Car camping

A three-ingredient camp pizza cooked low and slow under a lid in a cast iron pan or dutch oven — crisp on the bottom, no oven required, ready in about twenty minutes over the fire.

A slow-fermented, no-knead bread mixed days ahead and baked in a cast iron dutch oven buried in charcoal briquettes — the crust cracks, the crumb is open, and the method works over a campfire, a backyard fire pit, or your kitchen oven.

You followed every step in Building a Fire, the flames did their thing, and now everyone around your site has a full belly and heavy eyelids. The logs have burned down to a soft orange glow, the conversation has gotten quiet, and you are ready to crawl into your sleeping bag. Here is the part …

Crispy corned beef, potato grated straight into the pan and a fried egg on top. A fifteen-minute cast iron breakfast that works with a tin of beef.

Here’s the truth: how to build a fire is the one skill that decides whether your night by the coals goes well, or ends with you fanning damp smoke into your own eyes for twenty minutes. It isn’t complicated, but it isn’t intuitive either — most people stack too much wood too soon and smother …