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Preferred Heat Sources

Poll Results: Preferred Camping Heat Source

 
  • 61% (11)
    Open Wood Fire
  • 0% (0)
    Charcoal grill
  • 38% (7)
    Camp stove
  • 0% (0)
    Other
18 Total Votes  
#1
Rating: 0
7/13/09 at 7:41am
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 3,090
While I'm sure it varies depending on conditions, I was wondering what your favorite heat source is while camping. Why do you like that one best?

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#2
Rating: 0
7/13/09 at 7:48am
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 3,090
My choice is an open fire.

Sure, there are times and places where open fires are not feasible, or even illegal. But when I started camping and hiking, more years back than I care to remember, there was no other way to cook. And 15 years as an historic reenactor solidified my view---open fires are the only way you are allowed to cook at those events.

That aside, the flavors imparted by woodsmoke are unequaled by any other method. So, when possible, that's the way I go.

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#3
Rating: 0
7/13/09 at 7:55am
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: St. Louis Mo
  • Post Count: 7,180
wood fire is wonderful, camp stove is practical.....

cooking with all your senses.....

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#4
Rating: 0
7/13/09 at 8:58am
  • Joined: March 2002
  • Location: SLC UT
  • Post Count: 4,351
Wood fires are frequrently banned in my neck of the NOT woods and there are a number of areas where there simply isn't fuel for wood fires.

So I enjoy the camp stove simply because I know I can use it every time, every where.

The Cake is a Lie!

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#5
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7/13/09 at 11:26am
  • Joined: June 2007
  • Location: Corvallis, Oregon
  • Post Count: 1,730
I like to have a camp fire, but for cooking I'd rather use a camp stove.
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#6
Rating: 0
7/14/09 at 2:37pm
  • Joined: October 2001
  • Location: Chicago, IL USA
  • Post Count: 3,162
I agree wood fires are banned so often that a camp stove is the best route. For quick trips I like my jet boil but for longer adventures and larger groups I use my MSR Dragonfly.

Thanks,

Nicko 
ChefTalk.com Founder

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#7
Rating: 0
9/16/09 at 1:22pm
  • Joined: January 2006
  • Location: Gainesville Florida
  • Post Count: 195
I don't use a fire for cooking. My choice if hiking, is a MSR Pocket Rocket stove, and if car camping, a gas Coleman two burner stove.
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#8
Rating: 0
9/16/09 at 3:17pm
  • Joined: March 2008
  • Location: SW MN
  • Post Count: 915
Wood fire if allowed, gas camp stove otherwise. Usually a combination of both, burgers over a wood fire are one of my favorites.
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#9
Rating: 0
9/17/09 at 1:17pm
  • Joined: August 2008
  • Location: Diamond Springs, Calif.
  • Post Count: 14
My vote was for open fire. Like others, I grew up camping where we always cooked over a campfire. My father didn't buy a Colement camp stove until after I enlisted in the Navy. Even today, I will cook over a mesquite charcoal fire at home and at Dutch oven events.
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#10
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9/17/09 at 3:37pm
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 3,090
A point of irony. Nobody taking the poll has checked off charcoal grills as their preferred heat source. Yet, in both private and public campgrounds, I see numerous people using them---either on the fire rings and grills provided, or with small, portable units.

Just thought it interesting.

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#11
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9/18/09 at 5:47am
  • Joined: February 2009
  • Post Count: 97
Wood fire for almost everything except that first morning coffee. Need it too fast to wait around for the fire to get hot enough to boil.
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#12
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9/18/09 at 10:01am
  • Joined: March 2008
  • Location: SW MN
  • Post Count: 915
The lack of people mentioning charcoal doesn't surprise me on this forum. Everyone here likes food done right and cooking over coal and other chemicals tastes like crap :lol:
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#13
Rating: 0
9/18/09 at 12:25pm
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 3,090
What chemicals, Mary?

Lump charcoal has none; it's made just like the old-time stuff---hardwood is combusted in an anaerobic environment.

Briquettes, when properly prepared, have burned off their binders and other chemicals, and do not add off tastes to the food. The problem with briquettes is that many people start cooking over them before the coals are ready. Or, even worse, start them with lighter fluid, which definately lends its flavor to the food.

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#14
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9/18/09 at 2:35pm
  • Joined: March 2008
  • Location: SW MN
  • Post Count: 915
Many of the popular brands of briquettes(Kingsford for one) are made with soft brown coal and shredded soft pine. The Kingsford thats out right now smells nasty.
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#15
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10/9/09 at 2:30pm
  • Joined: October 2009
  • Location: Torrance, Ca
  • Post Count: 11
I find the camp stove is good for cooking but the wood fire is great to roast marsch mellows and warn your feet and hand

Thanks,
Rick G
Have a great Day please check out my Free books and my smoothies recipes Free

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#16
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10/9/09 at 3:08pm
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 3,090
>(Kingsford for one) are made with soft brown coal and shredded soft pine<

Finally got around to checking a bag of Kingsford, Mary. It says made from 100% hardwood.

Could you send me the documentation on soft coal and shredded pine? Thanks.

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#17
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10/9/09 at 7:22pm
  • Joined: March 2008
  • Location: SW MN
  • Post Count: 915
Was it lump or briquettes? The lump is 100 % wood, the other are full of crap :lol: no matter what brand of lump you buy watch for foreign objects in the bag. Rocks, pop/beer cans, wire etc. :lol:
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#18
Rating: 0
10/9/09 at 8:50pm
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 3,090
I specifically checked the briquettes, because that's what we were discussing.

Lump is always made of hardwood---there's really no other way to produce it. And, yes, you're right; there often is foreign material in the bag.

Did you know that historically charcoal making was one of the most dangerous occupations? The proceedure was to dig a huge pit, fill it with wood, ignite the wood, then backfill the hole. If---as happened far to often---the pit was opened too soon the result was a massive explosion.

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#19
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10/10/09 at 10:53am
  • Joined: March 2008
  • Location: SW MN
  • Post Count: 915
The show was in Discovery and they were at a Kingsford plant on the west coast(Washington?). They showed the making of briquettes and the regular Kingsford (not Kingsford Competition) were a mix of a lot of nasty stuff.
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