pit cooking

not sure if this has been covered yet, but with my slow azz dial up i have neither the time or patince to search the site so away we go

PIt cooking or underground cooking, anyone have any methods or ideas, and i need something local not putiing palm leaves over the pit.
the dakota hole is too typical for me, i'm thinking more along the lines of sand and big stones for a lining, but how to cover and how long to cook type of info
cheers
WE

A bean hole is the method that comes to my mind. Basically dig a hole line it with some rocks and start a fire. Boil up a pot of beans and pull back the coals, stick the pot in there and cover with coals. Leave it overnight and it will be ready by morning. I like to cover the lid with a piece of tinfoil to keep ashes and such from getting to the beans.

Whats the difference in pit cooking and just putting the pot over the coals? Flavor or what? From what I gathered, you make a fire, wait for it to be coal, or if you use briquettes, make a spot for the pot, then cover it in the hot coals? so its buried in them? I was raised by just a grill even being a Texan im not a pit master haha.

nice thing about a bean hole is it can be prepared and left and it will be ready for you when you get back. There is no danger of burning or scorching the food while away hunting and such.

now to get a coffee pot that has fresh coffee as I drag myself out of a tent. My current method is to have my hobo stove all set up and ready. In the morning I carefully reach out of the sleeping bag, light some birch bark with my zippo and when my cup is boiling throw a little coffee in there and let it steep for a bit. Then drink it from the comfort of my sleeping bag.

ahh nice, ill have to try that next time im camping. Its weird but Im better when I see how stuff is done, so ima go look for this method or a guide.

WE - I've cooked a whole pig in a pit - fairly deep - you can line with rocks (I did not) - deep bed of coals - pig wrapped in foil and burlap then chicken wire - use a few sections of pipe to allow some air into the pit (think chimney) - pig on the coals - cover - I shoveled dirt on top, but if you have something large enough that will work - about 12 hours later dig it out

Similar with pork. We usually dug about a three foot pit and burned in it for several hours. Let the fire burn down to coals. Wrap the pork in aluminum foil and place on the coals. We covered the pit with roofing tin rolled a few inches of dirt on it and counted down the hours with beer. You can do the same with beef but the pork has a lot of fat that will keep it from burning. The beef doesn't have the fat so it will burn on you.

Never done this or seen it - don't you end up with lots of dirt and ashes on your meat that way? Do you end up having to cut off the dirty and burned outside?
Geez, now I sound like a fussy eater...

Not at all. The foil and burlap keep the meat clean. The chicken wire is so you can lift it out of the pit in one piece. Smaller pieces wouldn't need the wire. The meat does not burn and is extremely tender. We would make slices up near the shoulders and reach in with gloved hands to pull out the shoulder blades. They come out very easily and then we used them as big paddles to scoop the meat into trays. It literally does fall off the bone.

Yah I watched a video on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAbzuN6kbdw and It turned out really well, you can tell they had other ingredients, but like I said, I have to see something to excel at it and found this, now i know the basic concept, my bean hole would never be that big tho. I dont think me and my gf would enjoy staying in a tent together after a pot of beans like that lol

I've done Randyt's method Worked out great. Before we went to sleep we put together a pot with beans, ham, potato and spices set it in a hole surrounded with coals from the fire and some earth on top. Warm breakfast. It was good on a cold morning.

One question, does it have to be cast iron? I dont own cast iron pots and dont plan on buying any. Could a regular pot work? or would the stainless steel be to thin?

I used cast iron. Stainless steal might be OK. One problem is as you mentioned is the thickness. Too much heat not only can burn the contents of the pot but also warp the lid on cheep pots. I say give it a try. Avoid plastic handles, just saying. If the lid doesn't fit securely, be careful of dumping the ashes into the pot.

We made a caribou stew in a cast iron Dutch Oven at a camp ground in Ontario one fishing trip. Dug a big hole, got a good bed of charcoal going, set the dutch oven (one with three legs) on the coals, put coals on the lid and then covered it up with dirt. Came back from fishing and found most of the campers standing around smelling the aroma of stew cooking! Good thing it was a large stew because after many people "had a taste" there was just enough left for our dinner. Fantastic tasting stew!

WW - The beef will burn. As I said it does not have the fat like pork. We always tried to open a spot in the ashes to sit the beef in. But it's not like it burns to a cinder. You'll get a small layer on the outside. Just trim it and enjoy. Pork works great, however. As Crash said the foil keeps it clean.

Interesting, thanks for the info :)

Wheeeeee! It's W.E.! How you been bro!

Never done it, but you can use any non poisonous ,palitable leaves between the dirt and food layers. I definetly remember reading about using wild grape leaves. I believe cattail leaves can be used.
Hot rocks ,dirt, leaves, food,leaves, dirt, as I recall. Thickness of each layer? I don't know , it would depend on the diameter and deepth of the pit I imagine. Same with time, duck patatos or wild carrots will take alot longer than fish.

I also remember reading about building the pit with a stick in the middle while you build it. When completed, pack the pit down real good and carefully pull the stil out. Now pour some water in the hole...you got a steamer,slow cooker!

look on youtube for cajun microwave.. use banana leaves or nothing else.. it would take an awful lot of grape vine leaves.. but you can also use sheet metal over aluminum foil sheets layed on top of the food .. charcoal or wood on top of the sheet metal like a large cookie sheet think.. clambake

In his book "AT Ease, or Stories I tell to Friends", Dwight Eisenhower speaks of digging a hole, burning some hardwood dowwn to cowls, the throwing a steak on the coals and letting it cook.
Somewhere, too, I read (in a cooking mag) of doing the same thing using lump charcoal, waiting until it turns gray and then blowing the ash off with a hair dryer and putting the meat directly on the charcoal. The author said that you'd have to brush off the ash that stuck to the meat, but to me the process seems to be the epitome of "quick and dirty".