Food: Chicken tenderloins in flour tortillas with homegrown tomatoes, peppers and onions with sriracha drizzle and shredded cheese
Cooking method: Dakota Fire Hole
Cooking ware: Stainless Steel Mess Kit
Cooking tunes: A Perfect Circle
Destination: My parents backyard (lame, but practice makes perfect when using a different technique. Best to have it down pat rather than trying to learn it when you really need it)
Good time: YES
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Food prep
For today's meal I went with one of my favorites, chicken wraps. For any hiking or camping trip I like to have all my food prepared and all that I have to do while I'm out is cook because the last thing you want after a long hike is to spend extra time seasoning, cutting, and marinating your food before you can cook.
I prefer to use chicken tenderloins for wraps because they're small, cook fast and fit great in tortillas without needing to shred or cut the meat. I like to first season whatever meat I'm cooking while it's still in the packaging, primarily because it saves me from washing more dishes. For the chicken I used garlic salt, pink Himalayan salt, cayenne pepper, onion salt and Hidden Valley ranch seasoning.
After seasoning, I put it in a resealable bag and shake it up. Also, bags are a lot easier for transporting if your going anywhere out and about.
Now that the chicken was seasoned and ready it was time to take the "long" hike to the backyard and get the Dakota fire hole ready. This method is one that I haven't had much practice with because I'm generally around river rock or other big stones and only takes a few minutes to build a good fire ring but the Dakota fire hole definitely has it's uses, one being low environmental impact and another is easy cleanup. If your digging a hole, you're going to want a shovel and I recommend always keeping one in your pack because they come in handy. Of course, a shovel can take up a lot of space, so stick to something small, if you're out hiking you aren't going to dig a foundation for a house or a grave (hopefully) just a cat hole or in this case a Dakota fire hole. I use the Redcamp military shovel because it's lightweight, fold-able and cheap, but if you have minimal space I'd even try to find a spot in your bag for a trowel.
A Dakota fire hole really consists of two holes, one for the fire and one for airflow. I started by digging the main hole, the fire hole. I Only dug about a foot and a half deep because the clay I was digging in was not very cooperative but the deeper you can dig the more wood you can fit.
Once the main hole was good enough for me it was time to dig the airflow hole. This one doesn't have to be as big but it needs to be angled so it connects with the main hole so it can do its job, supply oxygen to the flame.
Once the hole was ready, it was time to get some fire. Again, I used flint and steel but a new set that I got from Walmart, the Ozark Trail hatchet and flint. It's lightweight, cheap and comes with some extras including a para cord handle.
For tinder, I used a cotton ball that I pulled apart and some dry pine needles which are pretty prevalent in most of my travels. It's important if you use the hatchet I have to keep the sheath on the blade when striking the flint because you don't want to take any unnecessary risks while you're out in the wilderness.
Once the fire was rolling and I had a good coal base it was time to start cooking. Again, I used yet another Walmart find, a stainless steel mess kit. Again, lightweight, which is important to hiking as well as compact. Since this was my first time using the mess kit I wanted to use every piece of it to see what cooks better and since the pot and pan are small it made it quicker to cook all of the chicken. First, I tried out the pot which was able to fit 4 pieces of the chicken in it.
It only took about 4 minutes till it was done, then I repeated the process with the pan from my mess kit
Once everything was done, cleaning up the fire area was easy, just filled it back in with the dirt I had taken out which this seems like the best reason to use the Dakota fire hole. I took the "long" walk back up the hill and into the house to make the wraps and paired my meal with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Whether your going camping in the backyard, or the back-country, it's important to know how to use the equipment that you have and always have alternative methods if your go to isn't readily available. My experience with the Dakota fire hole proved well for cooking as it is a concentrated heat source that forced the heat in one direction, up. But, I would not recommend using it if you are in a cold environment and looking for radiant heat as this method is very contained. The Dakota fire hole is a great method for concentrated heat and easy cleanup. For an instructional video on this method check out David's Passage on YouTube.
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