Campfire Cooking & BBQ
Cooking outside splits into two jobs long before it splits into products. Either you build a fire and put something over it, or you bring the fire with you in a box. The first needs ground you can stake into and wood you are allowed to burn. The second needs charcoal and nothing else. Everything here serves one of the two.
Build the fire, or bring it?
That one question sorts this whole page. After it, everything else here exists to make the fire work: to light it, to stop the wind killing it, to keep the heat off the ground, and to let you turn food without putting your hand over the coals.
Build it
A 4 kg iron grate that stakes into the ground and sets to any height.
Bring it
A 290 mm charcoal stove with a fan inside, running off a power bank.
And then make it work
Firelighters, a windshield, a mat for the ground and tongs long enough.
Everything in Fire & BBQ
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43% off
Often Outdoors
Often 9 Pieces Kitchen/BBQ Set
Sale price $39.00 Regular price $69.00Unit priceIn stock (35 units) -
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12% off
Often Outdoors
Often Portable Smokeless Multifunctional BBQ Grill Stove
Sale price $199.00 Regular price $225.00Unit priceIn stock (15 units) -
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Up to 11% off
Often Outdoors
Often Multifunctional Portable Cart Wing Cooler With Folding Table and Chairs
Sale price $159.00 Regular price $179.00Unit priceIn stock (8 units) -
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42% off
Often Outdoors
Fire Starters Natural Wool Wood - Often 100% Organic Easy Burn Camp Firelighters
Sale price $29.00 Regular price $49.60Unit priceIn stock (76 units) -
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25% off
Often Outdoors
Often Fireproof Fiberglass Mat Protection
Sale price $59.00 Regular price $79.00Unit priceIn stock (17 units) -
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Sold out37% off
Often Outdoors
Often Canvas Folding Fire Windshield Wall Windbreaker Windscreen
Sale price $69.00 Regular price $109.00Unit price -
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26% off
Often Outdoors
Often Multifunctional Deluxe Pop-up Rattan Cooler Adjustable Bar Table
Sale price $169.00 Regular price $229.00Unit priceLow stock (3 units) -
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Sold outUp to 10% off
Often Outdoors
Wagon Cooler Cart 75L Offroad - Often Insulated Retro Wheeled Esky 4WD Camping Black
Sale price $379.00 Regular price $420.00Unit price -
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10% off
Often Outdoors
Often Multifunctional Foldable Mobile Kitchen Station BBQ
Sale price $179.00 Regular price $199.00Unit priceIn stock (10 units) -
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Up to 26% off
Often Outdoors
Often Foldable Lightweight Storage Picnic Table
Sale price $139.00 Regular price $189.00Unit priceIn stock (20 units) -
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37% off
Often Outdoors
Campfire BBQ Grill Adjustable - Often Portable Camp Fire Grill for Outdoor Cooking
Sale price $119.00 Regular price $189.00Unit priceIn stock (10 units) -
Breakfast happening at the back of the ute, which is where most camp cooking actually happens. Own photography, tested in Queensland.
What the two actually ask of you
A grate over a fire is the cheaper and the better one to cook on, because a wood fire gives you heat you can move around: coals at one end, flame at the other, and a grate you can raise or drop over either. What it asks for is ground you can drive stakes into and a place where a fire is allowed.
A charcoal box asks for none of that. It sits on a table, it burns charcoal instead of wood, and the fan underneath feeds air through the coals so they light fast and stay even. What you give up is the size of the fire and the wood smoke in the food. What you get back is that it works on a balcony, in a park and at a campsite that has nowhere to dig.
Do you build the fire, or bring it?
Two ways to get heat under food. If you want one answer: the campfire grate, because a fire you build is free, it cooks better than charcoal, and 4 kg of iron that stakes into sand or soil works anywhere you are allowed to light one. Take the charcoal stove for the places where you are not, or where there is nothing to dig into.
| Model |
Campfire BBQ Grill
$119.00
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Smokeless BBQ Grill Stove
$199.00
|
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | The fire you build | Charcoal, with a fan |
| Size | 43 x 21 x 73 cm, grate 42 x 31.5 cm | 290 mm across, 185 mm tall |
| Weight | 4 kg | 3.2 kg |
| Material | Iron, with a food-grade plated grate | Steel, with a reversible plate |
| What sets it apart | Stakes into the ground, and sets to any height over the fire | A 7500 rpm blower runs off batteries or a power bank |
| Link | View product | View product |
Swipe the table sideways to see both.
What makes a fire actually work
The fire is the easy part. These four are what stand between a good night and an hour of swearing at damp kindling. If you want one answer: the firelighters, because ten minutes of flame that does not care about wind or damp is the difference between lighting a fire and trying to.
| Model |
Fire Starters Natural Wool Wood
$29.00
|
Fire Windshield Windbreaker
$69.00
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Fireproof Mat Protection
$59.00
|
Kitchen/BBQ Set
$39.00
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size | 2 x 5 cm each | 205 x 80 x 70 cm | 1 x 1 m | Tongs 35.4 cm, spatula 34.8 cm |
| Weight | 9 g each | 1 kg | 500 g | 700 g the set |
| Material | Wool and wood, no additives | 12 oz canvas | Fibreglass, 430 g per square metre | SS410 stainless, 0.4 mm |
| In the box | Fifty in a box | Two poles, guy lines, pegs and a bag | Mat, four pegs and a bag | Spatula, fork, tongs, knife, brush and four skewers |
| What sets it apart | Burns about ten minutes, damp or windy | Blocks wind from more than one side, so the flame stays put | Rated to 500 C, and it goes in the washing machine | Long handles, so your hand is not over the coals |
| Link | View product | View product | View product | View product |
Swipe the table sideways to see them all.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use these where there is a fire ban?
That depends entirely on where you are and what the rule is that day, and the only answer worth having is the one from the local fire authority on the morning you want to cook. What we can tell you is what each of these is, so you can ask the right question: one is a grate that goes over a fire you build yourself, and the other is a stove that burns charcoal inside a steel box. Both involve a live fire. Check the rule for the place and the day before you light either.
Charcoal or wood?
Wood for flavour and for the fire itself, charcoal for control. A wood fire gives you a range of heat across the grate and something to sit around afterwards, which is half the reason to cook outside at all. Charcoal lights faster, burns steadier and leaves less mess, and in a stove with a fan under it the coals come up to temperature in a few minutes. Most people who camp a lot end up doing both, depending on where they are.
Why put a mat under a fire pit?
Because heat travels down as well as up, and grass, decking and paving all suffer for it. The mat here is fibreglass rated to 500 C, sized a metre square, and it goes in the washing machine afterwards. Its own instructions are worth following: leave a gap between the mat and the bottom of the fire, and lift any coal that falls on it rather than letting it sit there. It protects the ground from radiated heat, not from a live ember parked on top.
Does a windshield really make a difference?
More than most people expect, and not only to the flame. Wind pulls heat sideways off a stove and away from whatever you are cooking, so the same burner takes twice as long on an exposed beach as it does behind a wall. The canvas screen here is 205 cm across and stands with two poles and guy lines, and it blocks from more than one direction at once, which is the part that matters because wind at camp rarely comes from where it did an hour ago.
What is the warranty?
One year on Often Outdoors branded products, and six months with proof of purchase on the other brands here. All of it sits on top of the Australian Consumer Law guarantees, which cannot be excluded and which entitle you to a repair, replacement or refund depending on how serious the fault is. The full terms are in our warranty policy.
Dinner outside is the reason anybody sleeps in a tent
Nobody drives four hours for the drive. They do it for the hour after the food is ready, when the fire is doing the work and nobody is in a hurry to get up.
Free shipping on orders over $150 AUD. One-year warranty on Often Outdoors products and six months on other brands, on top of your statutory rights under Australian Consumer Law.
The surfaces the cooking happens on
The stove needs somewhere to stand and the food needs somewhere to land. These are in this collection too, and they are compared against the rest of the range in Tables.
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Save $20
Often Multifunctional Foldable Mobile Kitchen Station BBQ
$179.00
$199.00 -
Save $50
Often Foldable Lightweight Storage Picnic Table
$139.00
$189.00 -
Save $20
Often Multifunctional Portable Cart Wing Cooler With Folding Table and Chairs
$159.00
$179.00 -
Save $60
Often Multifunctional Deluxe Pop-up Rattan Cooler Adjustable Bar Table
$169.00
$229.00
Swipe sideways for more.
