How to Cook in the Firebox:
1. Bear's Beets
2. Bear's Venison Steaks
3.  Why Not to Cook Potatoes This Way

For basic wood stove cooking tips, see How to Cook on a Wood Heat Stove.

1.  Beets

A.  Here’s how Bear cooks beets in the firebox:  Build up a bed of red coals and let the flames die down.
C.  Put the beet directly on the coals.
E.  The beet is done when you can easily slide a fork into it.  We chose a very large beet and our fire hadn't been burning long before we put the beet in, so it took over an hour to get done.  If your fire is hotter and you have a more normal size beet, it can get done in 15 minutes.
G.  The burnt outer peel can then be easily scraped off with your hands after it's cooled enough.
B.  Choose a large, whole beet.  Don't peel it or cut off the ends.

D.  Turn the beet every 5-10 minutes so it cooks evenly.
F.  The outside of the beet will be black and ash covered.  Plunge it into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking and remove some of the ash.


H.  Rinse under water.  Bear says if you don't take off every bit of the outer layer, you will be able to taste the wood smoke flavor.
I.  Bear enjoys the beet whole.

2. Bear's Venison Steaks

A. The veggie basket (below left) is my new buddy because I didn't realize what I could do with it until I actually used it. Theresa bought it for me years ago hoping I would grill her more vegetables, but it just sat in the cupboard until I realized I could use it to cook meat!  Ha Ha. First I found a grate to put in the firebox (below right), but it was hard to use because it need to be propped on uneven and not entirely sturdy wood chunks every time. It also did not leave very much clearance for turning the meat- I had to pull the whole grate out to flip them. Then I realized that the grill basket fit in the firebox. Awkward grate not needed anymore!
B. The grill basket is sold with other grilling gadgets. It has wire on both sides of the food so that it can't fall out and is adjustable so that it holds foods of different thicknesses. I believe it is sold for grilling fish, but Theresa insists it had a picture of vegetables on it when she bought it.
C. I started with a venison backstrap, which is the big muscle along the back of the deer. It's like a beef tenderloin. I cut these steaks to about a 1/2", because I'm not used to cooking on the coals in the firebox yet. I was worried about getting the outside over done and having the center still be raw, so I wanted a thin piece. I will be experimenting more, though.
D. Pretend this is the venison cooking in the firebox over a layer of coals, because we didn't take a picture of that (this is browning toast). The coals should be orange so they are hot enough to sear the steaks, and spread out so that everything cooks evenly. Grill 2 minutes on each side for medium rare.  
E. The finished steaks. Press marks are not as cool as grill marks, but I'll take it. (Maybe I could leave the basket on top of the stove for a while to get really hot before I used it... hot enough to leave grill marks... hopefully I won't ever be desperate enough to use a black magic marker for my grill marks.)
F. In a moment of garden madness, I decided to put these steaks on salads (Theresa... bad influence):
Grill Basket Tips:
  • This technique can be used for any quick cooking food that's good on the grill (steaks, brats, toast, Theresa reminds me it could be used for vegetables). It's not good for longer cooking foods because the coals can go cold quickly.
  • Cut all your steaks to the same thickness so that that they finish cooking at the same time.
  • Be sure and wear a glove, or your hand will get too hot.
  • If you want to get tricky, you can throw a few wet wood chips onto the goals so that they smoke and you'll get the smoke flavor in the meat. 
  • The more you use the grill basket, the more confident you'll be with it. Darn, that means I need to cook a lot of steak.
  • Contact your inner cook of anarchy- experiment!



3.  Why Not to Cook Potatoes in the Firebox

A.  Potatoes can also be placed whole in the firebox, either bare or wrapped in aluminum foil.  They cook pretty quickly if you have a hot fire and a lot of red coals.
B.  It’s easy to over cook them, though, charring the entire skin until there’s not much edible potato left, so I prefer to bake them on top of the stove.  

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