Last night I bought an old fire pit off Craigslist. It's 30" diameter, and has a cooking grate that swings open down the center of the fire ring, and either or both sides can be removed if you want a totally open fire. I figured it would be worth the low price just to use as a pattern, but I think this has several years left before it rusts through.
Of course, I had to try it out before permanently installing it in my backyard. And the perfect thing to try it out is my current favorite open-fire recipe, Burgoo.
I had a little trouble regulating the heat. I just built a fire under one side, and tried to keep the fire going at the right temp. The pit might be a bit small to use like a key-hole pit, but I think in the future I'll start a main fire on one side, then pull the hot coals under the grate for cooking.
Here's my 5 quart, 10.25" Lodge flat-bottomed DO, just starting the Burgoo. Instead of bacon, I used chunks of Salt Pork to start.
Here it is after all the ingredients have been added and it's almost done simmering. You can see by the water level that I got this fire ring almost perfectly level:
Here's the finished product:
Ingredients:
1/2 lb Salt Pork
3 boneless skinned Chicken Breasts
5 Venison Steaks
1.5 Medium Yellow Onions
3 Potatoes
1 cup Chopped Baby Carrots
1 cup Fresh Sweet Corn, de-cobbed
1 Large Red Pepper
Several Banana Pepper Slices
2 cloves minced Garlic
15 oz Cut Green Beans
15 oz Pinto and Great Northern Beans (I would prefer Black Beans)
15 oz Diced Tomatoes
3 Tablespoons Red Current Jelly
Spices to Taste:
Creole Seasoning
White Pepper
Cumin
Cinnamon Sugar
In case you missed my thread with video of Burgoo with tripod, here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSu4Qon1v8E
Of course, I had to try it out before permanently installing it in my backyard. And the perfect thing to try it out is my current favorite open-fire recipe, Burgoo.
I had a little trouble regulating the heat. I just built a fire under one side, and tried to keep the fire going at the right temp. The pit might be a bit small to use like a key-hole pit, but I think in the future I'll start a main fire on one side, then pull the hot coals under the grate for cooking.
Here's my 5 quart, 10.25" Lodge flat-bottomed DO, just starting the Burgoo. Instead of bacon, I used chunks of Salt Pork to start.
Here it is after all the ingredients have been added and it's almost done simmering. You can see by the water level that I got this fire ring almost perfectly level:
Here's the finished product:
Ingredients:
1/2 lb Salt Pork
3 boneless skinned Chicken Breasts
5 Venison Steaks
1.5 Medium Yellow Onions
3 Potatoes
1 cup Chopped Baby Carrots
1 cup Fresh Sweet Corn, de-cobbed
1 Large Red Pepper
Several Banana Pepper Slices
2 cloves minced Garlic
15 oz Cut Green Beans
15 oz Pinto and Great Northern Beans (I would prefer Black Beans)
15 oz Diced Tomatoes
3 Tablespoons Red Current Jelly
Spices to Taste:
Creole Seasoning
White Pepper
Cumin
Cinnamon Sugar
In case you missed my thread with video of Burgoo with tripod, here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSu4Qon1v8E
