The benefits of cooking over open-wood fires

Cooking with wood lets modern cooks experience traditional cookery and the dishes best suited to it. From backyard firepits to open-hearth cooking, nothing beats the satisfaction of preparing a meal over an open fire.

There is more to successful open-fire cookery than sticking a sausage on a stick — although in an emergency this method cannot be ruled out! It is a very convenient way to cook if you are building a house and have no regular kitchen facilities or if the house is complete but you have no electricity or gas supply. Turn the situation to your advantage by cooking outside or in the hearth and enjoy the enhanced flavour that cooking with wood brings to food.

If you have a vegetable garden, you can experience the pleasure of eating your own fresh produce after it has been cooked in this time-honoured way. Until about 150 years ago, all cooking was done over an open fire of one kind or another and this ensured that the kitchen remained the focus of the household. Despite its drawbacks, the open hearth remains a remarkably versatile cooking device.

The most basic requirement for cooking with wood is the fire. A good cooking fire has a very low flame with plenty of glowing embers and is best lit some 30 minutes to one hour before you begin cooking. Slow-burning hardwoods such as maple, apple or cherry will provide the correct degree and duration of heat necessary to produce a good pile of cooking embers.

Start the fire with softwoods such as pine and build up a good blaze before placing larger pieces of hardwood on the flames. Different parts of the fire can be used for different cooking requirements, based on temperature and the type of utensil used. As a general guide, use grey embers for coal-roasting and red embers for grilling, roasting and stewing; with the use of direct flame confined to frying and boiling. Unless otherwise indicated, ready-made utensils can be bought from camping or kitchenware stores or made from items purchased from a good hardware store.

Establishing a good fire with a broad base of glowing embers is the key to mastering the art of open-fire cooking. Experience, practice, timing and a grasp of basic cooking principles are the best guides, so persevere.

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