Maddie & Kiki’s Top 5 Ways to Elevate Your Campfire Cooking
By Maddie & Kiki, Weber Canada Certified Grill Experts
As Canadians, we love our time outdoors and we love outdoor grilling even more—especially when warmer weather comes along. But there’s no need to merely dream of smoky, satisfying summer grill flavours. Now (yes, winter!) is a great time to perfect your grill skills, ahead of May Two-Four, big summer gatherings and camping adventures. Plus, it’ll help sunshine-deprived Canadians indulge in the nostalgic taste of camping, hiking and paddling adventures to come.
Get ready to take your campfire cooking skills to the next level. Once we get your taste buds watering with our expert tips, you won’t be able to wait until summer to get your grill going.
Here are 5 tips to make the most flavourful dishes outdoors and on the road:
- Build your fire with fruit woods: The key to delicious food cooked on the campfire is to select woods that impart flavour! Smoke flavour should be used as an ingredient, so go for woods from peach, cherry or apple trees because they add a subtle smoky flavour that compliment all campfire classics.
- Pack infused oils and salts to add to your food: Infuse a bottle of olive oil with garlic ahead of time so that every recipe starts with garlic flavour built right in! You can also add lemon zest and rosemary to a jar of salt before heading out on a camping trip. The oils mix and mingle with the salt and add a little bit of pizzazz to foods like scrambled eggs, baked potatoes and grilled steaks.
- Minimize cleanup/waste: Instead of using a BBQ sauce brush to layer BBQ sauce on grilled meats, try using a basting brush made out of herbs like rosemary, thyme and sage. The herbs impart delicious flavour as their natural oils warm and release over the fire. Plus, you don’t have to clean a BBQ sauce brush! We also like to design parts of our campfire menus to feature hand-held foods like quesadillas, burgers and corn on the cob to eliminate the need for utensils.
- Cook over coals, not flames: Even though sitting near a blazing campfire trying to cook that perfect marshmallow makes for one heck of an Instagram photo #livingmybestcamplife, flames are not good for ensuring food is cooked consistently. Cooking over red hot coals is a much easier way to ensure your food is cooking thoroughly and not scorching on the outside. Nothing is worse than cutting into a black charred chicken breast and realizing it’s raw on the inside.
- Today’s dinner is tomorrow’s breakfast: Leftovers may not be your thing when you’re at home, but at the campsite, they’re your best friend. A hunk of steak, a few baked potatoes and some peppers and onions leftover from dinner can be repurposed into steak and egg cups for breakfast. Chop up the leftovers, evenly add to a lined muffin tin, add an egg in each cup and you’ve got yourself a hand-held breakfast.
 
With these tips in mind, you’ll be a culinary campground hero in no time! And remember, it’s not all about the food. One of the things we love the most about campfire cooking is the good times, sights and sounds—being surrounded by family, friends and food—it’s an experience.
Why wait until the warmer months to dive in and perfect your grill game? Indulge in the flavours and fun of summer year-round. Better yet, check out the 2020 Spring Camping and RV Show happening February 27 through March 1 at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. Meet us—Maddie & Kiki—and get into the spirit of summer as we talk all things BBQ and campfire cooking.
