COOKING SITES

Articles In This Section:

· Around the Fire

· FINDING THE RIGHT TYPE OF WOOD

· KINDLING A FIRE

· DIFFERENT TYPES OF FIRES - Part 1

· DIFFERENT TYPES OF FIRES - Part 2

· COOKING SITES

· BAKING BREAD

· DRILLING A FIRE - Part 1

· DRILLING A FIRE - Part 2

In the fall, when there's a tang in the air and the trees begin to shed their leaves, there's nothing so satisfying as a pot of hot soup or tea cooked over an open fire, with the unavoidable taste of wood smoke and the usually unwanted addition of pine needles.

You can invent and construct your stove on the spot. The type you build depends upon the circumstances and the available materials. Four possibilities are shown on the next page.

But whatever kind of fire you use, there are some important precautions to take. Forest rangers and nature lovers do not like to see careless people building fires in the woods. And not without reason. Fires incompletely extinguished or sprays of sparks left unwatched have caused numerous, often devastating forest fires.

You should build your fire only in the middle of a clearing, in a pit, or on a stony spot. There should be nothing that can burn within 8 to 10 feet all around the fire site. Trees or bushes within this distance from the fire would be damaged by the heat.

You must completely extinguish the fire afterwards. It certainly is not too much for you to get some water for this from a nearby brook. If you merely want to stamp the fire out, at least leave yourself enough time for the job—it's really not so easy or fast. In addition, you are likely to burn your shoe soles doing this, although you may not notice it until later. Never scatter the fire in all directions so that the coals fly under leaves and are hidden from you somewhere. They keep on glowing!