The Upside Down Campfire Technique...

I was always taught to build a campfire in the conventional manner. We made kind of a little tee-pee with the tinder on the bottom in the center, and then larger twigs stacked up around it like a tee-pee, and then the largest pieces of wood leaning against it from the outside. Sometimes, we did about the same thing, but made it square and the wood was put in the fire layered from side-to-side, and then from top-to-bottom, so there was room in-between for the air to come through while the fire was catching on.

I usually used old dry pine needles to start with and then some small twigs after that, gradually bulding up to larger pieces as the coals developed on the bottom. By late evening,we would have a nice fire with some good sized logs burning that would gradually die down and burn out overnight. Sometimes, there were still a few coals left to start the campfire to make breakfast and coffee the next morning.

I read about the upside down campfire method, and have never tried doing it; but from the pictures, it looks to me like it could work, and would be an easier fire once it was going because the heavier wood would already be starting to burn on the bottom as the coals fell through the burning wood. Has anyone else ever done this, and how does it work, if you have tried it??

 

I've done it before and it does work. However the conventional way has a higher success rate of burning and burns nicely. So yeah, I won't switching over anytime soon.

 

I love campfires, too!

Even when we are not camping, I like campfires. When I was growing up, it was a small town,and there were no rules against burning like most places have now; so we could have a fire out back any time we felt like it. We didn't have a BBQ pit, but it was an area with only dirt and surrounded by some rocks, similar to what you would make when you were out camping.

Many times, we would make a campfire, I would invite the neighbor kids over, and we would roast hot dogs and have marshmallows for dessert. What a wonderful dinner!! My mother would set up the little folding camp table that we had, and that is where we put the paper plates, hot dog buns, ketchup, mustard, and relish. Once we were all stuffed full of hot dogs and marshmallows; we sat around the campfire and talked, told stories, or sang campfire songs until it got late and we had to head off to bed.

Sometimes, we cooked chicken tails over the campfire. If you are not sure what a chicken tail is, let me explain. It used to be that when they cut up a chicken, and you cut off the legs and wings, then you had a long strip that was the back and it went all the way from the neck to the tail. Now days, they usually cut the chicken more into quarters, so the back becomes part of either the wings or the legs; but it used to be they sold backs and necks separate, and they cost about 19 cents a pound; so you could get a nice size package of them for very little cost.

We would lay an old oven rack over the bonfire once it had died down to mostly coals, and then we roasted our chicken backs and necks on there. A little salt and pepper, and they were delicious! I really miss being able to just have a nice campfire out in the back yard. Lighting the BBQ is just not the same thing......