Gill Meller

River Cottage on Fire

£45 £27 Save 40%
Level: Peer






What’s the difference between Peer and Expert levels?

Both Peer and Expert levels provide:

  • Video lessons led by an expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Practice assignments
  • Group learning in a 20-student online classroom
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes, and classroom

The Expert level additionally includes:

  • Personalized feedback and coaching from your tutor
  • Private messaging with your tutor
  • Certificate of completion
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Want to buy for a business or group?

You can buy this course through your business or organisation for individuals and groups up to 20. To find out more contact us

Level: Peer

Course overview

River Cottage's outdoor cooking expert Gill Meller teaches you how to cook over fire - from fire starting (and fire safety), to cooking with a wood oven, cooking in an earth oven (or hangi), and cooking in embers of your fire.

More and more people are enthused by the idea of cooking outside over fire. Not only can you create the most incredible food, it also helps us reconnect with nature and the world around us. It’s a very mindful and rewarding experience and something we should all try to do a little more often.

During this course you will learn everything you need to know about outdoor cooking. You will be taken right back to basics, how to get your fire going, manage fuel and heat.

You'll learn new River Cottage outdoor cooking recipes including pizza, slow roast meat, fish, vegetables and bread – you’ll even be equipped with the skills to cook a leg of venison in your own earth oven.

You'll learn:

  • how to build, control and cook over fire
  • recipes for outdoor cooking including pizza, roasted vegetables, roast lamb, flatbreads & more
  • creating an earth oven or hangi
  • using hot BBQ embers to cook with

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Gill Meller and River Cottage
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical outdoor cooking assignments and recipes (with tutor feedback available)
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas

Independent Cookery Schools Association approved

This course has been approved by the Independent Cookery Schools Association (ICSA), recognising the highest standards of training.

Time to complete the outdoor cooking course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 20 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 2 hours 20 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your outdoor cooking recipe assignments: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson

You'll need:

Your lesson notes will include the full details of the ingredients you'll need, but you will be cooking over fire, so you'll need to think about the location of your fire (or wood oven or earth oven) and ther materials you'll need to make and control your fire.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Gill on your outdoor cooking assignments.

If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.

 

Watch course trailer

Lesson summary

The back to basics campfire/barbecue - an ancient way to cook
Find out why cooking outside can be so good for your health and wellbeing. You will learn how to get a fire going, the importance of fuel and heat management and the endless possibilities of cooking with open fire. This lesson will show you the possibilities of cooking in the simplest sense and give you the confidence and know how to give it a go even if your new to this stripped back, homespun approach to wild cooking. We will round off the lesson with a simple yet delicious roasted tomato dish.
The wood oven - From pizza to slow roast meat to fish to vegetables to bread
Explore the versatility of a homemade cob oven (or an off the shelf alternative). Learn how to get the fire going, manage and utilise every last bit of heat it has to offer. During this lesson you will create hand-stretched wood-baked pizzas and flatbreads. You will learn how to roast fish, and will finish off with a slow roasted lamb shoulder with lentil dal and spices.
The hangi or earth oven - the extraordinary flavour dimensions of underground cooking
Cooking in the earth is a technique that has been practiced in different ways and by different cultures for many thousands of years but is still as effective now as it was then. This lesson will show you how to make your own earth oven at home. From digging the pit, to heating the stones to digging up your supper. You will be amazed by the flavours offered by this form of cooking, and by the end of the lesson you will be able to cook a leg of venison or lamb.
Ember based cooking - Overcoming your natural instincts
Ember based cooking is another ancient technique – it involves cooking food directly in the hot embers of the fire. You’ll have no need for grills after this lesson. Once you’ve grasped the principles it’s amazing what can be done. In this lesson you will make a selection of recipes including baked root vegetable salad with herbs and labneh, onions baked in their skins and served with blue cheese, honey, thyme and walnuts, blackened leeks with mussels and lemon mayonnaise and a dirty steak - cooked directly in the embers of a hot barbecue.

Choose how you want to learn

Expert-level

Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition:

  • Start the course whenever you like
  • Tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
  • Certificate of completion and CPD learning hours
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with expert videos & notes
  • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

Peer-level

Get the most from shared knowledge and community study:

  • Start course whenever you like
  • Practise what you learn with your peers
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with videos & notes
  • Course assignments
  • Group chat & direct message classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

meet the expert

Gill Meller

River Cottage chef, advocate for simple, seasonal cooking, award-winning author and columnist.

Read more

Why choose Learning with Experts?

Start whenever it suits you, and immerse yourself in motivational lesson tutorials with expert guidance.
Enhance your learning and personal growth with lesson assignments. Each course includes an optional assignment at the end of every lesson.
Drop a friendly message or respond to your assignment feedback. Our world-class experts are just a click away, ready to help you!
Stay informed about your own progress and those of your peers, and take joy in celebrating achievements along the way.
Chat and share ideas with passionate communities of learners from around the world.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between PEER and EXPERT levels?

At Peer and Expert level, you get access to the same core content and features:

  • Video lesson tutorials led by your expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Option to practise what you learn with lesson assignments
  • Group learning within an online interactive classroom of up to 20 classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes and classroom

If you choose Expert level, you get all of the above plus the following:

  • Personalised assignment feedback and coaching from your expert tutor
  • Opportunity to interact with your expert tutor through a private messaging system
  • Certificate of completion.
What is an online classroom?

Our online classroom has been developed to allow you to learn from our experts in a sociable environment alongside up to 20 other students. After each video tutorial led by your expert, you will be encouraged to practice what you have learned with optional assignments - these can be seen by the other students in your class, who are free to share their own thoughts and questions with you.

You will be encouraged to take part in an ongoing class discussion where you can discuss ideas, post images or work, and comment on each other’s assignments. It’s a great way to learn from other like-minded people who share your passion from all over the world.

This means not only do you benefit from people who are outstanding in their field, but also from a close-knit group of like-minded people whom you can learn alongside. Group learning has shown to greatly improve not just the experience of studying, but also how well you retain the knowledge, and we have built our classroom experience around this fact.

When can I start my course and how long will it take?

You can start your course any time within 12 months after receipt of your purchase confirmation email. Once you start, you’ll have lifetime access — meaning you can revisit the lesson videos and notes whenever you want.

Our courses are designed so that you can study at your own pace, some prefer to binge learn while others like to spread their studying over a longer period of time - it’s completely up to you. To give you a rough time frame, each lesson video is approximately 30-40 minutes long, and we recommend that you spend around an hour on each assignment.

How often can I speak with the Expert?

If you opt for the Expert version of your course, the time you have to interact with your tutor is limited to course length. You will have one week per lesson to chat to your tutor and to have your assignments marked, and during this period you can ask them as many questions as you would like.

To find out the length of each course, head to the product page and look at the Course outline to see how many lessons it contains. e.g. a four lesson course assumes that you will have completed the assignments within four weeks.

Your tutor interaction period will start as soon as you enter the classroom. If you find that you are struggling to complete the assignments in the allocated time or you wish to put this function on hold, just get in contact with one of the team via the support button and we will help you out.

Support and full FAQs

If you need any help with a course, be it one you’ve started already, or one you are looking to purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support email address, or view the full FAQ’s here.

You can also use the orange speech bubble on your page to start a conversation with us.

For privacy or data questions, please contact us here.

Awards and accreditations