdoors.
Foil packets
The easiest method for a first trip. Wrap fish, sliced potatoes, onions, and a little oil in a double layer of heavy foil, seal the edges, and set the packet directly on the coals. Turn it once partway through. There is no pot to clean and very little that can go wrong. Keep packets on medium coals, not the hottest part, so nothing scorches before it cooks through.
Stick cooking
Sausages, bread dough wrapped around a stick, and skewered vegetables all cook well held over the coals on a long green stick. Green wood will not catch fire the way a dead branch does. Hold food to the side of the heat rather than directly in any remaining flame, and turn it slowly for an even result.
Dutch oven basics
A cast iron Dutch oven turns a fire into an outdoor oven. Set the oven on a bed of coals and shovel more coals onto the lid so heat comes from above and below. As a rough rule for baking, use roughly twice as many coals on the lid as underneath. This is how people bake bread, cobblers, and slow stews over a fire. It rewards patience and a steady coal bed more than any other method here.
Essential cookware
You can cook a lot with very little. Two pieces cover most of what a beginner needs:
- A billy can: a simple metal pot with a bail handle for hanging. It boils water, makes coffee, and cooks one-pot meals. Stainless steel is durable and easy to clean.
- A small cast iron pan or Dutch oven: heavy, but it holds and spreads heat better than anything else over a fire. It is the difference between food that cooks evenly and food that burns in patches.
Add a pair of leather gloves, a long spoon, and a small folding grate and you are set for most meals. For a full rundown of what to pack, we put together the best bushcraft cooking kit guide, and the broader essential bushcraft gear list covers the rest of the camp. Cooking is one of the core skills worth practicing, alongside the others in our bushcraft skills overview.
Fire safety and cleanup
Cooking fires deserve the same care as any other. Keep water or a way to smother the fire within reach. Never cook over a fire you cannot put out quickly, and check local rules before you light anything, since many areas restrict open fires in dry seasons.
- Keep the area clear. Move loose tinder, dry grass, and gear back from the cooking zone before food goes on.
- Let it burn down, then drown it. When you are done, let the coals burn low, then pour water over them and stir until the ash is cold to the touch.
- Pack out what you brought. Foil, food scraps, and packaging all leave with you. Leave the site cleaner than you found it.
What to do next
Pick one method and a simple meal for your first trip. Foil packets or a one-pot meal in a billy can are the most forgiving starting points. Build your fire early, wait for the coals, and use the hand test before any food touches the heat. Once that feels natural, add the grate, the tripod, and eventually the Dutch oven. If you are still assembling your kit, the bushcraft starter kit guide covers the basics worth carrying first.
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