Hello, everyone!
The last couple of weeks I’ve been spending some time in upstate New York, and I’ve had the opportunity to do a ton of outdoor, wood-fired cooking. It is, without a doubt, my favorite way to cook.
I started my professional cooking career at Hartwood— a restaurant that’s powered entirely by wood fire. What struck me most about working there— and what continues to fascinate me to this day about wood-fired cooking— is that it forces you to really cook with your senses and your instincts.
So much of modern kitchens and modern recipes are designed to take the guesswork out of cooking— use exactly one cup of olive oil, cook over medium-high heat, sear for 2 minutes on each side, etc. Cooking over the fire forces you into a more primitive, instinctual mode of cooking. There are no temperature gauges or dials, and live fire is a capricious, ever-changing beast. Cooking over fire requires a deep sensory awareness, and it demands that you be highly in tune with your heat source. It’s deeply present and meditative, in a way that becomes like a flow state. Once you start cooking this way, prepare to become totally hooked.
There are other elements to it, as well. Cooking over fire most often happens outdoors, so you get the added beauty of being out in nature. Plus, open-fire cooking tends to work best when feeding a group, so it naturally brings people together in community. Friends and family, open fire, good food, and nature— these are the elements that define many of my favorite food and cooking experiences.
As always, if you have feedback on the newsletter or want to chat open-fire cooking, shoot me an email!
Myles
What About Charcoal?
At the end of the day, nothing compares to the flavor from wood fire. With wood, you get a number of distinct stages of the burn. This process releases tons of flavor compounds, and also gives you the optionality to decide how you’ll cook specific things— smoke, embers, flame, etc. Whenever you have the opportunity to cook with wood, do it. You’ll learn something every single time, and the flavor is incomparable.
That said, charcoal is an incredible alternative that gets you quite close to wood fire. I use it all the time myself. Charcoal gets you the super high heat and much of the flavor that define wood-fire cooking, with quite a bit of added convenience. And it’s also a great place to start for those new to the open-fire arts.
Charcoal is a shortcut to the hot, smoldering embers that are generally the most convenient for cooking, especially direct-heat grilling. Stack up a charcoal chimney (every grill owner should have one), light it, and in 10-15 minutes you’ll have hot coals ready for cooking.
One thing to note is that there are significant differences between types of charcoal. Generally I use hardwood lump charcoal and avoid briquettes, which tend to be made with nasty fillers. But there are other types out there— Field Company provides a helpful overview of the differences in this guide.
How To Get Started
I’d encourage everyone to try their hand at some wood-fire, outdoor cooking. It can be as easy as purchasing one of these grill grates and building a fire in your backyard. Start by simply cooking a skirt steak over the embers. Hot and fast direct heat is an easy entry point, and you can grow from there as you begin to feel more comfortable.
You don’t need a ton of fancy equipment to do this well. A simple grill and some metal tongs are enough to kick things off.
If charcoal is your preferred route, my personal favorite is the PK Grill. I’ve also heard great things about Nomad Grills, and there’s nothing wrong with starting with a good old-fashioned Weber.
If you’re ready to dive right into wood fire, this Cowboy Grill from Barebones is pretty slick— I’ve cooked on one several times and enjoyed it. And if you’re the DIY type, the good folks at Field Cast iron put together some free, open-source plans on how to easily build a konro grill that will work with wood or charcoal.
If you already fancy yourself something of an expert, check out the beautiful open-fire grills from Mill Scale, based in Lockhart, Texas. For those of us who aren’t quite there yet, they’re still a fun Instagram follow.
What I’m Cooking
Game meats and open fire are a match made in heaven. I’ve been doing some recipe development for my friends at Force of Nature. They’re an Austin-based company that sources entirely regeneratively raised meats. Their new venison tomahawk is phenomenal— I like to cook it over the grill with a chipotle glaze. You can find the recipe for the glaze here.
I’m also a huge fan of their ancestral blends, which combine ground beef with liver and heart for an added dose of nutrients. I’ve used this blend to make some killer kebabs on the grill.
What I’m Reading
Cooking with Fire by Paula Marcoux
Paula Marcoux isn’t a chef by training, but rather an academic. In fact, she’s an archaeologist and historian whose specialty is live fire cooking. This book is an incredible compilation of open-fire cooking techniques, tools, and recipes. I’ve learned a ton from it, and I’ve also been inspired with plenty of new ideas for new techniques I’d like to try.
What I’m Watching
You can’t really mention open-fire cooking without bringing up Francis Mallmann, the modern godfather of the movement. I’ve had the opportunity to see his team cook and eat their food on two separate occasions, and I left both events incredibly inspired and well-fed.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth rewinding to the first season of Chef’s Table where Mallmann was featured. The episode features beautiful cinematography of Mallmann cooking over open fire in gorgeous Patagonia, and also offers a glimpse into Mallmann’s unique and fascinating worldview. If this newsletter hasn’t yet inspired you to go outside and cook over fire, this episode should do the trick.
Thanks for reading this newsletter!
You can follow me on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter for more cooking content!
If someone forwarded this to you, you can subscribe here.