For the best campfire cooking experience, start with hardwoods. These are the densest woods and have a pleasant smell. When burned, they produce little smoke and heat. They also burn quickly, so you won’t have to keep refilling them for weeks or months. These woods make excellent campfire cooking materials regardless of their density and moisture content.
What Is Campfire?
A campfire is a fire that offers light, comfort, and heat for cooking at a campsite. It can also act as a beacon and a deterrent to insects and predators. For safety, most established campgrounds feature a stone or steel fire ring. Campfires are a popular camping amenity. The term “campfire” is frequently used at summer camps to refer to a fire-related event (ceremony, get-together, etc.). The fire itself is referred to as a campfire in some settings.
Types Of Good Campfire Wood
The type of wood you use to construct a campfire will determine how easy it is to start, how long it burns, and how hot it becomes. To achieve these basic requirements, you must first distinguish between the many types of wood and understand how each will burn.
Green-Wood/Seasoned Wood
You will either have green or seasoned wood to work with, depending on the type of wood you burn. In this situation, “green” refers to newly cut wood, whereas “seasoned” refers to wood that has been cut for a year or more.
Seasoned wood is simpler to light when building a fire. It has dried out; the water that the tree’s roots sucked up has now evaporated, making it much easier to keep burning. You don’t want to be constantly relighting and restoking the fire. Freshly cut or “green” wood is significantly preferred to seasoned wood if you have some on hand or can find some.
Hardwood/Softwood:
It’s time to unwind now that you’ve lit your campfire. Nothing puts a damper on that like having to keep adding more wood to the fire. It’s also inconvenient because you’re wasting more precious resources, and the wood you’re transporting takes up a lot of room. You’ll need wood that burns for a reasonable amount of time. Hardwoods burn for a longer time and are even hotter than softwoods! Hardwood is an excellent alternative for your campfire if you want to save time and effort while conserving as much wood as possible.
Hardwoods include:
- Ash
- Apple
- Cherry
- Hickory
- Live oak
Best Woods For Campfire
Now that you know what makes for a successful campfire let’s go through some particular wood samples and how they could enhance (or detract) from your camping vacation. Here are some best campfires wood listed below:
Oak
When shopping for wood for a camping vacation, your region can limit you to some extent. Oak is the most widely accessible option in the United States. Of course, you can order bundles and have any wood brought to you; however, oak is an excellent campfire wood choice and is likely to be available if you don’t have that option.
What makes oak an excellent choice for a campfire? Let’s talk about it:
- It produces a lot of heat, averaging 24 BTUs per cord. This is ideal for campers who like to cook their meals over an open fire rather than a camp stove.
- When oak is dry and well-seasoned, it burns slowly and steadily. You won’t need as much wood, and you’ll be able to relax in front of the fire without having to maintain it to keep it hot and bright constantly.
If there is a disadvantage to utilizing oak wood for your campfire, it is “green” or just cut. If you burn green oak, your fire will be very smokey and not burn evenly, and you’re going to have a hard time getting it to burn at all.
Hickory
Hickory wood is a good alternative for cooking meat over an open fire when camping. The wood gives off a smoky, rich taste as it burns, giving anything you cook over it a unique flavor. The following are some of the other advantages of utilizing hickory wood for your campfire:
- Scorching weather. Hickory is one of the hottest burning woods you’ll come across. Hickory will meet your demands if you need to thoroughly cook things (or if you’re merely camping in a highly chilly region).
- Burn times are long. Hickory is a hardwood, which means it will be denser and burn for longer than softwood alternatives. As long as the hickory you bring is well-seasoned and dry, you won’t need much of it.
- It has a beautiful aroma. Unlike some other wood species, hickory has a lovely aroma when burned, and it can add to the ambiance of your base camp.
The primary disadvantage of utilizing hickory wood for your campfire is the cost. Hickory is more expensive to purchase than oak, so this may not be the ideal choice if cost is a concern. You may face difficulties if you plan to cut the wood yourself. Because of its thick nature, hickory is tough to split.
Ash
Most campers like ash as firewood because it is inexpensive, readily available, and burns consistently throughout the trip. Suppose you don’t require anything exceptional. The following are some of the other advantages of utilizing ash wood for your campfire:
- Quite a bit of heat. If you need to cook over a campfire, ash wood is a good option. Although it does not usually burn as hot as hickory or oak, it is suitable for most meals.
- Burning steadily. Ash does not burn as quickly as pine and does not last as long as hawthorn or cherry. It’s perfect for some pre-bedtime bonding by the fire!
- Smoke levels are low. Ashwood does not emit a lot of smoke. Therefore the air is kept fresh, and your eyes aren’t irritated. This is a campfire where you may relax and speak with your friends while not coughing.3.
- The ability to burn even when the environment is green. While most firewood is still green, it is difficult or impossible to burn. Even while ash can be used just after being chopped, it’s best to utilize it after it’s been seasoned for a bit.
- Splitting is simple, and it’s portable. If you want to harvest your firewood, ash is more accessible to split than hickory, and it’s much lighter than other hardwoods! If carrying a large amount of weight at once isn’t possible, ash is still a viable choice.
Although there are no obvious disadvantages to using ash for your campfire, many experienced campers believe white ash is superior to other types.
Kiln-Dried Oak Cooking Wood
Features:
- Our wood is cut to 6-inch lengths and is extra split to get the perfect length for smoker trays, smoke boxes, offset smokers, woodfire stoves, clay ovens, BBQs, portable pizza ovens, and even backyard campfires!
- The resealable Hot Box contains 350 cubic inches of oak wood kiln-dried to achieve a denser and drier wood, so it burns hotter and more prolonged.
- This woodcut is designed to fit the most popular brands of portable pizza ovens such as the Gozney Roccbox, Ooni Pro, Ooni Karu, Alfa One, and Bertollo Wood-Fired Oven.
Camerons Products Smoking Wood Chunks (Hickory)
Features:
- Hickory Smoking Wood Chunk Bag weighs approximately 10 pounds
- Soak wood chunks for 20 minutes and place on hot coals for maximum flavor
- – 840 cup. in. (0.013m³) Hickory is the perfect wood for beef, chicken, and vegetables
- Great Charcoal Briquette Alternative for a smoky flavor
- Due to natural variations in wood density and chip size, bag weights will vary (may receive in bag or box)
Conclusion
If you’re planning on smoking meats, oak is an ideal choice. It produces a significant amount of heat per cord and does not produce a lot of smoke. When dried properly, oak also provides a good amount of heat and is relatively easy to find. Fortunately, you can get the best wood for campfire cooking from almost anywhere in the country. If you’re looking for a better choice for your next outdoor adventure, try a few different types and find the ones that work best for you.
