Wood Burning Cooking Tools A Dying Breed?

[Ragman]

As you may have seen from my YouTube channel and posts here I love to cook in dutch ovens and use live fire to cook. Over time I have assembled (and seem to keep assembling) various cooking tools and stoves that burn biomass. I have been thinking recently about the horrible drought conditions out west and seeing a fire ban in parts of Minnesota and wondering if all this effort being put in by manufacturers to come up with new and cool designs is misplaced. We are planning a trip out west later this year and I am expecting to just leave all of my wood and charcoal burners home at this point.

What do you all think about the future of live fire cooking tools, especially those of you that camp in the areas impacted? You think there will come a time before long that they are relegated to collecting dust in the basement or used only on the patio and those creative design folks should be spending more time coming up with clever propane pits which don't seem to be getting the same kind of attention but certainly seem like they would fit a big need.

Thoughts?

 

[Sputnik]

I think ppeople will keep cooking on fire as long as they can still have fires. Here in CA that isn’t much of the time but CA isn’t the USA
I love fire cooking but don’t often get to do so in the wild.

 

[Correus]

Live fire exclusively unless there is no other alternative - such as no wood available, or even cow patties.

 

[MMc]

we folks that Smoke on a pit use lots of wood and charcloe all the time. Most of the food in the world is cooked on wood also. biomes and wood isn't going anywhere.

 

[GLOCKer]

I've been shopping for camp kitchen stuff, and it seems like most of the crap flooding the market wont stand up to a good wood fire. :(

 

[Correus]

I've been shopping for camp kitchen stuff, and it seems like most of the crap flooding the market wont stand up to a good wood fire. :(

Sad but true. I tend to pick stuff up at yard sales and estate sales. Unfortunately even the items I find there are getting pricey - people seem to think if it's a cast iron cooking anything it must be old and therefore expensive. Same goes for the camp equipment from the '80s and older.

 

[M Rose]

As you may have seen from my YouTube channel and posts here I love to cook in dutch ovens and use live fire to cook. Over time I have assembled (and seem to keep assembling) various cooking tools and stoves that burn biomass. I have been thinking recently about the horrible drought conditions out west and seeing a fire ban in parts of Minnesota and wondering if all this effort being put in by manufacturers to come up with new and cool designs is misplaced. We are planning a trip out west later this year and I am expecting to just leave all of my wood and charcoal burners home at this point.

What do you all think about the future of live fire cooking tools, especially those of you that camp in the areas impacted? You think there will come a time before long that they are relegated to collecting dust in the basement or used only on the patio and those creative design folks should be spending more time coming up with clever propane pits which don't seem to be getting the same kind of attention but certainly seem like they would fit a big need.

Thoughts?

Here in Eastern Oregon, we used to the fire bans coming in the summer…. It’s part of life… BUT… that hasn’t stopped most of us from using a camp fire to cook over… even in the worst drought conditions, there are commercial products available that can be used (with caution, and strict regulations) to cook with. Webber grills are one that comes to mind as it’s my go-to portable fire pit. Also most NFS fire rings are allowed until the extreme fire dangers set in.

 

[lhoffm4]

I’m with MRose, grab a cheap Weber Grill and you can have a wood fire-pit, Dutch Oven enclosure, bbq cooker, etc. all in one unit. I even got creative with mine and removed the wheels and hung it on a tripod.