The joys of Campfire Cooking

One thing that everybody looks forward to on a glamping holiday is the romance of sitting around a flickering campfire. There’s not much that can beat watching those flames dance as you relax with under a wide-open sky. But campfires aren’t just great to look at, once you learn a few of the basics, cooking over a campfire is a fantastic activity for the whole family, and not as tricky as you might imagine. It just requires some patience and preparation which is why we’ve shared our top campfire cooking tips and a few of our favourite (and easiest) recipes for campfire cooking below.

Try Campfire cooking  as part of your glamping holidays in Wales

When you stay at Strawberry Skys Yurts we hope you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy developing your campfire cookery skills. It’s such a fantastic way to bring a touch of excitement (and flavour!) to your glamping mealtimes, whether that be breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Though we can’t guarantee the results will be perfect every time, we hope you ‘ll agree that’s all part of the fun and developing your campfire cookery skills is hugely satisfying. Here at Strawberry Skys Yurts we have everything you and your family need to make sure your holiday glamping in Wales creates some fantastic campfire cooking memories.

Everything you need for happy campfire cooking

As well as individual campfire and barbecue areas for each yurt, we have a big barbecue and fantastic wood-fired pizza oven at our shared kitchen area. Our kitchen and outdoor kitchen make up a wonderful communal space, which is a great place for you and the young ones to make new friends. The barbecue is big enough for communal cooking and the pizza oven can be used for all kinds of delicious treats as well as pizzas. And, once you’ve finished campfire cooking, our super-big table is the perfect place to relax together and enjoy the night skies.

Campfire cooking kits to get you started

If you don’t have your own campfire cooking equipment, why not hire one of our campfire cooking kits? Each one has cast iron pots and pans you can use on your own family campfire or in our wood-fired oven. We have wood available for campfires and the wood oven, but we don’t keep charcoal on site so, if you fancy barbecuing, make sure you bring some along.

Recipes for campfire cooking

1. Easy campfire stew (main meal)

A traditional campfire stew needs to cook slowly for several hours over a regular heat. You can achieve this on a campfire but, if you’ve been out exploring all day, this quick sausage casserole recipe will give the same satisfying result in a much shorter time, as well as the perfect opportunity to try some delicious local sausages from our butcher.

Campfire (sausage) stew recipe – Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of cooking (or olive) oil

8 butcher’s sausages (or veggie sausages with a bit more oil)

1 onion

1 red pepper

1 tin baked beans

1 tin tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Bread for serving

You will need

Campfire or wood-fired oven

Cast iron pan

Wooden spoon

Tin opener

Sharp knife and chopping board

Oven or welding gloves

Method

1. Chop the onion and red pepper (small pieces cook more quickly)
2. Add the oil to the pan and spread it around
3. Add the sausages to the pan and place over the fire (or in the oven)
4. Cook with the lid off until the sausages are brown on all sides
5. Add the chopped onions and red pepper then stir
6. Cook until the onion looks clear
7. Add the baked beans and tinned tomatoes
8. Half fill the bean and tomato tins with water, swirl around to rinse then add this to the pan
9. Continue cooking without a lid until the sauce thickens and the sausages are fully cooked
10. Add salt and pepper to taste
11. Serve in bowls with bread for dipping

2. Campfire toasted cheese (lunchtime snack)

Who doesn’t love the crisp bite and runny cheese deliciousness you get from a toasted sandwich. Not only is this campfire recipe a tasty morsel for hungry adults, but it also gives the kids a chance to create their very own campfire snack. We’ve given you the basic recipe, but you can be as creative as you like with this one.

Campfire toasted cheese recipe – Serves 4

Ingredients

Sliced bread

Spreadable butter or other spread

Plenty of cheese

Additional extras (optional)

Spring onions

Chutney

Sliced salami or ham

Thinly sliced red pepper

Crisps!!

You will need

Campfire or wood oven

Cheese slicer

Butter knife

Tin foil

Finger wipes

Tongs

Method

This one’s fun to do together

1. Put a piece of tin foil on your lap
2. Spread butter or spread on one slice of bread
3. Put this slice butter down onto the tin foil
4. Place sliced cheese and any extras on top of the bread
5. Spread butter or spread on the other slice
6. Put this slice butter side up on top of the cheese
7. Wrap up your toasted sandwich in the tin foil
8. Use the tongs to place it on a griddle over the fire (glowing embers are best)
9. Wait two minutes then turn the toasted sandwich over
10. Wait two more minutes then carefully remove the sandwich and open
11. If it’s cooked, wait for it to cool then eat it.
12. If it’s not cooked, rewrap it and heat it for a bit longer 

3. Digestive biscuit nachos (gooey sweet dessert)

This is a sharing version of that USA campfire favourite s’mores. Imagine a sweet version of nachos and cheese or dirty nachos and you’ll have the right idea. Broken biscuits, melted marshmallows and gooey chocolate, all squidged together over the fire. What could be tastier (and easier for the kids to make)?

Campfire sweet nachos recipe – Serves 4

Ingredients

1 packet of digestive biscuits

Mini marshmallows

Chocolate chips

Additional extras (optional)

Chopped dried apricots

Glace cherries

Sliced banana

Peanuts

You will need

Tin foil dish

Additional tin foil

Finger wipes

Tongs

Method

Break the biscuits in half and place them in the tin foil dish 

Top with marshmallows, chocolate and other treats

Cover with additional tin foil

Place over hot embers (not into the flame)

Check after ten minutes

Remove from the heat once the marshmallows have melted

ALLOW TO COOL – this will initially be VERY HOT

Each just like you would eat nachos

Our top tips for campfire cooking

1. Make sure everybody using the fire ties long hair back and changes out of loose clothing 
2. Have a bucket of water ready for dipping just in case anyone burns their fingers
3. Campfire food can take longer to cook than you might expect so start early
4. You will want to cook over the glowing embers of wood, not big flames.
5. Gather everything you’re going to need before you start
6. Have some pre-dinner snacks available for hungry mouths
7. Use the gloves provided in our Campfire Cookware kit to handle hot pans etc.
8. Plan how you’re going to remove something from the fire before you put it on there
9. Have a round-the-outside policy to avoid people stepping over the campfire
10. Expect to eat a few burned bits of food – it’s all part of the fun
11. Learn a few campfire songs to keep everybody entertained while they cook