You don’t have to go camping to cook over the fire. This weekend we grilled up baby back ribs and corn over the fire. I think it looks impressive, but it is actually very easy.
We have a great BBQ. It is made Browning and is called the Cowboy Fire Pit Grill. Until this grill, we just cooked over a fire. Amazon has a much less expensive option that looks amazing. It is called Sunnydaze 36 Inch Northland Grill Fire Pit.
My favorite part about cooking over a fire, is that we never have to buy charcoal or worry about chemicals in our food. We are always able to find wood. We have had a few trees cut in our yard, friends with trees that need cut down or even find wood along the roadside after storms. We like to use fruit tree or alder for cooking. They give a great smokey flavor to our food instead of charcoal lighter fluid flavor!
My second favorite part about cooking over the fire is that we get the whole family involved. My oldest son starts the fire. He has earned is firem’n chit and totin chip in the Boy Scouts. Earning these advancements has taught him the safe way to start a fire and cut kindling with a hatchet. My younger son likes to poke at the fire. It won’t be long though until he is a Boy Scout too. He will be a Bear this year in Cub Scouts and his Whittling Chip is next on his list of badges to earn.
It is time to start cooking before too long. We like to wait until the fire starts to have coals. Coals are easier to cook over than flames. Coals provide a more even cooking temperature and reduce flare ups from fats and juices dripping off of the food.
Our ribs were very easy to make and don’t really take that much time. We purchased ribs and rubbed with love! No really, we use a local product called Rub with Love by Tom Douglas. This rub is so good, you don’t need any BBQ sauce. We cooked our ribs over the fire for about half an hour. In the past, I would cook the ribs in tin-foil for hours on the side of the fire. The tin-foil method is great for meat that falls off the bone but not great for finger food for a crowd.
The corn is amazing cooked over the fire. It took about the same amount of time as the ribs to cook. We left part of the husk on the corn to help hold the heat and moisture in. The corn was basted with coconut water and butter many times while cooking. The coconut water baste is a super healthy way to flavor your corn. We used only half a stick of butter in our pan and most of it was still in the pan after we were done cooking. I really think we could have done without the butter, but a little butter never hurts! We didn’t even need to add salt to the corn because the smokey flavor was enough.
What did you cook this holiday weekend? How do you cook your ribs and corn?