The art of cooking on a campfire is simple and very rewarding. There is nothing better than the taste of food cooked over a fire. Preparing and cooking a whole chicken over a campfire is easier than you might think. The best way to cook a whole chicken at camp is basically over a campfire. The first thing you need is a good fire surrounded by stones; the stones should be approximately 1 to 3 inches in diameter. Most organized camps will have a contained fire pit that is ready to go. In this case, all you have to do is find a few stones, enough to stack next to the fire pit, but not directly on the fire. If you have to build your own fire pit, dig a hole about 3 to 5 feet in diameter, 12 to 24 inches deep, and cover the base with gravel or sand. Then take the bigger stones and surround the well with them, the more stones you have, the better your retaining wall will be.
Once your fire pit is ready, using your lumberjack skills, build a fire with clean wood. Avoid at all costs the use of wood contaminated with paint or chemicals; This is harmful to the environment and is very toxic. Let the fire burn until there is a good charcoal base and your fire has heated the stones around the fire pit. The stones can be tested by throwing some water on them. If they are hot, you will see steam coming off the stones. Then you are ready to cook the chicken. You will need a whole chicken, butter or oil, some spices (salt and pepper to start with), aluminum foil, and some veggies like onions, carrots, and garlic if you like.
To prepare the whole chicken, first rinse the chicken with clean water, grease the chicken with oil or butter. Season the chicken to your liking, rosemary, salt and pepper are usually good. Make sure you don’t leave bagged giblets inside the chicken. Butchers often leave the internal parts of the chicken in a bag inside the whole chicken. You can take the giblets out of the bag and reinsert them into the chicken. This is not for everyone as they are a delicacy for only a few people. You can also add your favorite vegetables like onions, carrots, and garlic to chicken. Vegetables can be put inside with or without giblets; this will flavor the chicken. Once the chicken is prepared, wrap it twice inside the foil. Make sure the foil is tightly wrapped and that there are no holes punched through the foil. This is important because you don’t want grease or heat to escape from the wrapper, as well as dirt or external contaminants. Depending on the thickness of the foil, more than one double wrap may be required; this is a judgment call.
Take the foil wrapped chicken and place it on the stones that are piled up around the fire pit. The stones must be placed in a matter where they form a hole or a bowl. The stones must be hot so be careful not to burn yourself, use oven mitts or a good pair of fire retardant gloves that will prevent you from burning. Usually a small shovel or a sturdy pair of tweezers can also be used. The chicken should be placed as close to the fire as possible, but not directly over the flames of the fire. Once the chicken is seated inside the stones, use more hot stones to carefully and completely cover the wrapped chicken. Observe that the aluminum foil wrapper is not damaged or broken by the stones. For best results, you can dig a whole pit under the fire pit and then place stones inside the hole where your chicken will be inserted. The hole must be such that it does not bend over on itself.
Make sure your fire is well fed and that it is kept warm at all times. Depending on the size of your chicken and the heat of the fire, the chicken should be ready to eat in 40 to 60 minutes. If your chicken is tightly wrapped and well covered with hot stones, most of the time the chicken will not burn. It will burn if in direct contact with open flames. In this case, the chicken can be left to cook and simmer for a long period of time. Generally, the longer it stays buried by the fire, the better the chicken will taste. You can even cook a chicken overnight while the fire slowly dissipates, make sure the foil wrap is not leaking, this will attract unwanted overnight guesswork.