Perfect Pan-Fried Campfire Steak

It is always a good idea to keep a few steaks in your camping fridge. If you have that luxury why not prepare your perfect pan-fried campfire steak while you are camping. Before your trip make sure to choose the right steak for you.

We had this opportunity at Elim Beach while returning from our Cape York trip. To be more precise, the last three days we spend and Laura Dance Festival, but that’s a different story.

Make sure you start your fire early as preparing veggies takes some time.

Prep time:  15 minutes

Cook time: veggies – 30 minutes; steak – see cooking time below

Servings: 4

How to cook perfect pan-fried steak:

	How it looks	How it Feels	Cooking Time
Rare	the centre is red & shiny	very soft to touch	~ 2.5 to 3 minutes per side
Medium-Rare	the centre is red to pink	soft to touch	~ 3.5 minutes per side
Medium	light pink in the middle	in between soft and firm	~ 4.5 minutes per side
Medium-Well done	light pink with grey colour on the edges	firm	~ 5.5 to 6 minutes per side
Well Done	grey, no more pink colour	firm	~ 7 minutes per side

Pan-Fried Campfire Steak Ingredients

Veggies:

• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 1/4 pumpkin
• 1 potato
• salt
• olive oil

Steak:

• 2 beef steaks
• salt & pepper
• olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Instructions

1. Start with veggies as they need more time to cook.

2. Peel onion, carrots and pumpkin. Cut them into smaller pieces and sprinkle veggies with olive oil and salt. Insert everything into the Dutch oven.

3. Once all veggies are inside cover the Dutch oven with the lid.

4. Place the Dutch oven on the hot charcoals. Use a shovel to distribute the charcoal around the Dutch oven and also put some on the lid.

5. The best steaks are between one and one-and-a-half inches thick. Meat should be room temperature and patted dry before cooking. Season the steaks generously on both sides with salt and pepper.

6. In a medium pan over medium-high heat, warm up the oil. Once the oil starts to smoke a bit, add meat and fry it for the desired amount of time as per the table above. Cast iron pans are excellent when it comes to cooking steak. It’s incredible because iron, once heated through, stays heated through. And, its dense nature means it won’t just stay hot, it will also heat evenly.

The steak should sizzle straight away. At this time don’t touch the meat, let it fry undisturbed. This should allow a crust to build up and all the juices to stay inside.

7. Next, flip the meat. During the last minute of frying, add one tablespoon of butter and start to ‘wash’ the meat with the melted butter.

8. Once the meat is ready move it from the frying pan to a cutting board and cover it with aluminium foil for around 5 minutes to let the steak rest. If you start cutting the meat without rest all juices will escape. Then slice meat against the grain.

9. Serve the campfire steak with veggies and enjoy its amazing reach taste. We also like to bake pumpkin bread and eat it with steak. This is really delicious combination!

Have you tried this recipe? What is your secret to making a perfect campfire steak? Please drop a comment below.

Enjoy outdoor cooking with Tentworld equipment