As a camper, the best way for me to start the day is by drinking a cup of coffee. Truth is I couldn’t start the day without a caffeine hit anymore. Which is why many coffee drinking campers carry outdoor Percolator machines. However, since the invention of these new coffee making gadgets, most campers have forgotten how to make coffee over a campfire.
Making campfire roasted coffee is fun and the only way you can do this is by using the old traditional method. This guide will teach you how to make coffee over a campfire. Furthermore, you do not necessary have to keep on buying a new automatic coffee maker every time it breaks, since you can make coffee over a campfire on every camping trip. This method also known as Cowboy Coffee is just one of the 6 unique ways to brew coffee from a camp site.
What You Need For Preparing Camp Coffee The Traditional Way
If you are planning to make coffee in the morning during a camping trip, you might want to make sure that you leave home carrying the right equipment for this particular task. First, you will need a pot for boiling the water and a means to lift a hot pot out of the fire. Something like the Coghlans pot holder. Without these particular items, it would be difficult to make coffee over a campfire.
Besides the coffee pot which you will use to boil water, you will also need a hot pad. The hot pad is used to move the coffee pot close to the fire so that the water can boil within a short period. An old towel could be used instead of the mitts, but be very careful to not let the towel catch on fire. The last thing you will need is coffee grounds and boiling water.
Steps On How To Make Coffee Over A Campfire
1.Use Coals To Create A Small Campfire
You cannot make coffee without fire, which is why it is advisable that you start by making a small campfire using hot coals/briquettes. Do not add wood directly to you small campfire because it might burn out of control. Instead, gather the hottest coals together to create a hot bed of coals. Alternatively you can wait for the campfire to settle down to low burning coals so the flames are not as intense.
2. Place The Coffee Pot On The Hot Bed Of Coal
After making a small campfire, fill up your pot with water and place directly over the coals. A cast iron pot is preferably due to it’s heavy duty flame retentive design. How much water you use will depend on the amount of coffee you want to make. If the water takes too long to boil, gather more hot coal and place them close to the pot. This will increase the heat and cause the water to boil faster.
3. Add Grain Coffees
Once the water has reached boiling point, use a pot holder to lift the pot from the hot coals and add the grain coffees. It’s best to use a outdoors coffee grinder to get accurate and reliable sized ground coffee. Plus grinding the beans fresh will give a much better tasting coffee.
The amount you use will depend on how strong you like your coffee. After adding in ground coffee, place the coffee pot back on the small campfire and gather more hot coals around it so that it can continue boiling.
4. Remove The Coffee Pot From The Small Campfire
After placing the coffee pot back on the hot coals, wait for at least two minutes. Using some flame resistant mitts and the camping pot holder, carefully take the hot from the campfire and place on the ground. Don’t place on anything that can melt or burn and be very careful to not spill the boiling coffee on yourself.
Add a few tablespoons of cold water to help the grounds settle at the bottom of the coffee pot. This will limit the amount of coffee lumps falling in your cup. Once done you can serve the coffee into the drinking cups or you can pour it into an intermediate container so that you can filter the leftover grounds again. Do not use sugar as one of the ingredients for making coffee, since other campers prefer taking coffee without adding sugar. That is unless you are the only coffee drinking in the group of course.
That’s The Traditional Way Of Making Coffee With A Camp Fire
Automatic coffee makers have replaced the old traditional way of making coffee when camping in the most part. They provide reliability, better taste and portability. However, by acquiring such skills you will be able to make coffee at will. Without having to rely on a simple gadget that could potentially break or get lost along the way. Making coffee over a campfire is simple and fun. Furthermore, it gives you the privilege of making coffee anytime you like during your camping trip without requiring too many utensils.