Yeah a lot of us like to rather talk about our fancy high tech cooking gadgets instead of what the thread is about

And yeah many are in areas where open fires are disallowed. Where I live now in Ohio there is no problem with open fires. And where I often visit in NY (northern, not city), there isn't anywhere I could not have an open fire, except where I hike in the eastern high peaks of the Adirondacks. We have open fires all the time at my folks house there, and at their camp in the Adirondacks. Nothing beats sitting next to an open fire as night falls out in the woods somewhere or beside a lake or river. And it's probably my absolute favorite way to cook. Even at home I sometimes get a nice fire going outside (I live in the country) and throw a marinated venison tenderloin on it, and wow! Of course I also tend to steal the stainless steel cooking grate of my Weber grill when I cook over the fire, makes things much easier, but we're likely not going to be carrying such a grate on bike tours. Similarly, I've often used those long handled sandwich iron thingies over the fire (well, more like on a hot bed of coals) to make pot roast sandwiches and pizza sandwiches. I have to admit that I have not done any over-the-fire cooking without these things in quite a long while though - in situations where I am on a long trip without resupply (hiking, canoeing, soon to be bike touring =) I do resort to simply using alcohol stove and FBC (freezer bag cooking - just rehydrating prepared meals) and things that don't need cooked. I have a long time ago, used the method or wrapping meat, potatoes, carrots, onions up with aluminum foil and letting them bake in the coals. Not that it's pertinent to this thread but I'll throw in a cook at home on my woodstove during the winter often too. For some reason it's very satisfying to me to cook everywhere but in the kitchen! And without using any electricity or other fuels other than a tiny amount I used in the chainsaw to cut the firewood.

My first overnight bike trip will be soon, and I'm planning to stay at primitive camping 2 nights, maybe up to 4. Plenty of restaurants nearby or otherwise on my way but I plan to practice up for more remote trips / hiking where such amenities are not around and bring all my food and gear with me. I'll likely be bringing my alcohol stove though and practicing that since I often only get a trip or two a year hiking in the mountains and rarely get to use it.

I tried to dig up any pic I had of cooking over a fire, thought I had taken one of the various times I've cooked venison over them, but all I could come up with was this trip several years ago at my folks primitive camp near the Adirondacks, using the aforementioned sandwich irons. That is my son there. I believe one of those irons are heavier than my entire hiking stove/pot setup though.