SC - Cooking over 'fire' was re: a grid?

[James F. Johnson]

> You can be a 5 star chef in a modern kitchen and turn out magnificant
> "period" dishes and still destroy a pork chop in the fire.  I have

Interesting. I grew up in mundane Scouting, cooking over campfires, and
later cooking in commercial kitchens. I find it easier to cook over wood
fires, charcoal, or gas ranges in a commercial kitchen than I do on
electric elements often found in domestic households and a few
'community' kitchens. I can look at a flame and judge it's heat.
Elements baffle me and I tend to try to under set the temperature and
raise it gently if needed. I'm more likely to burn stuff on an element.
Just me, I suppose.

One basic practice I like to stress is, except for gas ranges, I prefer
to cook on coals, not flames. Whether they are the convenient charcoal
coals, or the burnt down firewood, coals give a more consistent heat and
soot the pot less. Flames are fickle from the slightest breeze and are
either too much or not enough. It is always frustrating to get a good
bed of coals going, only to have some helpful person pile more wood on
the fire and start it blazing again. Like cooking over a blowtorch. 

And, yes, cast iron is very valuable.

One more thing, is to give yourself time. It will take time to burn down
to coals, it will take time to heat up the cast iron. And I try to have
a pot ready for dishwater at hand all the time, so whenever I'm not
using a spot for cooking, the pot goes on to get a head start on heating
and not to waste the coals. 

Seumas
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