Cooking a meal over a fire is one of the most satisfying experiences in the outdoors. Cutting the wood, building and nurturing the fire, developing coals, and controlling heat is a lot of work, but the results are undeniably delicious. The Barebones Cowboy Fire Pit Grill – 23” helps make that happen.
Weighing 30 pounds, the Cowboy Grill is light and easy to move. And, it’s easy to pack. With a diameter of roughly 25 inches, it’s small enough to toss in a trunk. If needed, the legs and pole can be removed for even more compact storage.
Out of the box, the Cowboy Grill comes with three legs, a vertical pole and a half circle grill grate that mounts to it. That’s plenty to get you started cooking outdoors. Barebones makes a 30 inch model which may be better suited for larger gatherings and more permanent placement, while the 23 inch model is ideal for travel and smaller meals. Although I recently hosted a party and managed to pack 10 healthy New York Strip Steaks on the included half grill grate.
There are plenty of accessories to make your cook a little more efficient and enjoyable, but it’s important to understand a few basics about open fire cooking and some tips when using the Cowboy Fire Pit Grill.
There are times when I want to cook directly over a flame, but more often I’m cooking over coals. Open flames are unpredictable but coals can be spread out evenly for consistent heat. But in order to get coals that will last long enough to cook, you need hardwood. I live in the Pacific Northwest. Fir trees are everywhere, but it’s a soft wood that’s full of thick sap which can impart a bitter flavor in food – especially foods that need more time on the fire.
Soft woods will burn hot and fast. Coals from soft woods are plenty hot to cook with, but you will quickly need to add in more heat to keep the cook going.
Harder woods, like maple and cherry, burn slower and produce delicious smoke, making them ideal for longer cooks. You can buy hardwood charcoal or burn your own logs. But the important thing to consider is the kind of wood you need for your cook.
I usually start my fires with Fir wood and then add on logs of maple to start producing coals. And I always have a small chimney of natural hardwood charcoal hot and ready to go when it’s time to cook. That extra charcoal can help if your fire is dying or not cooperating.
The Barebones grill is inspired by old cowboy grills. The design is simple – a generous fire pit and a vertical pole that mounts on the side. The pole allows the cooking grate to raise up above the heat for lower temperatures or put your food directly over the fire for high heat.
The grate handle slides over the pole. Raise the grate to the height you need for your cook and turn the handle to tighten it in place. Once tightened, the height of the cooking surface is locked in but grate can turn left and right. This is helpful when I need to quickly back off the heat. But it’s also an easy way to lose your meal if you’re not careful. Raise the grate too high, and your entire Cowboy grill can be top heavy. This is especially noticeable when cooking with a heavy cast iron pan. Most of the weight is in the base of the fire pit, but a heavy skillet raised high enough can tip the entire structure. I haven’t encountered too many occasions where I have a lot of weight on the grate while it’s raised high. But it only took one wobble during a raging fire to never forget there is potential to tip the whole thing over.
The handle on the grill grate has held up to heat so far. But It’s not meant to be directly over a fire. The grate holds in place on a small track that goes around the perimeter of the pit when lowered all the way down. But when it’s raised even slightly, you can turn the grate a full 360 degrees. Be mindful of where that handle is in relation to your fire. On a few occasions, I’ve accidentally let the grate handle turn over the fire. It’s an easy mistake to make. It’s also easy to avoid when you’re aware of it.
The Barebones Cowboy Fire Pit and Grill is a simple product. There are some nice features that make cooking outdoors fun and memorable. But you still have to mind your fire. Open flames don’t have a dial to turn when you need more or less heat. You may start with a nice bed of coals, but as the fat on a juicy steak starts to render and drip, those coals can quickly become flames. That’s all part of the cooking experience. I like the unpredictability and the challenge of working with open flames. And the more you cook, the better you’ll manage your fire. But there are a few things to think about as you’re preparing to dance with fire.
A solid cooking fire takes time to develop. Start with small kindling and let your heat build up gradually as you slowing add larger logs. You might be able to get away with tossing a bigger chunk of pine on a small bed of coals, but hardwoods need more heat to catch and burn. I usually plan for at least 90 minutes of building and burning a fire before I’m ready to cook. Crack a beer or cozy up with a hot drink and enjoy the flames.
Be ready to add heat and move coals. This is especially important for longer cooks that might need multiple temperatures. Even a hot bed of maple coals needs to be fed to keep up enough heat to sustain high temperatures. I either have a small chimney of new charcoal heating up when I need more heat quickly, but want to avoid flames, or I have a second smaller fire producing coals that can be shoveled into the cooking fire. The 23 inch Cowboy Grill might be able to get away with multiple smaller fires, but I’ve found it easier to have another source of heat ready to go instead.
You can cook on the cowboy grill or just get warm next to it. It’s a solid basic fire pit from a great company that works just as well for open flame cooking. That makes it appealing to a lot of people. If you’re searching for good products from good companies, Barebones is an easy choice. It’s easy to use, simple to clean and maintain, and portable enough to make memories beyond your backyard.
The 23 inch model is ideal for travel but it’s not big enough for big cooks. And the accessories are limited to the single vertical pole that comes with the grill. The larger 30 inch model has a bigger cooking surface and fire pit and it has taller legs, bringing the entire fire closer to a comfortable height. The 30 inch model also has different accessories that can expand the types of cooking techniques you use.
There are plenty of outdoor cooking solutions out there. But I like what Barebones stands for. Their products are thoughtfully designed and easy to use. Barebones is also a certified B corp. In broad brush strokes, that means that Barebones strives for, and has met, higher standards for the impact of their production, source materials, and supply chains. B Corps also focus on charitable giving, community support, and a better working environment for their people. Barebones has to consider the quality of their products and the impact they have on their communities and people. I don’t think you will regret supporting them.
Cooking a meal over a fire is one of the most satisfying experiences in the outdoors. Cutting the wood, building and nurturing the fire, developing coals, and controlling heat is a lot of work, but the results are undeniably delicious. The Barebones Cowboy Fire Pit Grill – 23” helps make that happen.
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