Fire Pit Grill: How to Cook On Your Fire Pit
Ever wondered how to cook on your fire pit? A Fire pit grill in the back garden is all the rage and the why really does speak for itself!
Turning your fire pit into a barbeque by adding a fire pit grill is the easiest and quickest way of cooking up some incredibly tasty food in your garden.
The cooking options on your fire pit are almost endless, and we’re here to who you how to turn your fire pit into a one-stop outdoor kitchen.
So, fire up your fire pit grill and come with us as we take you through exactly how to cook on your fire pit.
Why Use Your Fire Pit To Cook?
There’s something wonderfully primal about cooking over an open flame. There’s a reason that barbeques are used the world over and most countries have their own traditions around barbeques and open flame cooking.
The fantastic thing about having a fire pit is that it offers more options in the way you cook your food than a traditional barbeque.
And, once you’ve finished cooking you can throw on a couple more logs and continue sitting around the fire, enjoying good food and good company.
What Fuel to Use?
This matters!
The fuel you use in your fire pit for cooking specifically is an important thing to think about as there are a couple of factors you might want to consider.
Cooking on a Charcoal Fire Pit
Charcoal is an ideal fuel source for cooking with your fire pit. It generates the right amount of heat and maintains that heat well.
However, it doesn’t add as much flavour as wood-fired options.
It is also important not to fully cover the fire pit's base with charcoal. You always need to create a cool zone. This cool zone, with no charcoal below, lets your food escape the high heat, allowing you to regulate the cooking.
Cooking on a Wood Fire Pit
Wood has a more traditional feel for cooking outside; think cooking over a campfire.
The bonus of using wood is that the smoke generated will slowly add flavour to your food.
This can be a wonderful addition, depending on what wood you choose.
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Oak - When seasoned, oak is the best firewood to use. It burns slow and is long lasting. It's also great for cooking because of its slow burn
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Apple - Burns slow and produces a good heat. Gives off a pleasant smell and is perfect to use for cooking poultry or fish for added flavour
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There are many other hardwoods to choose from; experiment and try different options, but please source them responsibly.
When cooking with wood, avoid cooking when the smoke is excessive, especially when it's black. Too much smoke will negatively affect the taste. When cooking with both wood and charcoal, you should always cook over red hot embers rather than a full-on fire.
Whilst wood undoubtedly tastes better, maintaining a stable cooking temperature takes practice, which is something to bear in mind. But with practice, this will become second nature.
Which to use, Charcoal or Wood?
Charcoal and wood are both great. Charcoal is best for convenience, and wood wins out on taste and ambience. In our view, wood takes the award, but mix it up and use the best for the occasion.
Top Tip: We love adding some hickory or almond shavings to the fire to get a beautiful southern smoky taste through the food. It really is an absolute treat.
Lighting your Fire Pit
It’s important that when lighting your fire pit for cooking then you really need to avoid using firelighters or lighter fluid. Using these will leave a chemical residue on your food which can be dangerous (and alter the flavour of the food!).
When it comes to lighting your fire, charcoal, in particular, you want to start it as you would a traditional wood fire and then add charcoal once it is going.
Our guide to how to start your fire pit will get you off to the perfect start!
Don’t Throw On Your Food Too Soon!
As we already mentioned, just because the fire is burning, it doesn’t mean it’s time to throw on your food!
As with a barbeque, you want to wait until the heat is at its max and the core of the fire (the embers) are burning strong.
This can take between 30-40 minutes so sit back and enjoy the fire until then.
Different Ways To Cook
The beauty of using your fire pit to cook is the variety of options you have in the way you cook. Let’s dive into each of them in more detail…
Using a Grill on your Fire Pit
This is one of the most common ways of cooking over an open fire. It involves simply adding a grill to the top of the fire.
This essentially turns your fire pit into a barbeque, and you would cook on it the same way.
Fire pit grills are readily available, and many brands offer bespoke grills designed to fit perfectly and deliver the best cooking experience.
We don’t know why anyone would buy a barbeque when you could get a fire pit and still have all the cooking benefits.
In fact, you have even more cooking options with a fire pit, as you’ll see!
Using A Rotisserie (spit roast)
Cooking on your fire pit with a rotisserie is incredibly satisfying! It requires a little more time, but it is so worth it!
The process involves rotating the food over the fire consistently and slowly letting the juices marinate and roll around, keeping the ingredients perfectly moist and incredibly flavourful.
Slow cooking in this way really does deliver an intense, unique flavour, creating mouth-watering food every time. You just have to be a little more patient for cooking in this way!
Pot Cooking on Your Fire Pit
If you’d rather have a stew or a pot of something tasty then not to worry, this can also be done with your fire pit.
You’ll need a few more bits of equipment, but this method of cooking opens up a whole new world of possibilities for your fire pit cooking and steps it up to a whole new level. Curries, stews, soups, one-pot wonders, you name it, you can cook just about anything in your pot.
We love the versatility that you can get cooking on your fire pit when you have both a fire pit grill and a tripod and pot. Just saying!
Skewering on Your Fire Pit
When you strip everything back and just want the simplest cooking option over your fire pit then skewering is a great way to go. What immediately springs to mind is a giant marshmallow on the end of a stick toasted on the fire and then squashed between two biscuits. Yumm delish!
And, to be fair, that is the basic principle. But it doesn’t have to just be marshmallows. You could skewer anything on the end of your skewers, meat, veg, bread, you can dip in marinades, create kebabs, and then all cooked over the open flames.
It really doesn’t get more basic and primal than that. And we love it!
Other Fun Cooking Accessories:
The options don’t have to stop there, however. There are a wide range of additional cooking equipment that you can get for your fire pits.
From Waffle irons to popcorn poppers, from smokers to cooking irons, the cooking options really are endless.
Final Thoughts
Fire pits don’t have to just be gorgeous focal points for the garden. They can also be the ideal place to cook up an absolute feast for friends and family.
Hopefully, our guide here on how to cook on your fire pit has given you all the inspiration you need to go out and start cooking up some tasty treats.
There really is no better way than to cook over an open flame. Trust us, you’ll love every bite!
