The advantage of lump charcoal is that it burns hot and slow and has no extra chemicals.  You only need to use half as much charcoal as other types.  The disadvantage is that it comes an irregular chunks and has to be broken into uniform pieces before using it.  Lump charcoal can also throw sparks.

Standard briquettes

Standard briquettes are much easier and safer to use than lump charcoal but they have a chemical base that you must burn off which can take some time, up to 15 or 20 minutes.

Instant lighting briquettes

Instant briquettes start quickly and very convenient to use but they cost much more than other briquettes and can give a chemical flavor to your food.

Wood chips and chunks

Wood chips can give a wonderful smoky flavor to your foods.  They take a little bit of preparation, since they must be soaked in water for about 30 minutes prior to putting them on lighted charcoal.

Propane gas

Propane gas is very convenient and very inexpensive and provides instant heat.  It may provide less fifth and flavor to your food, though this may not be very obvious.

If you use charcoal they should be stored in tightly covered containers because they will absorb moisture from the air.  Moisture will make them harder to start.

Strong scented woods, like mesquite, hickory, maple, or oak can actually give a flavor to your food.  Milder types of woods will add just a smoky quality.

What type of fuel should I use? is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

If you like, remove the skin from the chicken.  Rinse the chicken well, and pat dry.  Grill the chicken quarters, cut side up in an uncovered grill over medium heat for about 40 to 50 minutes, turning once and brushing frequently with the sauce.  This recipe will make four servings

Zesty Barbecued Chicken is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

I recently had the opportunity to review a very interesting book, "Cooking Backyard to Backcountry" by John Rittel and Lori Rittel. John and Lori siblings who grew up on a guest ranch in Montana, spending much of their time outdoors.  They share their outdoor cooking expertise in this book.

One of the big reasons that I enjoyed this book so much was that it provided information about cooking outdoors using a variety of methods, part of what Outdoor Cooking Magic is all about.  "Cooking Backyard to Backcountry " gives tips and information about 12 different ways to cook outside, including:

• Barbecuing
• Grilling
• Deep-pit barbecue
• Cooking with wood planks
• Dutch oven cooking
• Cooking on stone slabs
• Cooking with foil
• Cooking on a spit
• Cooking with a reflector oven
• Steam pit cooking
• Fireless cooking
• and Stone boiling cooking.

John and Lori go into depth with each one of these areas, providing detail instructions, color photos, and recipes for each method.  In fact there are 150 recipes in all. Consider Oak Plank Grilled Chicken Breasts, Montana-Style Sweet and Sour Pork, and Barbecue Spit Roast Beef, just to name a few.  There are a lot of recipes that I am looking forward to trying.

The only downside that I had with the book is the lack of index, which would be helpful to find recipes.  Other than that, I highly recommend Cooking Backyard to Backcountry if you have any interest in cooking outdoors with any of these methods.

Book Review: Cooking Backyard to Backcountry is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

For this outdoor oven, you need 4 three foot long metal stakes (you can use rebar), a tripod (just made of three straight sticks, chicken wire, aluminum foil, and charcoal briquets.

To make the oven, drive the four metal stakes into the ground to form a square (12-14 inches apart for chicken, 24-28 inches apart for turkey).

Cut four sections of chicken wire (24" high) about 10-12 holes wide.  Fasten the long sides of each piece together to make four tubelike cages out of the wire.  Slip a cage over each metal stake and fill each tube with briquets.  Add lighter flue and start each tube going with a match.

When the briquets are hot, wrap aluminum foil around the outside of the four stakes.  This will reflect the heat inside the foil, just like an oven.

As the briquets burn down, just add new ones in the top of the tube to keep it going.  You'll probably have to do this about every half hour.

Center the tripod over the stakes.  Prepare the chicken or turkey just as if you were cooking it in an oven.  Tie the wings to the body so they don't burn.  You can put an oven browning bag over the poultry and tie at the top with heavy string or wire.

Tie a piece of light-weight wire around the bird's legs.  Tie the other end around the top of the tripod so the bird will dangle down inside the outdoor oven.

It will take about 1 1/2 hours to roast a chicken, depending on it's size and how hot you can keep your outdoor oven.

If the bird starts to brown too much, just wrap it in foil and it will continue to cook in the outdoor oven without burning.

That's all there is too it!  Enjoy your new outdoor oven!

Outdoor Oven is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

To core an apple, I take a paring knife and, from the top, cut around the core of the apple, but not all the way to the bottom.  Then take a spoon, and use it to remove the core that you just cut around.  It helps if you don't break through to the bottom of the apple.  If possible, leave the bottom of the apple intact.  Also be sure to save a portion of the top of the core that you cut out.  This will be used to keep the filling from leaking out of the apple while you are cooking it.

After you remove the apple core, fill the center of the apple with your favorite filling.  I often use cinnamon and sugar, but there are many other possibilities.  You might like to try brown sugar, red hots, marshmallows, nuts, raisins, caramel, or anything else that you might be able to imagine.  After filling the center of the apple what you're filling, put the top of the core back on.  Now wrap the apple in heavy duty aluminum foil.

After the apple is all ready to go, put it in the coals of your fire.  It may take 45 to 60 minutes to cook the apple.  You might also try cooking the apples in a Dutch oven.  The heat may be a bit easier to regulate, since the apples are not in direct contact with the coals.

After the apple is done them, remove from the fire opening alone foil and enjoy a delicious, hot, baked apple!

Cooking Baked Apples is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

I found a solution.  Ice cubes.

Instead of putting water in, put some ice cubes in.  It worked great.  Now the water doesn't run out, and the cubes eventually melt to provide the moisture for the rice.  Not only that, but the other vegetables cooked better too.

Cooking Rice in Foil Dinners is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Just make sure that you don't move the barbecue indoors, even in the garage.  Grills need lots of fresh air and you don't want to send to much carbon monoxide into your home or risk the chance of a fire.

See Winter is BBQ Time for more winter barbecuing tips.

Don’t Let Winter Stop You! is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

• Razorback Ribs gives some great information on using a normal charcoal grill as a smoker for smoking ribs.
• Monkey See has good video on getting ribs ready for smoking
• Some delicious looking smoked ribs
• The Best BBQ Baby Back Ribs
• BBQ Hickory Smoked Ribs
• Ribs That Fall Off the Bone--These really do!
• Rib Smackdown -- The ribs and recipe look absolutely delicious

Smoked Ribs is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

A smoker is just right for this. I can put them on in the morning, and just let them go, and by dinner time they just fall off the bone, and taste great to boot.

There are lots of smokers you can get. I just purchased a relatively inexpensive one from our local Home Depot. It is electric, but you can get ones that take briquets. The thing that i like about the electric smoker is that you don't have to do much after you start it. Put your wood chips in the bottom, put your meat in, plug it in, and you are done. I have even left it while we ran errands for the day.

The disadvantage is that it is harder to control the heat the way you could with a smoker that used briquets. But since you are cooking at low temperatures for long periods of time, I don't worry about that too much.

Here is what looks like a homemade smoker that turned out some tasty looking brisket.

If you have tried smoking your meat, you have to give it a try.  It only cost me about $35 for an inexpensive smoker to get started.  You can always upgrade later if you like it.

Smoking – Some of the Most Delicious Cooking is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

My standard dinner includes hamburger, potatoes, carrots, onions, and rice.  You probably have a standard foil dinner as well.  Here are 12 things you can do to change your foil dinner:

1. Try different meats in your foil dinner, such has steak, chicken, sausage, kielbasa, pork chops, fish.
2. Marinate the meat before adding to your foil dinners.
3. Try different vegetables, like corn, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cabbage leaves, sweet potatoes
4. Try some fruit.  Pineapple slices with chicken can be very tasty.  Slice apples can add a wonderful flavor to pork.  Lemon slices with fish
5. Try different spices.  Consider onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, curry, chili powder, Mrs. Dash, seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, salsa, garlic cloves, dry onion soup mix, bay leaves.  There are a bunch of different types of seasonings available at your local grocery store.
6. Liquid seasons can help also.  You might like Worcestershire sauce, Heinz 57, barbecue sauce, ketchup, teriyaki, soy sauce, or Tabasco sauce.
7. What about dressings?  Try Italian dressing for a spiced up flavor.  Crush up some bouillion cubes and sprinkle on your foil dinner before cooking.
8. Different soups can had a great taste.  Adding a dry onion soup mix is great.  Or try a few tablespoons of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken.
9. Make a stir fry with some chicken, snow peas and other vegetables, stir fry sauce, and rice.  Seal the whole foil dinner up except one end.  Poor some water into that end so that the rice gets steamed.  If you get the right amount of water for the rice, this works great.  Make sure to have your foil dinner sealed up tight, so that water doesn't leak out.  If it's going to be a while before you cook, you can try ice cubes instead of adding water.
10. Make foil dinner fajitas with marinated chicken or beef strips, onions, peppers.  Serve on tortillas with cheese.
11. Hash browns, scrambled egg (uncooked), and sausage patty can make a great breakfast meal.
12. How about the packets of seasonings that you can get for different kinds of sauces and gravies?  Try Au Jus, gravy mixes, buffalo wings seasonig mix, pot roast seasoning, meat loaf seasonings, etc.  Check out the seasoning packets at your grocery store.

Foil dinners are great way to cook when you are camping.  Kids will have fun make their own creations and you can make them ahead of time, and put them in the fire when you get to your campsite.  Try some of these suggestions to spice up your foil dinners!

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12 Ways to Spice Up Foil Dinners is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Barbecuing a Steak is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Grilling the Perfect Steak is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Preheat the Dutch oven. Brown the ground beef. When done remove the beef to a large mixing bowl.  Add the spaghetti sauce to the beef and mix well. In another bowl, add the cottage or ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese (reserve a few ounces for later), eggs, and oregano, and mix well. Place the layers in the oven in the following order: Break up four lasagna noodles into the bottom of the oven. Spread about 1/3 of the meat mixture over the noodles. Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over the meat mixture. Break up five noodles and place over the top of the preceding mixtures. Spread 1/2 of the remaining meat mixture over the noodles. Spread the remaining cheese mixture over the meat mixture. Break up the remaining noodles and place over the cheese mixture. Spread the remaining meat mixture over the noodles. Pour the hot water all around the edges of the oven. Place the lid on the oven and bake one hour or until done. Check frequently.

This recipe works well with charcoal (12 briquettes on bottom and 12 on top). Cooking time can be
reduced by pre-cooking and draining the lasagna noodles.

Dutch Oven Lasagna is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Pre-heat the Dutch oven (about 12 coals on the bottom). Brown the sausage and then drain fat, saving 2 TBS. Stir in onion, garlic, pepper, and sauté with sausage. Add eggs and sausage fat and cook together until eggs are scrambled. Spoon into pita pockets and top with salsa.

To save time, you can brown the sausage and sauté garlic onions and peppers in advance, and then refrigerate or freeze in Ziplock bags.   Add 2 TBS of Olive Oil when cooking in camp in lieu of sausage fat. This will save time and reduce the sausage fat that you have to get rid of.

Pita Pocket Breakfast is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Line a Dutch oven with heavy-duty foil. Lightly grease the foil with butter. Break up bread into the oven.  Crumble cooked sausage meat over bread and cover with cheese. In a separate bowl, mix eggs
(lightly beaten), milk, dry mustard, and 1 tsp. salt (to taste). Pour the egg mixture over the layered
bread/sausage/cheese in the oven, cover, and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, checking occasionally. The
cheese rises to the top, melting into a golden brown crust over a fluffy layer of eggs.

Quick & Easy Breakfast Casserole is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Brown the hamburger, with onion, and bacon together in bottom of Dutch oven.  When done, drain the grease, and add al the rest of the ingredients, cover, and place hot coals under and on top of the Dutch oven.  Bake for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally.

Adirondack Beans is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Slice two large tomatoes in half.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Combine 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, and 1 tablespoon margarine or butter in a bowl and then sprinkle over the tomatoes.  Sprinkle parsely or other herbs (use your imagination).  Place them tomatoes on a 18x18 inch piece of heavy-duty foil.  Fold in the sides and seal. 

Grill the tomato packats, seam-side up, over medium-hot heat for about 20 minutes.  Serve immediately. 

That's all there is to it!

Cheese Covered Tomatoes is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Take 8-10 green, yellow, red sweet peppers and quarter them.  Remove the seeds and membranes.  Brush the skins with olive oil and them grill them, skin side down over medium low coals or heat.  They should take about 15 minutes, or until them are just crispy tender or charred.  They make a great side dish for almost any meat that you are grilling.

Grilled Peppers is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Peel onions and cut them into large wedges from top to bottom. Cut the tops from the bell peppers, remove the core, and cut in these into large pieces also (from top to bottom).  Trim the ends from the squash and cut diagonally, into round shapes, about 1/2" thick.  Toss all the vegetables in a large bowl with olive oil and seasoning.  It will help season the onions if you open up the onion wedges so the seasoning can get into the wedge.  Cook the vegetables on a very hot grill, turning occasionally, until the peppers are slightly charred and vegetables are tender.  This won't take long, about 5 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Mediterranean Grilled Vegetables is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Mix all the spices together. Coat each of the fillets with the spice mixture.  Melt the margarine (or butter, if you prefer) in an iron skillet over a hot cooking fire. Sear the fish for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until they smoke and appear "blackened".

Remove the skillet from the fire and cover. The heat in the pan will complete the cooking in about 10 minutes.

To make it easier, you can mix the seasonings at home and store in an air-tight container to bring with you.

Blackened Fish is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container.

Kansas City Rib Rub is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Put the beef roast, salt, thyme, clove, peppercorns, bay leaf and garlic in Dutch oven.  Add the water.  Heat until it is boiling, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 2 1/2 hours.  Now add remaining ingredients. Cover the Dutch oven and simmer until beef and vegetables are tender.  This should take about 30 minutes.  Remove beef and vegetables. Cut beef into 1/4" slices. Strain broth and serve with beef and vegetables.

French Style Roast Beef is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

• Easy Dutch Oven Baked Beans
• Dutch Oven Cinnamon Bread
• Easy Dutch Oven Mountain Man Hash
• Three Easy Dutch Oven Desserts
• Dutch Oven Cowboy Stew
• Dutch Oven Pot Roast
• Dutch Oven Au Gratin Potatoes

I hope you enjoy these.  They should be easy enough for any beginner to do.  You'll find that you can do fairly sophisticated meals with Dutch ovens, but best to start with some easy Dutch oven recipes.

Easy Dutch Oven Recipes is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Brown the meat in a dutch oven. Add the onions and saute them.  Add the berries and stock enough to cover the meat. Stir in honey. Bring to boil and cover. Simmer 1 hour. Salt to taste and serve.

Sioux Berry Stew is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

photo credit: danorth1

Combine first 5 ingredients in large self closing plastic bag or shallow glass dish. Add steak and toss to coat it with the marinade.  Refrigerate 3 or more hours. Spear with veggies on metal skewers. Grill or broil 12-15 minutes, turning frequently.

Sizzlin’ Beef Kabobs is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Scrub the potatoes but do not peel them. Cut each in three or four slice, lengthwise. Blend the butter and soup mix and spread on slices. Reassemble the potatoes. Wrap each potato in square of foil, overlapping ends. Bake until tender, turning once. Takes 45 to 60 minutes.

Onion Flavored Foil Potatoes is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Thaw the frozen bread dough overnight. Butter the bottom of an 8” Dutch oven well. Mix the heavy whipping cream and ½ cup of brown sugar and pour into the greased Dutch oven. Place brown sugar and the cinnamon/brown sugar mix in a shallow bowl and roll each chunk of bread dough into the mix. Place the bread dough in the Dutch oven layering.  Make sure to not layer the bread dough too high as it will rise a lot in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes with 11 coals on the top and 5 coals on the bottom.

Dutch Oven Sticky Rolls is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

First make the meat sauce mixture:  Brown hamburger meat in skill and drain. Add the spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce to meat mixture.

Now make the cheese mixture: mix the eggs, and all the cheeses together in a mixing bowl.

In a large Dutch oven layer as follows: ½ sauce mixture, layer of noodles, ½ cheese mixture, repeat. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour in a 12” oven with 17 coals on top and 8 coals on the bottom.

Dutch Oven Lasagna is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

photo credit: (nutmeg)

1. Mix 1/2 tsp of salt into 2 tbps water for each lbs of meat you will be using. Add pepper according to your taste. Mix the seasoned water with the meat. This is similar to how seasoned sausage is made. The water helps distribute the seasoning while giving the meat extra moisture. Now crush up 2 ice cubes and gently work the crushed iced cubes into the meat. Make 1/4 lb patties (four of them) and grill.
2. When you grill hamburgers, sear both sides on high heat, then move the burgers to the top rack to complete cooking to the level that you like. Searing the meat helps keep the juices inside.
3. Add finely minced or grated onion to the meat before grilling. The onions will release their juices as you grill, while the onion adds flavor.
4. CookbookNut.com uses beef base to make juicy burgers. Add enough beef base with other seasonings that you like to the meat until the meat is really juicy. Then grill. The added moisture will give you really juicy burgers.
5. Add vegetable juice (like V8), or Heinz 57 or Worcestershire sauce to the hamburger meat before you make the patties.
6. Make sure you use fresh meat and that it has a fat content of at least 18%. Ground chuck works great.
7. Use a digital instant read meat thermometer to cook the burgers to the desired temperature (around 140 degrees) but no more.
8. Don't overwork the meat as you make the burgers. Keeping the patties looser will make them not as tough.
9. Some say to flip early and flip often. If you wait to flip until the juices are pooling on top of the burger (as you have probably seen them do), you just end up dumping all those juices into your grill. Flip them early and often and the juices stay in the meat.
10. When making the burger patty, add a pat of butter to the middle of the patty.
11. Poke a hole in the middle of the patty. This will help the burger cook more evenly and you won't be tempted to overcook it. The hole will close as it cooks.
12. Don't mash the burger down with your spatula as it cooks. This just squeezes the juice out. If you use the "poke a hole in the middle trick" they won't be so thin on outside and thick in the middle and you won't be tempted to mash them down.

How about you? What are your tricks for making the juiciest burgers around?

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12 Ways to Make the Juiciest Burgers is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

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Dutch Oven Dessert - Cherry Cobbler

First of all, to help with clean up, line your Dutch oven with heavy duty foil. Now pour the cherry pie filling into the Dutch oven and spread it over the bottom. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, oatmeal, and pecans. Add your vanilla. Cut the butter into pieces that are about 1 tbsp in size. Mix into the sugar/flour/oatmeal mixture. You might need to use your hands or a pastry cutter. Spread this topping over the cherries.

Put the lid on the Dutch oven and bake the cobbler, using about 10 briquets on the bottom and 16 on the top. Bake for about 45 minutes. Check and see if the crust is brown and the cherries bubbly. If so, then it is done! Serve this with whipped cream or ice cream. How's that for an easy Dutch oven dessert?

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Dutch Oven Dessert - Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Start by preheating your Dutch oven. Use about 10 coals underneath and 16 on top.

In a bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, water, and pineapple juice from the can of pineapple. Stir until all the lumps are gone. Now melt the butter in the Dutch oven (which should be preheated by now). Add the brown sugar and stir until it is all dissolved. Put the pineapple rings evenly in the bottom of the Dutch oven and put a cherry in the middle of each. Pour the cake batter over all the rings. Put the lid back on and bake for about 30 minutes or until the cake is done in the center (use a toothpick or thin stick to poke in middle and see if it is clean when you pull it back out. If it has batter stuck to it, it needs to cook some more). Don't be surprised if the cake shrinks a little when it is done. This will help you get it out upside down (which will be right side up!) . When done, remove the lid, and turn the Dutch oven over onto a serving dish or place.

Pineapple Upside-down cake is one of the classic, favorite easy Dutch oven desserts

Dutch Oven Dessert - Chocolate Turtle Cake

Line your Dutch oven with heavy foil. Mix all of the ingredients, except the caramels, together in a bowl and then pour the mixture in the Dutch oven. Unwrap the caramels and distribute evenly over the top of the chocolate cake mixture. Cook with about 6 coals underneath and 9 on the top. That's it! A delicious, easy dutch oven dessert, and it's chocolate dutch oven dessert as an added bonus!

These are some great dutch oven recipes. Give them a try!

cooking, dutch oven, recipes

Three Easy Dutch Oven Desserts is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic