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Cook Fires

THE FIRST RULE of all outdoor cooks is a fire without flame, giving heat that can be controlled. Anyone who cannot learn and apply this rule need expect nothing but failures, with burnt meat, raw biscuits and indigestion. As everyone knows who has tried it, a quick bed of coals sufficient for broiling chops, hamburgers and hot dogs, making coffee and toasting anything ready to toast, can be made out of dry fallen wood picked up under trees. But that "good" bed of coals must have something more substantial to start on if it is to last for real meal getting, or even for fine grilling of steaks. And this fuel problem differs for every outdoor setup. If you have a garden barbecue fireplace in a suburb or small town, you will probably have to buy your fuel. In this case, by all means use charcoal, for it is the most satisfactory cooking medium in the whole world, bar none. This minute we would gladly exchange our electric range, if it weren't for its electric oven, for 1 faithful tiled Provençal stove (with 4 grate pits for charcoal), plus 1 native charcoal pot for grilling, picked up anywhere from New Orleans to Buenos Aires. Besides giving such grand heat, a charcoal fire can be kept just right by moving glowing coals around with pincers or tucking in fresh pieces as needed. If you decide to use charcoal, plan for it while building your barbecue and install a special charcoal grill. We are so enthusiastic about charcoal that we have developed a technique for putting out a campfire with just enough damp earth to keep it smouldering for awhile. And thus we manufacture a continuous but small supply of handy charcoal chucks which we rake out of the ashes and keep in a little pile to help steady the fire any time it is needed.

And don't forget to look over the portable charcoal grills on the market for automobile tripping, cabin launches, and short time camping trips where the fire laws are very strict. Then, after you buy one, remember that you will be asphyxiated if you burn enough charcoal in a tightly closed tent or cabin. The fumes are just as deadly as carbon monoxide generated by your automobile motor.

In any case, whether you use charcoal or wood, supply yourself with some kind of a mechanical fire lighter or a few "kindler blocks" of solidified petroleum for the occasions when you have trouble getting your fire going properly even a cigarette lighter helps in an emergency. Such helps may not be ethical woodcraft, or even practical to carry along on safari, but on the home lot they make sense.