Cooking Over Fire
Online Course
Reconnect with ancient open-fire cookery techniques, with ingredients inspired by the seasons to create a delicious feast.
We’re taking our Cooking Over Fire course online so you can learn to cook over the flames with us, in the comfort of your own home.
On our online Cooking Over Fire course, you’ll learn the art of cooking with fire and smoke in a relaxed and informative environment, as we guide you through a series of techniques and methods. When you’ve completed the course you’ll have all the skills to prepare a feast over fire to enjoy with your family and friends, surrounded by a crackling fire.
Spending time outdoors and gathering for a delicious meal is core to human experience. As we all reflect on the challenges this year has brought, the calming, rewarding power of the flames is more important than ever.
Buy One, Gift One
Learn better together.
For every place booked on our course, you can gift a seat on the course to a family member or friend.
Workshop Teasers
To get a taste of our online course, why not watch our workshop teaser videos.
Course Overview
With this course, we aim to restore this ancient skill and demonstrate how a feast tastes far better cooked over a wood fire. Fire continues to bring us together as a society, rooting us in both the past and the present with its ability to both cleanse and calm.
You will learn to build, light and control your fire with spark based ignition utilising a selection of natural tinders, as we show you how to select the best material to use as primary fuel.
We will guide you in your wood selection and give you tips on how to source your firewood in the most sustainable way.
Fires crackling and curiosity sparked, we will introduce you to a selection of different cooking methods, from coal baking to grilling.
Empowering you with the knowledge to live a wilder life in tune with nature – we’ll also cover a selection of wild and foraged ingredients.
The focus on our Online Cooking Over Fire course is on showing you the incredible potential seasonal ingredients have in your outdoor kitchen, as well as how to incorporate the techniques into your everyday cooking.
What's Included in our Online Cooking Over Fire Course?
- Four video workshops taught by The Salt Box founders, Christian and Beckie, guiding you every step of the way. Videos will be available on our online member's only portal.
- Access to our Online Member’s Portal, including additional resources, ingredient's and equipment lists.
- Optional Gift Pack, including a The Salt Box Apron, Field Notebook & Pencil and a selection of our seasonings.
- Access to our online Facebook community, where our team will check in with students, share further fire tips and tricks, as well as a place where you can share your progress with fellow students.
- Downloadable Recipe Cards
- Access to a selection of exclusive discounts from our favourite fire cookery equipment brands.
Workshop Overview
In our first session, we will spend some time looking at how to create fire. We will go through the process of preparing the ground or the base of your pit, ready to build a fire, and give you guidance on how to manage your flames and embers. During the workshop, we will talk through fire safety and a few precautions to keep everyone safe at home. We will then move on to fuel, covering how to source the best firewood and which species of wood to use.
In this workshop we look at how we can utilise the fire pit as an all round cooking range. Adjusting the temperature and mastering the different heat zones. This session is all about creating simple but bold flavours, we will be giving you a little twist on an Italian classic!
Using the skills we learnt in the previous workshop, we will look at how we can use heat control to perfectly grill a whole joint of meat over the fire. To go with our our feast, we will learn to make a simple bread (great for getting any little ones involved). The perfect lazy Sunday cooking around the fire.
Our final workshop will culminate with a vegetarian feast over fire, yes you heard it right! We’ll be coal baking vegetables to get some incredible smokey flavours deep within. We will cover further pan work, slowing right down, taking our time and incorporating lots that we have learnt along the way to create a feast that will warm the soul.
How will I learn?
Our Cooking Over Fire online course will be taught virtually through pre-recorded videos shared on our Member’s Only website, alongside a selection of resources available to download at home. You can learn at your own pace, alongside any family or friends who may wish to join you at home. You will have access to the tutorials and resources on the portal for 6 months from the first tutorial. None of the tutorials are taught live.
You will also receive access to further short tutorials and recipe ideas through our closed community group on Facebook. Here, you can also share your progress, gain feedback and access further resources to support your learning.
Our courses are designed to be informative yet relaxed. For us, cooking over fire is not just about cooking a delicious meal, but spending time in the great outdoors.
Whether you’re flying solo or joining us with friends and family, all of our workshops are centred around enjoying the fruits of your labour at the end of each session.
What do I need to join in?
You don’t need any fancy equipment to take part in o. As our online cooking over fire course. As a minimum, you’ll need an outdoor space where you can build a fire such as a spot on the ground with some bricks – or a fire pit / kettle bbq or similar.
You can absolutely use any pots and pans from your kitchen but bare in mind that the fire can be brutal on equipment that isn’t designed for cooking over fire.
We would advise to have a separate set ideally made out of cast iron. Cast iron conducts a really nice, even heat throughout but importantly they are 100% metal which means nothing can melt off of the handles or lids. These pans don’t need to be fancy or overly expensive, just perfectly functional.
Most kitchen utensils made from metal will be perfect for the course. We only advise that you have a long pair of tongs to keep your hands a little further away from the heat and a sturdy pair of fire gloves for moving grills and hot pans.
One really important piece of equipment we wouldn’t be without is an instant read thermometer or temperature probe. These are a crucial piece of kit, not only from a food safety point of view but they also help us not to overcook our food making it dry or tough.
Who is this course suitable for?
Our online cooking over fire course is for anyone who wants to learn to cook over fire, suitable for both fire and food novices, with our passionate and professional tutors guiding you every step of the way. You can learn at your own rate, based on your schedule, confidence and skill level.
Our menus are best suited for flexible, adventurous eaters. Whilst the course includes one unit preparing a vegetarian dish, there is also a focus on how to cook a selection of meats, therefore it isn’t suitable solely for vegetarians.
The course is also suitable for families learning together, with plenty of opportunity for younger wildlings to get involved.
