Help me out here... which method do you prefer cooking over a small stove or cooking over an fire grate with the campfire?? And why??

Ninety percent of the time I cook with a small stove.

1) necessary if I get to a park/camping area and a fire ban is on
2) quicker to fire up
3) heat is easier to control
4) will light even when conditions are not ideal (e.g., day long rain).

The clear downside is the extra weight (which for me is mostly in the fuel--I carry a light weight stove).

All that said, I still love a camp fire and will occassionally use it for cooking.

dd

I use a fire for Lakers & dishwater (no connection), and a stove for everything else.

I use a full size Coleman stove.  It gives a sturdy base and has two burners.  Wood is a lot of work, messy and hard on the knees.  We always make a "table" by tieing two pole to two trees and putting a webbing around the two poles.  Once it is setup we can cook standing up plus have a place to put dishes next to the stove.  The table is also very handy for doing dishes.  The table also comes in  handy when it is  time to eat.

'Westwood.

I used to rely on a stove for everything, but I got tired of it. It's one extra thing to carry around, plus the fuel, which I never learned how to conserve. While it is nice to wake up in the morning and have a cup of coffee in under five minutes, and have the ability to cook, etc. more easily under the tarp on a rainy day, it isn't worth the extra hassle to me.

With a fire, I feel like I get more out of my time in the woods. I mean, how often do I get to use a fire to cook? Not nearly often enough. Sure, it's a pain sometimes to gather wood, feed it, and extinguish it when I have to leave it alone, but really, it's just another part of the game. Fire building and management, and fire cooking, is a lost art.

If I get rained in and can't keep a fire going, I eat cold food, and use my filter to get drinking water. Not a big deal. In a real pinch, a small fire can be built with dead pine and birch bark, even under the tarp. It doesn't take much to prepare a quick meal, and such a small fire can be made and extinguished without leaving a trace. But really, before doing that, I'd spend the day eating jerky and granola bars, and it wouldn't be the first time I've eaten dehydrated food reconstituted with cold water.

Makes the sunny days that much better, right?

Besides, fire keeps me busy and it keeps me company. The need for firewood is just another reason to hop in the canoe and go explore. Though I wish that more people would leave their sites to gather wood, as some that I've seen in my limited travels have been horribly denuded by lazy campers. But that boils down to the whole respect and manners thing, and I don't want to get started on that...

If done right, the only thing a fire won't save you is a little bit of extra time.

from Akula's reply, I'd guess that he is a base camper.  Cooking over a fire works ok for that style of canoe camping.

Me, I travel every day but 1 - last few years, that's 1 layover day out of 11 or 12 days in, covering 130 to 150 miles or so, with lots of portages.  I don't have the time to "cook", not the desire to "cook" on a canoe trip.  All I ever do is boil water, the only exception being maybe to cook fish over a fire on the one layover day.  If I took time to "cook", I'd have to alter my plans, shorten my loop, spend less time paddling - don't want to do that.  "Cooking" over an open fire is not a part of why I go to Quetico.   I might have a small fire in the evening to burn trash, or I might only do that every 3rd day or so - minimul wood needed for that.  If its been raining steady for the last three days, I don't bother at all.  At camp, I want to relax, not "work" to gather and cut and maybe split wood.

So a stove - the small and lighter the better - is the way I go.

I cook over a wood fire most of the time.  Occasionally I have to take a stove due to fire restrictions; and I'll have to say it is nice to have a quick and hot meal on a wet day.  I usually travel every day but don't think the fire building takes a lot of time and I can usually find dry wood.  Sometimes campsites which are almost wood-less will have beaver wood along the shorelines under the brush...lots of campers don't use the beaver wood approach.  If it is wet and late in the day I sometimes just eat cold items but really miss a hot cup of coffee.  Cooking on the BW grates can be difficult, they are too high to be able to cook on a small twig fire, so you have to find quite a bit of wood to get a hot fire going.  I bring along a small camping fire grate and build a little fire just in front of the grate area, balancing the grate on a couple rocks.  When done I just shove the coals back into the fire pit.  When going with 4 or more in the party we usually bring a two burner camp stove, it makes cooking for a group so much easier.

Stove (Pocket Rocket).
Why? Faster and cleaner. Easier to control heat.
If I spend a day or two base camping I will cook some fish or breakfast over a fire.

The Beaver

I use a stove for coffee or if I need a quick 1-pot meal. I prefer a fire - to me food tastes better when cooked over a fire. Maybe it's the smoke, maybe it's the quality of heat, or maybe it's that I'm really hungry by the time I get a fire going and the food cooked.  I usually carry a small lightweight welded wire fire grate to make the whole experience a little easier.

I'd fall into the 50/50 group on this one.  When cooking for a group of more than 5 people, I'd say cooking over a fire is just about a necessity.  Besides, there are many to share in the camp chores.  However, I find that for smaller crews, 1 or 2 backpacking stoves is all you need.

Cooking over fire certainly is a dying art form.  You'd be surprised at how many boy scouts go to the BW & Quet. without ever having cooked on a fire.  Sure, they can build a roaring bonfire pretty quickly, but most don't know how to tend a good cooking fire worth a darn.  

There's just something so amazingly relaxing about taking your time to prepare a fire and cooking over it.  But then... I rarely draw dish duty...  

meat and veggies over the fire, all the other sides and water on the stove.

thebutcher

We started out with the notion that only girly-men used stoves. That "roughing it" mentality lasted maybe 7 years or so. I know I caught hell the first year I brought a stove. That was the year a fly, that stove and the same 3 pristine packages of freeze-dried everyone made fun of for a week, avoided what would have otherwise been a miserable night. They all came out of their soggy little tents after a little prodding only to rave about freeze-dried Mandarin Orange Chicken and the stove.

These days I cook over what works best for the situation and dish. If half the meal is prepared over the fire while the other half is on the stove all at the same time, that works just fine for me. It's more a question of the right tool and mood.

Coffee? Fire makes much better coffee but the stove is easier. If the last pot was made over a fire, I know it'll have one more great tasting brew left in it for the camp stove or even my electric stove at home.

db wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2009 at 6:38am:

These days I cook over what works best for the situation and dish. If half the meal is prepared over the fire while the other half is on the stove all at the same time, that works just fine for me. It's more a question of the right tool and mood.

Let me first qualify this by saying I've been very fortunate not having been in the park during a fire ban. My first nights meal has always been cooked over or on hot coals, after that most of the meals are cooked over a stove except for some deserts and bannock which I'll prepare 2 or 3 times.

I seem to recall this from somewhere... and one of you may likely be able to dispute it...but I think that from an environmental standpoint, burning ISO butane or propane is actually more environmentally friendly that burning wood for a campfire meal.

Counter intuitive, I know. (and I could be full of loon crap).

The Beaver

Both.  Usually cook the main course over a fire.  Side items that require boiling on the stove.  We eat a lot of fried potatoes and cook them over a fire.

For the past 5 years at least I have used a propane 2 burner stove to cook.  It is so much easier than finding firewood.  Sure, we have to carry the canisters and stove.  Each canister lasts 2 days.  

If we want a night fire , then we go find wood.

I carry a stove, but use it almost exclusively to make coffee. I cook on a fire because it's easy to control temp and means I carry less fuel. I don't carry a saw or an axe and rarely spend more then ten minutes gathering wood. The amount of BTU's in a one inch diameter stick of dry jack pine is amazing.

Nearly all my travel is in mid/late October and the warmth of a fire is welcome. When  tripping in summer I would go days between fires.  I would be less likely to use fire if I traveled in the BWCA, as IC points out the grates are often terrible for cook fires.

-The Beaver-  you are correct in that burning iso-butane creates less toxic emissions than wood, my guess is that the environmental impact would be greater if you considered the emissions generated by extracting the fuel and packing it into canisters.

In my opinion part of fun of camping is having a fire to set around and talk about the days events and any other topic that may arise.  So you might as well cook on the fire as well.

A stove for boiling water for oatmeal, hot chocolate, or frying a fish or two or to sautee mushrooms/peppers.
A fire for the evening meals like steaks, chicken, burgers, etc...
My wife and I got hooked on the insulated food pack and don't mind the extra weight so we take a quite a bit of fresh, frozen food for a 5-6 day trip.

Solus wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2009 at 4:43pm:

you are correct in that burning iso-butane creates less toxic emissions than wood, my guess is that the environmental impact would be greater if you considered the emissions generated by extracting the fuel and packing it into canisters.

That's an interesting point. So what about a wood fire considering that same Carbon will be released by burning or rotting anyway, no?

Yeah, a log that naturally decays or is burned emits the same amount of carbon.
The carbon footprint of a canister of gas is obviously much greater than a log, even if the emission is less.

The Beaver

Of course I'm never so pleased by my stove (or drawn to its heat) that I keep it going for hours......

Long live the fire!!!!! :)

In my 50 plus years of camping, I can only recall 2 times that we went into the park with a stove and that was because of a fire ban. I hated it.
On both of those trips after we had extended rainy days, we went back to cooking over the fire.
We gather all of our wood from along the shoreline on the way to camp.
Cooking over beaver wood is quick, easy and clean. I can boil water as quick as most stoves and fish just ain't fish unless it is cooked over a fire.
As stated earlier, cooking over a wood fire is becoming a lost art. We come into so many campsites and wonder ????? what the heck were they thinking when they wrecked this perfectly good fireplace????
It appears that fewer and fewer fireplaces in the Q are setup with cooking in mind.
Anyway, I learned from my Grandfather who started going to the B & Q in 1915. He taught us grandkids how to build and tend a fire for different purposes. It is something that we all take a lot of pride in and have passed that on to our kids as well. Kind of a little competition to see who can have the nicest fire.
Kind of a minimalist approach, but, why bring another "modern" contraption to the wilderness???  ( Just kidding, kind of. ) ;)
GeneM

I agree with Firechief: "In my opinion part of fun of camping is having a fire to set around and talk about the days events and any other topic that may arise.  So you might as well cook on the fire as well. "

Even solo, I like having a fire so I figure I might as well cook over it.  However, I always bring a stove and don't hesitate to use it.  Mostly for wet weather or when I'm just too pooped to collect wood and build a fire.

I have two friends that even want a morning fire, so when they are along I cook breakfast on the fire as well.  Otherwise I make breakfast on the stove.

I can't imagine camping and cooking without a fire.  I lived in GA for some time and I couldn't imagine camping in the summer. We always go to MN canoe country late season, and when there isn't a fire ban.  Half the fun is keeping warm by the fire and cooking on the fire grate.  The only time we use the stove is heating up soup to warm up at lunch time.

starwatcher

I don't think the discussion is about whether or not to have a fire, but rather whether you cook on a stove OR a fire OR both.

I do almost all my cooking on a stove, but certainly enjoy having a fire for warmth and ambiance.

Well, I may have solved my problem, anyways. I don't like carrying stoves or fuel, but stoves are pretty darn nice for "quick" stuff, like coffee in the morning or boiling a few cups of water for the freeze-dried stuff during a lunch stop.

I don't know how this works yet, but the idea has some potential. Apparently, you just load it with short, pencil-size dry twigs, and let it burn from the top down. The holes in the bottom suck air up through the middle, allowing for a hot and efficient primary burn. The angled holes along the top rim are supposed to help burn up the excess gases (and thus reduce soot, and allow for a hotter and even more efficient burn).

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A handful of smaller twigs can be collected anywhere enroute, and stored in the pack until used, staying dry and ready. No extra emissions or any other side effect of fossil fuels, and it's made from a recycled can and some extra tent stakes. When it breaks, I can still recycle the can, and simply make a new one.

I don't know how well i works yet, but perhaps I'll try it out in the next week or two. It's not as pretty as the one pictured in the link, but then, neither is anything else that comes out of my garage. I guess we'll see...

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Akula wrote on Mar 3^rd, 2009 at 3:48am:

Well, I may have solved my problem, anyways. I don't like carrying stoves or fuel, but stoves are pretty darn nice for "quick" stuff, like coffee in the morning or boiling a few cups of water for the freeze-dried stuff during a lunch stop. I don't know how this works yet, but the idea has some potential. Apparently, you just load it with short, pencil-size dry twigs, and let it burn from the top down. The holes in the bottom suck air up through the middle, allowing for a hot and efficient primary burn. The angled holes along the top rim are supposed to help burn up the excess gases (and thus reduce soot, and allow for a hotter and even more efficient burn).   (You need to Login or Register A handful of smaller twigs can be collected anywhere enroute, and stored in the pack until used, staying dry and ready. No extra emissions or any other side effect of fossil fuels, and it's made from a recycled can and some extra tent stakes. When it breaks, I can still recycle the can, and simply make a new one. I don't know how well i works yet, but perhaps I'll try it out in the next week or two. It's not as pretty as the one pictured in the link, but then, neither is anything else that comes out of my garage. I guess we'll see...

I wonder how Quetico park officials would react to a "can" stove ... since cans are banned from the park.   ;D

I even had one question me about my container for shoe-string potatoes, as I consumed them at an entry point ... the cardboard tube has metal end-caps ... as the park official said "that's a can!" ::)

dd

DentonDoc wrote on Mar 3^rd, 2009 at 4:40am:

I wonder how Quetico park officials would react to a "can" stove ... since cans are banned from the park.   ;D dd

That's a good point. Same goes for the little alcohol stove I made tonight out of some empty PBR's. I guess one could argue that it's not a "can" in the sense that it's useless for carrying anything, and is more of an essential piece of reusable equipment?

The other potential issue is during fire bans... I suppose a wood-burning stove wouldn't exactly meet the "acceptable" criteria?

All of that said, I'm actually impressed with the little PBR can stove I made. It's a simpler design than the actual "penny stove," and it burned for 10 minutes on approx. 1/4 oz. of Heet for fuel.

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FWIW - You can bring in cans and bottles that are not food or beverage. For example, a can of gas or an aerosol can of Off is allowed.

carry a small stove on the trips i plan, but i don't recall the last time i used it. i've been on trips where a stove was used sometimes intermittently and sometimes a lot-i find that i much prefer cooking over a fire, especially when with a group and cooking multiple courses. i'm a believer in eating full cooked meals at the beginning and end of the day and have never had the schedule set back by campfire cooking. i campfire cook when solo also.

when in camp, we always have an old beat-to-heck percolator sitting on the edge of the purcell trench to keep hot. hard to do with a stove.

These are the Ontario Rules and Regs - note the difference between "fire season" and "Restricted Fire Zone" (i.e. fire ban off or on)


"The Regulations deal with the use of stoves and installations during the fire season (April 1st to October 31st) and during Restricted Fire Zone periods. Use the following as your guide:"

Campfires:

You can enjoy a campfire during the fire season provided it’s built on bare rock, soil or other non-combustible material. Your campfire must be at least 1 metre away from any flammable material; at least 3 metres away from any overhanging vegetation and your campfire cannot exceed 1 metre in diameter and 1 metre in height.

Campfires are prohibited during a Restricted Fire Zone. The only exception is in an organized campground and only if the campground owner/operator decides it is safe to do so. In these situations, strict campfire rules must be adhered to. Your campground owner/operator will provide you with the rules when campfires are allowed.



Portable Gas, Propane or Naphtha Stoves:

You can use your portable gas, propane or naphtha stove anytime during the fire season, even in a Restricted Fire Zone, provided the stove is at least 1 metre from any flammable material. The stove must also be designed to use gas, propane or naphtha and you must be able to extinguish the flame by a control valve or by closing the stove.



Portable Wood Burning Stoves:

The stove must be at least 1 metre from any flammable material
The stove must be designed for cooking or providing warmth
The stove must be made entirely of non-combustible materials
The ashes and coals produced through burning must be completely extinguished and safely disposed of before the stove is moved

Charcoal Installations (BBQs, Hivachis, etc.):

You can use your portable or permanent charcoal installation during the fire season provided the installation is at least 1 metre from any flammable material and the ashes and coals produced through burning are completely extinguished and safely disposed of.

You can continue to enjoy barbecuing during a restricted fire zone provided you are in an organized campground and the owner/operator decides it is safe to do so, or you are barbecuing within 100 metres of a dwelling that you occupy (i.e. summer cottage, camp, home).



Outdoor Wood Burning Stoves and Wood Burning Furnaces


Anyone who uses an outdoor wood burning stove or wood burning furnace anytime during the fire season must ensure the following regulations are met:


The stove or furnace must be at least 5 metres from the forest and at least 2 metres from any flammable material
The area surrounding your stove or furnace at ground level must be non-combustible material extending for 2 metres in all directions
The stove or furnace must be designed for cooking or warmth; made entirely of non-combustible material; enclosed on all sides and have working spark arresting devices on all vents and chimneys


You can continue to enjoy the use of your outdoor wood burning stove or furnace during a Restricted Fire Zone provided it is within 100 metres of a dwelling that you occupy and you meet the above mentioned regulations.

SO,

The way I read it, only a gas/naptha stove or a propane/canister stove can be used when there is a fire ban.  The only exception for a wood burning stove is if it is within 100 meters of a dwelling ( I assume that does not include tent) and has spark arrestors, etc as per the above.

Note that the rule on "completely enclosed and have spark arrestors on all vents and chimneys" is in effect during fire season, as well as restricted fire zone - so it sounds like that is a requirement for anytime during the summer.  So while a campfire does not have to have a spark arrestor on vents, a stove does - at all times - may not be logical, but that's what it says.

Seems to be blank of any mention of alchohol stove, but typically, if something is not expressly allowed, then it is not allowed.  Probably ok except during a fire ban, but maybe not.