The Cast Iron Skillet

Ask any veteran campfire cook and they will tell you their favorite campfire recipes are almost always cooked with seasoned castiron cookware; and most of the time it's a cast iron skillet, (Lodge makes a good one), Dutch oven, or even cast iron griddles. You will also find that an experienced camp cook prefers camp meals cooked with an open flame wood cooking campfire , (not a propane campfire), and its coals, or charcoal briquettes. The flame and smoke from a good hardwood campfire seems to add "something special" to the taste of any camp food you make. Of course you can still get good results using a propane campfire, or a liquid fuel camp cook-stove, (open flame campfires are not always available), but there's still something special about a wood cooking campfire. *(don't forget about campfire safety, keep it confined to the campfire ring if you have one)

Camp recipes range from the very basic “meat and potatoes” type, to more complicated “fancy” cuisine having 3 or 4 courses and exotic seasonings. With the few exceptions of recipes that call for specialized cooking equipment, any recipe you can make in a kitchen can also be cooked using campfire cookware. It’s all up to the cook’s abilities.

Basic Campfire Meals and Cooking Techniques

Let’s start with the basics, in cookware and recipes:

A good cast iron skillet is a camp cook’s most versatile and used piece of campfire cookware. It's one of your campfire tools that you will use for everything from bacon and eggs at breakfast, and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, to a meat and potatoes combo for dinner. Add a good lid to that skillet and you will also make some pretty good stews and deserts too.

If you're looking for castiron cookware, this link to Lodge Logic Cast Iron Cookware will help.

It may not seem like good campfire meals like breakfast would need much in the way of a recipe, but some of the concoctions I’ve seen, using a mixture of hash browns, a meat, (bacon, ham, and sausage or game), peppers, onions, and spices, definitely used recipes ... and the talents of a good camp cook.

(ps. remember, we're using real camp cookware here, not that pretty enameled cast iron cookware like mom had)

Waking to the smell of campfire smoke and bacon frying in a skillet is one of the joys of camping. The smoke, the sizzle, the aroma, is there a better way to wake up? Before you can even get out of your sleeping bag, or get that first cup of coffee, your appetite is saying, “Feed Me!”, but as good as a bacon or sausage and eggs breakfast can be, just wait until you try some of these breakfast combos. (can't get that great smokey aroma from a propane  campfire can you)

Breakfast Scramble

Best when prepared in a cast iron skillet

Serves 4 – 6 (easily doubled for more campers)

Ingredients:

• ½ lb. bacon ( 6 – 8 strips)
• 1 lb. sausage – patties are best
• 2 cups hash browns – fresh or frozen
• 1 ½ cup Sharp Cheddar cheese – shredded is best, crumbled will work
• 6 large eggs
• 1 large onion – Spanish yellow is best, but Sweet works too
• Optional – 1 small green pepper – diced
• ½ stick butter (4 tbsp)
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)
  

Pre-preparation:

• If not already, form sausage into patties
• Dice onion into ½ inch cubes/pieces
• Mix eggs, salt & pepper (to taste) into a scramble mix

Preparation:

1. cook sausage and bacon until crisp and well done, set aside
2. drain away meat’s cooking grease, except for just enough to cover bottom of skillet
3. cook hash browns until almost crispy, stirring frequently
4. stir in onion chunks, (and green pepper if used) and crumbled or quartered sausage patties
5. cook until onions are soft – about 5 minutes
6. stir in eggs, cook & stir entire mixture until eggs are done (looks like scrambled eggs)
7. stir in 1 cup cheese, and butter (sliced into chunks)
8. crumble bacon strips, then sprinkle bacon crumbles and remaining cheese over top of skillet contents – do not stir or mix!
9. cover and simmer just until sprinkled cheese is melted

You’re done! Best served from the skillet on the table-top where your camper’s can see the end result before diving in, but if not eating around a common table, just spoon onto plates. (the campfire song about your amazing talent will come later ... after dinner)

This video is great. It's not about our cast iron skillet recipes, but I think you will enjoy seeing some real camping ingenuity put to use for a quick and easy camp breakfast. I bet you will end up trying these on your next camping trip, just to impress your friends with YOUR ingenuity when you show them how to cook camp meals with Ziplock baggies.

(just hope they haven't seen the same video)

For most campers, lunch is the quickest and simplest meal of the day, not a meal that makes you think of campfire food. Camping activities usually make this a “grab what you can” meal. That usually means sandwiches, cold or grilled, and an apple or orange, but there are camp recipes for lunch if you are a really dedicated camp cook. Just don’t make a big deal of this meal if most of your campers have a full day of scheduled activities or things they came to do in the first place. (they might even be attending a campfire safety or map reading class)

Campfire Meals - Mexican Skillet Pizza

Again, using your trusty Lodge Logic cast iron skillet with lid

Serves 4 -6 (cannot be doubled, you’ll just have to repeat it for more campers)

Ingredients

• 2 – packages Crescent roll dough

• 1 – cup chunky salsa, (mild-medium-hot, your choice)

• 2 – cups pizza sauce (16oz)

• 1 ½ - pounds ground meat (hamburger or turkey)

• 8oz – shredded cheddar cheese

• 8oz – shredded Mozzarella cheese

• 2 tbsp – oregano

Preparation:

1. brown ground meat and drain off cooking grease
2. stir in salsa, 1 tbsp oregano, heat 3 – 4 minutes, then remove mixture and set aside
3. wipe out your skillet bottom leaving just a light coating of cooking grease
4. cover bottom of skillet, and approx. 1” up the sides of skillet with the Crescent roll dough, discard any leftover dough
5. spread 1 cup pizza sauce over crescent roll dough
6. add ground meat & salsa mix and spread smooth
7. pour over rest of pizza sauce
8. mix the cheddar and mozzarella cheeses and cover the skillet mixture, sprinkle remaining oregano over top cheese

Very Important: next steps must be cooked over low campfire coals for a slow heat. Skillet should not sit directly on coals, use your cast iron grill if you have one.

Cook: Cover skillet with lid and cook approx. 20 – 30 minutes. Rotate skillet ½ turn after ten minutes. Check crust on sides after 20 minutes. Cook until side crusts start to brown on top edges.

(ps. no scary campfire stories yet ... it's only lunchtime.)

This is one of the campfire meals that really count. Your campers have had a full day of activities. They’re tired from hunting, fishing, hiking, climbing, or just playing, (big kids too), and since late afternoon all they have been thinking about is getting back to camp, getting some good food, and kicking back and relaxing. This is the meal that will elevate you to the status of genius, expert, world’s best cook, or, the bum that will never be allowed around the camp kitchen again, except to wash the pots and pans. (they might even make you the one that has to carry those heavy cast iron cookware sets)

Camp dinner time is also the beginning of what many campers know to be the best time of the evening. The time when you’re relaxing after a hard day’s activities, enjoying the campfire and company of your fellow campers, telling those scary campfire stories, singing a campfire song, socializing and just soaking up the whole camping experience. With a little planning the camp cook doesn’t have to be left out of this, slaving over dinner while everyone else has a good time.

A one-skillet combo meal is just what’s needed. With a little mid-afternoon pre-prep you can make a camp dinner that you just have to put on the coals to simmer-cook while you join the others, experiencing the good times that make camping so enjoyable. (yes, you even get to join in that campfire song)

Beef and Potato Combo

Serves 6 – 10 (easily doubled with a large enough skillet, or two)

Ingredients:

• 2 - pounds cubed beef (add ½ to 1 pound more for hearty campers)

• 4 – large potatoes

• 1 – large sweet potato

• 1 – medium green pepper

• 1 – medium red pepper

• 1 – large onion, Spanish is best, yellow will work

• 2 – packs powdered Au Jus gravy mix

• Salt & pepper to taste, best with lots of pepper

Mid-afternoon pre-preparation:

1. mix both Au Jus mixes with 3 cups water
2. brown beef cubes, then add approx. ½ liquid Au Jus mixture and simmer about 10 minutes.
3. spoon out beef cubes, set aside, poor off liquid - set aside
4. wash potatoes but do not peel them, then slice all potatoes into approx. ½ inch thick slices
5. cut the sweet potato slices into quarters
   
6. clean out peppers and slice into ½ ” x 2” slices
7. dice onion into 1/2'” chunks
8. dump all prepared vegetables into your cleaned skillet and add the last ½ of the Au Jus mix, salt & pepper to taste, (remember, best if heavy on the pepper), stir it all together to mix.
9. Cover and set aside. You’re ready to cook it later.

Dinner Preparation:

1. place skillet over a medium bed of coals, and cook 5 – 10 minutes, (until liquid gets hot) stirring to mix Au Jus liquid with vegetables.
2. add beef cubes and the reserved Au Jus mix from browning, stir everything together, cover and slow-cook over medium to low coals.
3. join your camping buddies, just pop-up to stir the skillet contents every 10 minutes or so
4. cook approx. 20 minutes for el-dente vegetables, or 30 – 40 minutes for well-done vegetables
5. you’re done! Pop it on the table or serving plates and enjoy some great campfire food.
   

The videos on the right show some tips, tricks, and techniques of experienced camp cooks using cast iron cookware. *notice they're not using any of those enameled cast iron cookware sets)

As you will see, all the Dutch oven cooking is not done over a campfire or campfire coals. Charcoal briquettes are frequently used, and many times preferred, because of their more reliable burning rate, which gives a more controlled heat source.

A lot of Dutch oven cooking goes on in the kitchens of America too, illustrating the versatility of this piece of cookware. *(this is where an enamel cast iron Dutch oven is ok to use)

I particularly liked the video showing Dutch ovens stacked atop each other, not something I would suggest for a new camp cook.

Another thing that the videos made clear was the handiness of that iron Lid Lifter when working with a heavy Dutch oven. It should be included in your set of campfire tools.

Being the camp cook can be gratifying, and a lot of fun, but it doesn’t mean you have to miss-out on the other activities you came to camp for. With a little foresight and planning your campfire meals can be delicious, and simple. That’s the beauty of cooking with a heavy cast iron skillet. Due to its heavy cast metal construction it will transfer heat more evenly without the danger of burning foods, as often happens with thinner cookware. There is more metal to protect food from the harshness of the heat source, it’s more of a gradual transfer of heat from the source to the food.

Think of your camping schedule and how much of your camping time you want to devote to cooking and preparation when choosing your camp meals. From simple to elaborate, the meal recipe choice is yours, and there are a lot of resources available to you for either choice.

If you haven't noticed, pre-seasoned Lodge Logic Cast Iron Cookware is the brand of choice for most experienced camp cooks. Their quality never lets you down.

A Few Nice-to-Have Camp Cook Accessories

G.A. Anderson was involved with Boy Scouts of America as an Assistant Scoutmaster for over six years.

"Our troop was a very active camping troop. We did a week-end camp-out once a month, rain-or-shine, and we also did two, week-long camp-outs during the summer. I was frequently "volunteered" to be the camp cook, and enjoyed the task more than I would let them know. And yes, our Boy Scout camping gear was Lodge Logic cast Iron!"

For more about the author, and to see his other writings: