Using a Campfire Cooking Kit
Putting together a campfire cooking kit will help you stay organized and make it easy to pack up for your next camping trip. We keep our kit inside of a plastic tote that is easy to store at home when we aren’t camping.
There is a checklist we keep with our tote that allows us to double-check that we have everything before we leave. It’s a great system that makes getting things ready less of a hassle. And we never end up at our campsite without the things we need.
Whether you are glamping or dry camping, you’ll need some of these essential pieces of open-fire cooking equipment to enjoy food straight from your campfire.
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Open Fire Cooking Equipment You’ll Want for Camping
Here are the things you will want to consider putting in your cooking kit. Decide which things you’ll need based on what you plan on cooking on your trip. We added in some of our favorite products for you to check out too. Click the link or pictures to add them to your kit.
Campfire Grill
You’ll want to have a grill of some sort to cook over the fire. Unless you are using a Dutch oven with coals, most cooking tools require a grill to sit on above the open flames. Using a grill enables you to cook like you would on a barbecue grill.
Grill Swing
Grill swings make cooking over open flame really easy. They are quick to set up and use an A-frame for stability. There are different lengths of hooks that hold the grill at a distance from the fire for controlled cooking. You can set your food directly on the grill or use it to hold your cooking equipment.
Rotisserie Grill
The rotisserie grill adds functionality to the basic folding grills that you can use as well. The added rotisserie spit allows you to rotate meat allowing it to cook evenly. Meanwhile, you can use the grill section for food and other cookware.
Swivel Grill
Swivel grills are another great option for campfire cooking. You hammer the stake into the ground and add your grill, coal box, and griddle parts.
You can rotate these around allowing you to cook multiple things at once and control the temperature. We love the coal box feature so you don’t have to cook over the open flame if you don’t want to.
Coffee Maker
One thing we can all agree on is that drinking coffee by the fire is one of the reasons we love camping. There are a lot of options when making coffee for camp but, we love using either a percolator or French press when making coffee on the campfire.
Percolator
We enjoy brewing coffee with a percolator because it’s easy and serves multiple people. This particular percolator makes 12 cups at a time and is easy to use over the fire. You just need to bring along water, a filter, and your favorite coffee grounds.
Check out our guide on using a percolator to make your camping coffee.
French Press
The French press makes such a good cup of coffee that you might want to use it at home too. It’s really simple to use too. You just add your coffee grounds, then pour hot water in, wait for the coffee to brew, then press down on the plunger and serve. You’ll get 1.5 liters from this press.
Dutch Oven
We’ve covered a lot on Dutch ovens including the best ones for camping, dessert recipes, and meal recipes. They are easily one of our biggest campfire cooking staples and for good reason. You can do so many things with a Dutch oven and it’s really easy to use with a campfire.
Pots and Pans
You can cook all of your favorite recipes with pots and pans just like you would at home. We like to have a separate camping set of cookware like these below.
Nesting Pot and Pan Set
We got this particular pot and pan set as a wedding gift and love it! It’s so easy to pack up and is the only thing we need if we are going for a weekend camping trip. When packed up, this kit is under 7″ and holds 10 items:
- Pot
- Pot cover
- Pan
- 2 bowls
- Spork
- Soup spoon
- Spatula/Wooden spoon
- Sponge
- Drawstring pouch
Sets like this are great for when limited space while backpacking or hiking.
Pot and Pan Set
A good stainless-steel pot and pan set is really great for campfire cooking. This even-cooking set has been recommended by a lot of fellow campers. You get a stock pot, saucepan, frying pan, lids, and accessories.
It’s always a good idea to use thick, durable cookware when camping. You want to find equipment that will hold up to high heat and won’t be easily scratched or damaged.
Campfire Cooking Kit Accessories
Here are some of the smaller items we find useful when cooking outdoors over the campfire.
Grill Accessories
We have pieced our grill accessories together but if we were starting over, we’d just grab one of these nicer accessories kits. This has everything you need to cook using a grill (bonus that you can use it to BBQ at home too). It comes with a ton of stuff:
- Grill tongs
- Spatula
- Fork
- Meat knife
- Basting brush
- Grill cleaning brush
- 2 grill mats
- Meat injector
- Meat thermometer
- 2 meat claws
- Pepper & salt shakers
- 8 corn holders
- 8 skewers
- Grill glove
- Knife and fork
- Kitchen shears
- Grill tongs
- Corkscrew
- Carrying case
Pie Iron
Pie irons are useful for making small meals and hot sandwiches while camping. They can be held straight over the fire or rested on a grill. These are a great option for limited space while backpacking or hiking.
Heat-Proof Gloves
Heat-resistant gloves can save your hands from the campfire while cooking and handling cookware. This pair protects you from over 900 degrees Fahrenheit. This is an essential item we don’t go without.
Roasting Sticks
We used to use sticks for roasting things over the campfire but these are so much easier. They are perfect for roasting marshmallows or hotdogs. They are extendable too which will save your knuckles from the heat.
Dishware Set
You’ll need something to eat all of that delicious food off of. We love kits like this that include plates, bowls, and cups. You can also go the disposable route and bring paper products too. We like that these are reusable and more heavy-duty that most paper products. Plus, you don’t have to deal with extra garbage.
Water Storage
Not only do you need water for drinking while camping, you need it for cooking and cleaning as well. If you are camping somewhere that doesn’t have potable water, you’ll need to bring your own. We also like to have these on hand nearby for handwashing and rinsing things off.
Collapsible Water Jugs
We keep these collapsible jugs in our cooking kit for so many things. We usually fill a couple up at home just in case and leave the rest folded up if there will be water on site.
Coolers
Coolers are a piece of equipment we don’t mind investing some money into. We get so much use out of them, even outside of camping. You don’t want to use a poor-quality cooler and have your food get warm and unusable when camping.
Unless you are going to have access to a refrigerator or other way to keep things cool, we recommend you get a cooler that will keep things cool for a long time.
Yeti Cooler
Yeti is notorious for producing coolers that keep things frozen for days. If you want to protect your food while camping, we think this is the way to go. We love this particular cooler because it is really deep and will hold enough food for your trip while still fitting in your car.
There are a lot more sizes to choose from with this model. Make sure that whichever cooler you decide to go with is well insulated and will fit the food and drinks you need it to.
We usually end up packing food in our Yeti cooler and using a second, cheaper option for our drinks since those won’t spoil. We pack our cheaper cooler with dry ice to keep it cool for a longer time. Another tip is to use ice blocks instead of cubes because they don’t melt as quickly.
What’s in Your Campfire Cooking Kit?
What essentials do you have in your open-fire cooking kit? We love having an organized kit that we can throw in the car and go!
After each camping trip, we take everything out of our cooking kit and clean it thoroughly at home. Then we store it away for next time. Getting quality cookware and taking care of it makes it last a long time and we get to enjoy it on our camping adventures.
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