Can You Mix Wood and Charcoal?

One of the greatest pleasures in life is cooking an incredible meal over a firepit in the backyard. If it's a crisp fall night or early spring evening, the promise of tasty food over an open fire in your firepit is pretty fantastic. Making hamburgers, stoking the fire, and preparing the food are pretty enticing, and it’s even better over a firepit while enjoying a campfire. 

Installing a Legacy Series Complete Fire Pit Insert Set along with the Firepit BBQ Grilling Grate is pretty straightforward. However, you may still wonder what the best way is to use your firepit for cooking. When it comes to campfire cooking, the most common question is, can you mix firewood and charcoal? Let's discuss how to grill over a Legacy Series Firepit with a BBQ Grilling Grate and the benefits of using wood and charcoal in your campfire. 

Wood and Charcoal Are Types of Fire Fuel

Wood and charcoal both work as fuel for your fire. You may have used charcoal before when cooking with old-school charcoal grills that are basically a metal bin. People love the flavor of grilled foods over the smoke and heat that the charcoal creates. And you’ve probably used wood when sitting around a firepit in your backyard. Maybe you’ve toasted marshmallows for s’mores over your firepit for an ooey-gooey treat the whole family smiles over. Can’t you just picture the crunch of those graham crackers with the toasty marshmallow over melting chocolate? 

The logical thing to do when cooking over a live fire is to use both wood and charcoal for the benefit of each. Let's explain. With the charcoal, you get extra heat, and the wood gives it a unique flavor. It’s pretty easy to do, but there are specific steps to making it work in your Walden Legacy Firepit that you should know. 

The Steps to Firepit Grilling With Both

First, make sure you’re using high-quality cooking wood and charcoal for the best results. Wood that is decaying or wet isn’t going to light correctly or get hot enough to cook well. Cooking wood is pure without any extra fillers or artificial additives. You want to stack the mix of charcoal and firewood by doing the charcoal first. 

Set up the charcoal in a large pile of coals at the base of the firepit. Make sure that all other old fire debris is removed, and set your Walden Firepit BBQ Grilling Grate to the side while it gets going. Once the coals are lit and glowing after at least 10 minutes, set a few pieces of wood over the coals and light those as well. The extra firewood will add heat and impart even more flavor to the food you are cooking over the campfire. Then, replace your seasoned grilling grate over the top to heat up before adding your food to cook. That’s all there is to it, and you’re ready to grill. 

The Benefits of Using Charcoal and Firewood in Your Campfire

The best benefit to using charcoal and firewood together is that it will give you enough heat and flavor from both the charcoal and wood to cook just about anything you want to make. That includes grilled chicken, steaks, and fish. Hot dogs for the kids. Maybe even a bratwurst for grandpa or turkey burgers for that aunt who doesn't eat red meat. Even just a few added wood pieces will give that luscious smokey flavor that everyone loves. When it burns, that natural wood smoke is infused into the foods you make, enhancing that delicious flavor.

For More Tips and Grilling Firepit Tricks 

Cooking over a firepit is just one of the great joys in life. Picture the smells, the sound of the crackling fire, and how everyone you love comes together to enjoy those nights around the firepit. We are proud at Walden to offer our help and advice in using our products as fireside people who manufacture the finest firepits and fireside accessories. With both charcoal and firewood, you'll be able to cook some delicious meals over your campfire. Check out our blog anytime for more campfire cooking tips and tricks - and campfire cooking recipes - using and cooking over your Firepit any time of the year. 

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