Wolf Wilds › Camp Cooking

Photo Davidbena, CC BY-SA 4.0

The boil up

A kettle on a small fire in the woods, a cup of tea and a bite to eat. The Newfoundland way to stop for lunch.

What you need

How

  1. Pick a spot on rock, gravel or bare mineral soil near the water, out of the wind and clear of branches overhead.
  2. Build a small fire. A boil up needs a hot fire the size of your hat, not a bonfire.
  3. Fill the kettle at the brook and hang it over the flame from a stick pushed into the ground at a slant, or set it on two flat rocks.
  4. Feed the fire small dry sticks. Small wood gives the quick heat that boils water.
  5. When it comes to a rolling boil, lift it off, drop in the tea bags and let it steep a few minutes.
  6. Heat your bite on the coals while the tea steeps.
  7. Drown the fire, stir it, and drown it again before you leave. Feel it with the back of your hand. See Putting a fire out.

Do and don't

Do
  • Check the forest fire rules and any fire ban before you light anything.
  • Bring the water to a full boil. That is also what makes brook water safe to drink.
  • Carry the kettle in a cloth bag so the soot stays off your gear.
Don't
  • Do not build on peat, moss or roots. Fire can burn underground and come up hours later.
  • Do not leave the fire, even for a minute.
  • Do not use a plastic or coated bottle as a kettle.

Watch for

Danger
  • A kettle bail gets hot enough to burn. Lift it with a stick or a glove.
  • In dry weather a spark can jump into moss and brush. Keep a pot of water beside the fire.
  • A kettle of boiling water that tips scalds. Set it down on level ground.

Notes

A boil up is as much about stopping as eating. The kettle is on, you sit, you look at the pond.

Birch rind lights even when it is damp. See Fire in wet weather.

teakettlefirelunch

Updated 2026-09-23

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