How to Whittle an Old-Fashioned Roasting Stick for Hotdogs and Marshmallows

There’s nothing like camping and sharing with the younger generations how things used to be—like whittling a roasting stick when it was time to cook up some hotdogs or toasted marshmallows. How many kids realize roasting sticks weren’t originally metal with fancy wooden handles?

Just give us older folks a good stick, a jack-knife and by the time the fire was roaring hot we were ready to roast up some wieners on our own handmade stick. Share this experience and pass on a little lost knowledge to the young ones in your life.

First, find a good green stick. Don’t use sticks on the ground. They are too dry and will burn easily, plus they are dirty and may have insects in them.

Locate a tree with low limbs that can be reached easily. A word of caution however, some trees have toxins in them that are poisonous, so be sure you know what type of tree you are getting your stick from and that it is fine to use. Do not use limbs from poisonous trees; they can make you ill or worse.  Generally hickory and maple are safe bets.

You want a green limb that is about 36” in length to keep a proper distance from the fire so you don’t get burnt. The end you hold in your hand should be about ½” in diameter and the roasting end should be about ¼” in diameter so you can easily slide food on and off of it.

If you can find a limb with a forked roasting end, great! You can either slide your hotdog on horizontally for a better hold or cook two wieners at a time.

Using your jack-knife (pocket knife for the younger generations), remove the bark from the roasting end. Whittle off about 6” of bark from the roasting tip. Then, sharpen up the tip and be careful not to poke somebody’s eye out with it.

You may season the tip by placing it into the flames for a minute or so. This helps remove any tree juice after removing the bark. Let it cool and then wipe off any black residue.

Carefully, slide your hotdog onto your homemade roasting stick and you are ready to get down to cooking. Hold over hot coals or low flames and keep turning every 30-60 seconds—no need to turn it into a rotisserie affair with constant turning. Relax and let the fire simmer it to perfection. Use your hotdog bun to grab hold of it and slide it off.  Enjoy the dickens out of it. Hotdogs always taste better when roasted on an old tree limb—gives it great, natural flavors.

Keep your new roasting stick handy and load it up with marshmallows when the hotdog settles. You can burn your stick in the fire when you’re done or save it for another day by cleaning the roasting end over the flames to burn off any food debris. We like to burn ours so we get to whittle new sticks each time.

Kids love learning how to make things with their own two hands. We just have to give them the opportunity to try.