Five Easy Meals to Prepare with a Fire Pit

There is something exciting about setting ablaze the backyard fire pit as soon as the fall crisp air kicks in every year. The fire pit is a great communal gathering place with family and friends to share stories and laughter over making s 'mores with this incredible blaze. While the fire pit serves the purpose of warming the group, it can also be a great starting point to prepare the evening meal.

Gas and charcoal grills may be easier to prepare a weekend meal; a meal cooked over the fire bit is much more primitive and entertaining way to provide that camp experience without being at a genuine campsite. There are several meals that can be prepared over the fire pit with the right tools and a little ingenuity.

Hot Dogs over Fire Pit

The old trick from days of scouting never wears out. A package of hot dogs can easily be cooked over open flame by affixing the hot dog to the end of either a stick or a cooking spear. Position the hot dog over the base of coals or a little distance from the flame. A cooked hot dog will get slightly roasted and tan a bit. Be sure to have the buns and condiments nearby.

Hamburgers over Fire Pit

Burgers can be made over the fire pit as long as one has access to a cooking grate. First develop a decent coal base after burning a few pieces of wood. This should take about an hour. Prepare a base for the grate by placement of a steel fire ring, rocks, or metal stakes capable of holding up the grate a decent height over the fire. Before resting the grate over the fire, spray the grill with oil or cooking spray which will prevent the meat from sticking. Add the burgers and watch carefully. The burgers should take three to four minutes on each side depending upon preference.

Aluminum Foil Trail Burgers

One easy dish I learned back in the old boy scout days was the preparation of the "trail burger". This meal consists of ground beef, onion, carrot, celery, garlic and seasonings wrapped and folded within a few layers of aluminum foil. The wrapped aluminum foil meal is set on top of bed of coals and cooks for about twenty minutes. When time is up, the meal is pulled from the coals with tongs and placed on a stone or non flammable surface to cool down prior to opening up the tasty meal.

Salmon

Salmon can be prepared much like the hamburgers using the grate system. Prepare fire to establish decent bed of coals and position grate accordingly. Season some fresh salmon fillets with salt and pepper and place on oiled grate. Right before fish is cooked, brush with barbecue sauce.

Steak Kabobs

An easy meal to prepare over nice bed of coals is kabobs. First establish a decent bed of coals in your fire pit by heating through a few decent size logs. Once the embers are established throw about a dozen charcoal briquettes over the embers to keep the heat going. The coals should turn white in about ten to fifteen minutes at which time you can place cooking grate over the pit. Kabobs are an easy assembly of steak, onions, peppers, and mushrooms all pierced together with bamboo or metal skewers and placed on grate. These ingredients can be marinated in Italian dressing before placed on skewers and heated. The skewers should grill eight to ten minutes being rotated halfway through grilling with a pair of long tongs.