Various Outdoor Cooking Fuels
Outdoor cooking can be a great activity for family bonding, for bonding with friends, or for simply knowing how to survive with very little. You need to know how to cook certain foods with only some fuel, foil, and fire; you need to know which foods to cook on an open flame and which foods to keep away from the campfire; and you need to know what fuels are at your disposal.
The most basic, and easiest fuel to have, is of course wood. You can build a wood fire to keep yourself warm, as well as to heat everything from stews in pots to potatoes in foil. However, not all camping areas allow open fires, especially as these pose a health and safety hazard. You can attract wild animals, moreover, if you don’t put your fire out immediately. A good substitute is charcoal. You can have hot glowing coals that you can put your Dutch oven on, allowing you fewer worries in terms of spilled or spoiled food.
You can also bring your own stove and use different liquid fuels to build a fire. One popular option is any kind of alcohol or a fuel derived from petroleum, which is inexpensive. However, these fuels can catch fire easily, and will burn relatively quickly. If you are cooking a lot of food, you might want to switch to gaseous fuels, such as propane. Propane is a non-toxic fuel, but it is harmful if inhaled, so take care when using it.
You can also use solid fuel for small fires. Wood shavings will keep your fire low and your cooking slow, but you need to watch the fire constantly and renew the shavings supply. You can also use hexamine, another solid fuel in crystal form. Hexamine fuel tablets are useful for camping and hiking trips.
The sun is a great source of fuel for your cooking in the Great Outdoors. All you need is a dark box covered on top by plastic or clear glass. The dark box keeps sunlight-derived heat in, and allows your food to cook slowly. You can wrap your food in aluminum foil, with the shiny part facing the wrapped food, in order to cook the food better.
These are only a few examples of outdoor cooking fuels. You can still count electricity if you are cooking in your backyard and are using an electric grill. For more information, do research on the different fuels, and choose a fuel that will fit your outdoor cooking needs.
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