7 Primitive Cooking Methods You Still Need to Know Today

February 24, 2022 By Boucanier

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Long before we had pots and pans, men and women knelt over fires and used what nature provided to put food on their table (or on the large rock serving as their table that evening).

Today, we have knives, pots, spoons, and even large appliances like food processors. But that doesn’t mean you won’t ever need to know how to cook without them.

Whether you’re camping or in an actual emergency situation, there are 7 common primitive cooking methods that you still would better know even today.

Ash Cooking

This is pretty similar to what we call tin-foil cooking. The difference is that you’ll use leaves instead of aluminum foil.

First, you need to make a fire slowly let it die while flattening the surface with coals of a fire. The coals should be hot but no longer burning (with flames). While the coals are getting hot, find some very large leaves that you can use to cook the food in.

Remember that the leaves need to be large enough so that they can be wrapped around the food, but they also have to be non-poisonous so that you don’t ingest toxins. Bonus points if you find leaves that are also edible. Also, try to find leaves or plants that have vines attached to them. These work well for wrapping around the food and turning it into a little bundle.

A very common and very good example is burdock leaves (see picture above). These leaves are really big and they’ll produce a delicious juicy meal.

Once the food is wrapped and the coals are hot, place the food onto the coals. Using a stick, move some of the hot coals over top of the food so that it can cook on both sides.

Broiling

Broiling over a fire isn’t that much different than broiling in your oven. The only difference is that, over a fire, you might not have a pan to lay the food in, so you’ll need to set something up that can hold the food over the fire without it falling in.

River birch and willow are great woods you can use for broiling over an open fire because they are flexible, and flexibility is key when trying to find the right kind of wood for this type of cooking. You might also need a couple of pieces of the same type of wood; the more you have, the more effective your cooking device will be.

Start constructing your “broiler” by bending one piece of wood into an oval, and crossing the bottom of the oval with another straight stick (think of an upper case D). Use small twigs or vine to tie the oval-shaped wood onto the straight stick.

However, you can also stretch the top piece so that it reaches down the entire straight piece of wood. Then, if you wish to make the wood even more stable, add smaller pieces of wood across the two pieces of wood. This will give support to the food and if you’re handy enough, will also allow you to move the wood up and down to fit specific pieces of food.

Once you have your “broiler” set up, you just need to attach the food to it. When cooking fish, you can do this just by piercing the skin onto some of the wood, and for larger pieces, you can simply lay it across. Then just hold the broiler several inches from the flame to keep it from burning, and keep it flat to keep your food from falling in.

Hot Stone Cooking

Cooking on a hot stone is really no different than cooking in a frying pan. Using a flat surface such as a rock, you just have to heat it up, place your food on, and then heat it up a little more. Be sure that the rock is dry, so it will heat up faster, and that it has at least one flat side so your food doesn’t fall off.

Give it a quick clean by dusting it off with a cloth and make sure it’s thicker than one inch, so that it doesn’t crack when heated to extreme temperatures. You can cook with stone one of two ways.

You can either use a small stone for a single serving, or you can place many stones over a low and wide fire, using them to cook larger quantities or larger pieces of food. For a larger area you’ll need to let the stones heat up for at least an hour, whereas you can probably get away with fifteen minutes or so for just a single stone.

Once the stone is hot, place your food on it and just wait for it to cook through – the time it will take will depend on what you’re cooking and your own taste preferences. Remember to remove the stone entirely once the food has finished cooking and to keep the food on it, using it as a platter or plate. The stone will take at least half an hour to cool down, so it will keep your food nice and hot for you.

Plank Cooking

Unless you can find a smooth, even piece of wood in the forest (which is likely to prove difficult), you’ll need an axe or a saw to create planks suitable for cooking. First, know the type of wood you’re looking for.

Don’t use anything poisonous, and don’t use wood such as conifers, which can have a strong-tasting resin that can seep into your food.
Some of the best woods for making planks are poplar, cedar, and oak.

Find a piece of wood that you think would make a nice plank. If you find a small log, cut it in half and then, placing it on its flattest side, cut planks from it about nine inches in diameter. You can also use two planks at once, letting one hold the food while the other holds the other up, away from the fire and from getting burned. Some people choose to place pegs onto their board, wedging them into holes cut with a knife. However, this extra step isn’t necessary, as you can just leave the board lying flat and the food should remain in place.

Steam Pit Cooking

Steam pit cooking is a form of survival cooking that has been used for centuries.

You must start by wrapping the food in large leaves, just as you do when ash is cooking, and then you need a place where you can build a pit large enough to hold coals and the food. When digging the pit, make sure you dig it at least a foot to two feet deep.

This will be large enough to not only hold the food, but also make sure no steam escapes while cooking. Once the pit has been dug, line the bottom of it with charcoal. Light the coal, again just like you did when ash cooking, and wait for it to get very hot and then die down. Then, place your food over top of the coals and then cover it with the earth you dug up. Allow it to sit for at least a couple of hours (even small food will take a while to cook this way), and then dig it up, and dig in!

Spit Cooking

If you’ve ever checked out a whole chicken spinning slowly on a rotisserie, you’ve already seen spit cooking firsthand. There are both horizontal and vertical spits and if you want the metal rods equipped with teeth that help hold the meat, you’ll likely have to already be carrying this as you won’t find anything like it in nature.

But, you can create your own spit just by finding a strong, long, and sturdy piece of wood.

While tying a piece of meat onto a piece of wood and turning it over an open fire sounds easy, spit cooking does come with its own unique set of issues. To begin with, any meat that can be tied to the spit must be tied to the spit.

This will keep the meat sturdy on the spit and will keep it from bouncing around. Also, it’s important to remember that meat shrinks when it cooks, so even if you think you’ve tied the meat closely to the spit, it still might not be close enough. Use wire, vines, or twine to really secure the meat onto the spit. If you’re roasting a whole animal, also be sure to tie up the limbs. If you don’t the center of gravity will be thrown off and the meat will once again bounce around the spit instead of clinging to it.

Remember too that if you don’t turn the spit, you’re broiling, not spit cooking. Out in the wilderness, and especially in survival situations, you likely won’t have a spit that automatically turns for you, so you’ll have to sit by the fire and manually rotate it yourself.

Clay Cooking

Some think that our earliest ancestors cooked in clay, but that’s just not the case. By the time clay tools were introduced, humans had already been cooking for generations.

But you don’t need to carry around a clay pot that’s prone to breaking while backpacking – dig far enough and you’ll find it. Just make sure that the area you dig for the clay wasn’t once the place of toxic chemicals – such as being the former site of a gas station.

Once you’ve found your clay, you can add a bit of water to mold it into shapes such as bowls and pots, although these will take hours to dry. You can also simply pat the clay onto and around the wrapped piece of food. Be sure when doing it this way that the clay is in an even layer, to promote even cooking. Then, just simply lay the clay-covered package over hot coals and allow it to cook. The time of cooking will depend on not only the size of the food being cooked, but also the thickness of the clay.

Serving food that’s been cooked in clay is one of the most exciting parts of clay cooking. Because the heat will harden the clay around the food, use a small hammer or rock to break open the clay. It will crack and fall apart, and make meal time that much more enticing.

What cooking methods did we miss? Let us know!

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The Secret to Charcoal Grilling Indoors

April 1, 2020 By Boucanier

The key is picking the right charcoal for the job. By Charlie Heller

How to Grill IndoorsGrilling inside doesn’t mean you have to give up your charcoal.

Let's say that like many people in the world, you love to barbecue, and want to make some for yourself. Except, also like many people in the world, you live in a city, or are amidst the cold and dreary winter, or you just don't have access to an outdoor grill.

Should you give up your hopes of getting the delicious smoky flavor that is the trademark of the charcoal grill? No! Because thanks to this life-changing Mad Genius Tip from Food & Wine Culinary Director Justin Chapple, you don't have to.

It all boils down to using the right type of charcoal.

Specifically, what you need is a Japanese charcoal known as sumi, or white charcoal, which you can buy in the form of rectangular sticks. Designed to be used on tabletop Japanese grills, they burn much hotter than your standard charcoal, but Chapple's hack is to use them with a cast iron skillet.

First, you'll need to get the charcoal hot using an open flame—and since you're in your kitchen, the best source will probably be your stovetop. Put the coals over the burner with some tongs and get them white and glowing, and once the first side reaches that point, flip it over and heat until the opposite side looks the exact same way.

Put your cast iron skillet on a burner, since it's too hot to put anywhere else. Then use your tongs to move the hot coals into the skillet. Now all you have to do is put a heat-proof cooking rack on top of the skillet, and there you have it: A piping hot indoor charcoal grill! Chapple demonstrates by grilling up some sausage and peppers, pointing out that the only smoke is what's coming off the food, making this indoor grill about as kitchen-friendly as it gets.

No Room For Mis-Steaks

January 15, 2020 By Boucanier

The Ultimate Guide To Grilling The Perfect Steak

Is there anything better than a perfectly grilled steak? There is something about an open flame that brings out the best from your favorite cut of meat. But it can be a little daunting when trying to do it yourself.

Most professionals agree a great cut of meat is essential when learning how to grill the perfect steak. But what else goes into getting it right each and every time? Thankfully, there are a few tips and tricks to help you get the steak of your dreams whenever you fire up your grill.

Getting To Know The Grades Of Meat

Not all meat is created equal. In fact, the USDA has come up with a grading scale to help people understand the meat they are getting and how to prepare it.

There are three basic grades of meat sold in the US:

Select, Choice, and Prime.

They are ranked according to the flavor, tenderness, and juiciness of the cut. This can be determined by the amount of marbling present in the meat.

Select is the poorest quality of the three. It is slightly above what the USDA qualifies as edible. It is almost always what is on sale or advertised, so don’t be surprised if it isn’t high quality as it tends to be rather lean and without much marbling.

While some Select cuts may be cooked with dry heat or grilled, without any marinating, this is not suggested.

Choice is a great cut of beef but has less marbling than Prime. Don’t worry though. If you purchase a choice cut of beef, you will still be getting a quality steak and it should be delicious when grilled if not overcooked.

However, when it comes to grilling, you really want a cut of Prime meat. All of the juice from the fat helps to create that butter-like quality to the taste and texture.

So, when shopping, stick to either Choice or Prime cuts. They will be worth the extra money per pound you will pay. And it is easier to make sure you grill it to your tastes with better cuts of meat.

However, it is important to note finding Prime beef at your grocery store may be difficult at the best of times. So, if you have your heart set on that perfect steakhouse steak at home, be prepared to shop around. Our best suggestion is to check with local butchers in your area and if you still can’t find it, you may need to settle for a nicely aged choice cut instead.

Best Cuts For Grilling

Filet Mignon

This small, thick cut of meat is known for its buttery texture. Its name literally translates to cute filet. It is a leaner cut of meat, still tasty and generally more expensive than some of the other cuts on this list.

T-Bone

This cut of meat gets its name from its distinct shape; it looks like the letter t. It is basically two steaks in one, with a bone running done the middle of the cut. Known for its taste and texture, it is what most people think of when they think of steak.

Porterhouse

This is cut is like a T-bone’s big brother. It is another two steaks in one and is HUGE. It tends to be used in eating challenges due to its large size.

Rib Eye

This cut of beef has a nice ratio of meat to fat, so it has a great flavor to it. It is also known for being easier to cook than some of the others on this list. So, it is great for learning how to grill the perfect steak.

New York Strip

This boneless cut of meat is known for being tender and having a good meaty flavor when done correctly. It may also be called a Kansas City steak or a Delmonico steak.

Skirt Steak

This is a thin but still flavorful cut of meat. It is on the lean side, so it helps to marinate it a little before grilling.

Hanger

Another thin but beefy flavor cut of meat. Thanks to its looser muscle fibers it is another cut that is good for marinating, as it will soak up a ton of the flavor.

Prepping To Grill

Before you start to grill, there are some things you are going to need.

1: A Grill

This one is a given. It doesn’t matter if it is a charcoal or gas grill, as long as you are comfortable with it.

2: A Digital Instant Read Thermometer

We will go more into this later. But make sure you have an accurate instant-read meat thermometer. And make sure it is digital.

3: Grilling Tongs

These will make sure you don’t accidentally puncture your steak when turning it.

4: Make Sure Your Grill Has 2 Temperature Zones

Two temperature zones will make sure you can grill your steak at the right temperature. But more on that later.

Grilling Your Steak

You may have read for a perfect medium-rare steak to grill it 3-5 minutes on each side. However, this is just a sort of rough estimate.

Because no two grills, cooking surfaces, or pieces of meat are the same you will need to get familiar with how the steak feels before it is introduced to any heat. This is because the texture and density of the meat will change as it cooks.

So, to help ensure you cook your steak just the way you like it, you should spend some time getting to know what your cut of beef feels like before it is ever introduced to a flame.

Raw steak will be soft to the touch. There will be little to no resistance when you push on it. As it cooks the resistance will increase and the meat will get tougher to the touch.

For example:

A rare steak is still pretty fleshy when you touch it. Imagine poking yourself in the cheek.

Medium rare is a little tougher, like poking your chin.

Medium well is pretty tough, like poking your forehead.

Well done has almost no give at all.

There are those who say that to make sure you still get a little bit of the flavor from the meat you really shouldn’t cook it past medium-well. However, you should obviously cook your meat the way you like it.

Somethings NOT To Do When Grilling A Steak

1: Cook Meat Straight From The Fridge

Many professional chefs think to let your steak get to room temperature before you start to cook it helps it to cook evenly. Most suggest leaving it on a prep rack for an hour should do the trick, So, use this time to salt or season your meat.

2: Don’t Use The Wrong Salt

That’s right. There is a right and wrong salt to use when prepping your steak. It turns out table salt or any other fine-grained salt is going to have too much weight per volume and you will run the risk of over seasoning.

Instead, use something like sea salt or kosher salt. Both have a nice medium to large grain which will give it a nice taste without being too overpowering.

3: Don’t Season Too Soon

If you don’t have at least an hour or so to season your steak, it is best to leave it until right before it goes on the grill. This is to make sure you can get that beautiful and tasty crust on your steak.

4: Don’t Start If Your Grill Isn’t Super Hot

The flames will need to be going for at least 20-30 minutes before you even think about starting to grill. This is to make sure you sear the outside and lock all the flavor in.

5: Make Sure You Have A Meat Thermometer

Yes, we know we did just tell you to check the fleshiness of your meat with your finger. However, unless you are a total pro, it is still better to use a meat thermometer to check the temperature. Here is a helpful table:

Rare: 120-130°F

Medium rare: 130-135°F

Medium: 140-145°F

Medium Well: 150-155°F

Well: 160-165°F

6: Flipping Your Steak More Than Once

Flipping your steak more than once can actually make it lose some of its flavors. Simply turn it once on each side to get the lovely criss-cross grill marks and then flip it once.

7: Don’t Forget To Let It Rest

Meat doesn’t stop cooking once it is off the grill. By letting it rest a little before serving it, you give your steak the perfect chance to finish cooking and let the juices settle.

Many experts suggest pulling the meat off the grill when it is about 10 degrees cooler than your desired temperature and then let it rest in a warm place (you don’t want a cold steak) for about half the time you cooked it. And if you want it hot, then just pop it back on the grill for a little warm-up and you should be good to go.

8: Do NOT Cut Or Puncture It To Check If It’s Done

Cutting into a piece of meat to check its readiness is just going to let all of the juices out of the steak. This means it will dry out the meat and cause it to lose flavor.

This is where the digital instant-read thermometer comes in. It will let you check the internal temperature of your steak without having to puncture it. Every grilling enthusiast should have one.

Now To The Grilling

Cooking Thin Cuts

When cooking thin cuts of meat, like a skirt or hanger, make sure you cook it directly over the hottest part of the grill. This will ensure it is cooked evenly throughout. Just remember to take it off the heat a little early and let it rest before serving.

Cooking Thick Cuts

This is where the two temperature zones on your grill are needed. The cooler zone on your grill is only going to need to be about 225 degrees.

So, first, you are going to put your steak in this cooler part of the grill and cover it with the lid. This will help circulate hot air around your meat, making sure it is heated evenly on both the top and the bottom. Think of it like creating a little mini oven.

Start checking the temperature after about 15 minutes. If it isn’t at the desired temperature, check again in five minutes and so on until it is about 10 degrees lower than the desired temperature. So, if you want a medium-rare steak, it would need to be about 125 at this point.

Once it hits that number, you'll want take it off the grill for a second so you can crank the heat up and get it ready to really cook. For gas grills, close the lid and turn up all the burners. For charcoal grills, gather into a pile or add half a chimney’s worth of fresh coals to the mix.

Now that everything is all heated up, put your steak in the direct heat zone and flip it once to make sure it is properly browned evenly on both sides. Be sure to take it off the grill once it hits the lower temperature of how well you want it done and let it rest.

How To Grill A Perfect Steak

It can be tricky grilling the perfect steak. However, with these helpful guidelines on what to do and what not to do, you should be able to up your steak game and wow everyone at your next outdoor event.

For more helpful hints on how to get perfectly grilled meat or vegetables, check out the rest of our outdoor section.

Bill Andrews

How to control fire temperature for grilling and smoking consistency

October 1, 2019 By Boucanier

Chuck Blount

Sausage and chicken cook over indirect heat in a Weber grill.Photo: William Luther /Staff photographer

Two split logs rest on a small pile of charcoal briquettes to get an offset smoker to the correct 250 degree temperature. — Two split logs rest on a small pile of charcoal briquettes to get an offset smoker to the correct 250-degree temperature. Photo: William Luther /Staff photographer.

Robles, a world champion barbecue cook based out of Weslaco, is the type of guy who constantly tinkers with his recipes, cooking devices, and meat preparations. He’s so precise with his demanding command of temperature, he counts the number of charcoal briquettes that are used to grill up his chicken.

“The magic number is 47,” Robles said. “That will usually get my grill to about 350 degrees, which is the temperature that will cook and finish the chicken the way I like it in about an hour.”

If you don’t want to spend hours experimenting briquette by briquette, here is a simplified formula: Take the diameter of your grill and multiply that number by two. That’s how many briquettes are needed to ballpark 350 degrees with the cover applied and your meat placed away from the hot coals.

There are other ways to take command of your outdoor fire, making the cooking process as simple and consistent as anything that could be done in a conventional kitchen oven. Here are some ways to do it:

Setup

The charcoal: You can go either the hardwood lump or the conventional briquette route. Both have key strengths and weaknesses.

The lump charcoal will burn about 5 to 10 degrees hotter than the briquettes, provides a cleaner wood flavor and won’t cook down into pure flaky ash. That makes it perfect for the caveman style of cooking directly on the coals. However, since the charcoal pieces are randomly sized (some chunks as big as a human fist), it can be a bit unpredictable.

On ExpressNews.com: Youth pitbuilders showcase their handmade pits that rival the pros at San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo

Briquettes are of uniform size and will hold the heat a little longer, with a signature flavor that reminds everybody of the backyard cookouts they grew up with. Kingsford charcoal, the industry leader in briquette charcoal by a wide margin, is a staple on the competition barbecue circuit because of its ability to win over judges that score with a nostalgic palate.

Wood: Manny Olivo, owner of the Schertz-based Cow Tippin BBQ food truck, keeps his fire pure with pecan wood by taking the scraps, starting the fire small, and building it up into a blaze. “It take a little more time, but it’s worth it for the flavor,” he said.

Remove the bark from the logs and accumulate the shavings and scraps that can be pulled off the wood. As it burns, add larger pieces until you are burning chunks that are about the size of a rolling pin. One or two logs on a bed of coals will get a traditional off-set steel pit into that magic temperature window between 225 and 250 degrees. Avoid large logs, which have a tendency to smolder and can add a funky taste to the meat.

Ignition

Lighter fluid: It can make life easier in a pinch, but I avoid it at all costs, including the charcoal that comes coated with it. The fuel never completely burns off, and the flavor will transfer into the meat like a seasoning.

On ExpressNews.com: 1 smoker, 10 store-bought sauces. Which got smoked?

Chimney starter: The metal contraption that’s shaped like a German beer stein is the perfect vehicle for getting a good fire going. Stuff a few sheets of newspaper or a couple paper towels coated in cooking oil underneath your briquettes, light it up, and you should have a perfect blend of hot charcoal that glows like lava in about 20 minutes. A full starter will hold about 70 briquettes.

Flamethrower: Don’t laugh. This is a thing, and it’s legal. They sell open-flame devices, often marketed as a weed-killer in the garden section of your local hardware store, that hook up to a propane tank and will light the charcoal or wood in seconds.

Temperature control

The full spread: Unfortunately, too many outdoor cooks think that the proper way to set up a grill is to blanket the bottom with coals. That’s a disaster recipe for burgers that end up looking like charred hockey pucks because of out-of-control flames that erupt when the meat grease hits the coals. The heat above the coals is usually about 550 to 600 degrees, making it impossible to cook with precision outside the realm of a quick steak cook.

Two-zone setup: Stack all of the charcoal to one side of the grill for a hot and a cold zone that provides tremendous flexibility with anything put on the grates. This is the Robles method, and it should be yours, too. Put the meat on the hot zone to finish or establish blackened grill marks, but most of the cooking time should be spent on the cool side. If your cook lasts more than an hour, add eight to 10 new coals to the hot side after an hour.

Other two-zone setups promote putting the coals on the outside with a metal pan filled with water in the middle. Eh. The water does little to moisten the meat, and the end result is mostly a wasted pan.

Vent control: All nongas grills and smokers come with vents that are located below and on top of the device. They can help control the temperature, but I’ve always found it best to keep them open all the way from start to finish. Airflow gives every fire life, and it delivers a better flavor. If the fire is burning too hot or too cold, it’s probably because an error was made in the original setup.

It shouldn’t take very long for these tips to become second-nature in your outdoor grilling process. When fanning the flames, it’s always best to maintain control.

Chuck Blount is a food writer and columnist covering all things grilled and smoked in the San Antonio area. Find his Chuck's Food Shack columns on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com, or read his other coverage on our free site, mySA.com. | cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver