So you’re thinking about booking a Daddy Bear Grills live fire BBQ class and want to know exactly what you’re signing up for. Fair enough. This is not your standard cooking lesson in a kitchen with an apron and a hob. This is a full day in a private Kent woodland, learning to build a fire, cook over open flames, and sit down to a feast you made yourself.
Whether you’re a total beginner who has never lit anything more than a birthday candle, or a confident home cook looking for something different, this guide breaks down the entire experience. You’ll know what happens, what to bring, what you’ll learn, and why this class is nothing like the others.
What Is a Daddy Bear Grills Live Fire BBQ Class?
A Daddy Bear Grills BBQ class is a full-day, hands-on live fire cooking experience held in a private woodland in Kent called Liz’s Yard. Led by Wayne Smith, a finalist in the British Live Fire Cooking Championships, the class teaches you to build and control a cooking fire, prepare a multi-course meal over open flame, and enjoy a communal feast outdoors. It’s designed for all skill levels and focuses on real fire, real food, and real skills you’ll use long after you leave.
Unlike a typical cookery school that operates from a fitted kitchen, everything here happens outside. The fire is your cooker. The woods are your kitchen. And the whole point is to get your hands properly dirty. If you’re curious about what live fire cooking actually means, the concept is straightforward: cooking food using wood, charcoal, and flame rather than gas or electricity. It’s the oldest form of cooking on earth, and at Daddy Bear Grills, it’s taught as both a practical skill and an experience.
Arriving at Liz’s Yard: The Woodland Setting
The first thing you’ll notice is that this is not a garden centre or a car park with a gazebo. Liz’s Yard is a private woodland clearing tucked away in the Kent countryside, named after Wayne’s late mother, the woman who first sparked his love of cooking. It’s a personal space with a story behind it.
When you arrive, the smell of woodsmoke hangs in the air before you even reach the fire. The canopy above filters the light. There’s no background noise from a main road, no music piped through speakers. Just birdsong, the crack of logs, and the kind of quiet that makes you exhale properly for the first time in weeks.
This setting is a deliberate choice, not just a backdrop. Cooking in a woodland changes how you experience food. The fresh air sharpens your senses. The pace slows down. There is a therapeutic quality to being outdoors, working with fire, and stepping away from screens for a full day. Wayne describes it as “therapy for the soul”, and once you’re standing around that fire pit with the trees closing in around you, it’s hard to disagree.
What Do You Learn at a Live Fire Cooking Class?
This is where the class separates itself from a standard BBQ day out. You are not just watching someone else cook. You are doing everything yourself, guided step by step by Wayne.
Here is what the day covers:
- Building and controlling a cooking fire. You’ll learn how to select wood, build a fire from scratch, manage airflow, and create the right ember bed for different types of cooking. This is a skill most BBQ enthusiasts skip entirely, and it’s the foundation of everything else.
- Live fire cooking techniques. From direct grilling over open flame to working with a Kadai fire bowl (a traditional Indian cooking vessel used by Daddy Bear Grills in partnership with Kadai), you’ll handle multiple methods across the day.
- Preparing a multi-course meal. Menus change with the seasons, but expect to work with quality meats, fresh vegetables, and bold flavour combinations, all cooked entirely over fire.
- Understanding smoke and wood flavour. Different woods produce different flavour profiles. You’ll learn which woods pair with which foods and how smoke intensity changes the taste of everything from beef to vegetables.
- Confidence to cook over fire at home. By the end of the day, you’re not following instructions. You’re making decisions about heat, timing, and flavour on your own. That’s the skill that stays with you.
How the Day Unfolds: A Typical BBQ Class Timeline
Every class follows a natural rhythm, guided by the fire rather than a rigid timetable. Here is roughly how it plays out.
Morning: Arrival and Fire Building
You’ll arrive at Liz’s Yard in the morning and be greeted by Wayne and the team. There’s coffee on and an easy, relaxed atmosphere from the start. No awkward icebreakers. Before long, you’re standing around a fire pit learning how to get a cooking fire going from nothing.
This is hands-on from the very first minute. Wayne demonstrates, then you do it yourself. Within the first hour, you’ll have built a fire that’s ready to cook on.
Midday: Cooking Over Open Flame
The rest of the morning and into the afternoon is spent prepping, seasoning, and cooking. You’ll work with different cuts of meat, fresh produce, and a range of fire cooking setups. Wayne moves between the group, giving tips on heat control, timing, and technique.
There’s a rhythm to it that feels nothing like a classroom. You’re tending the fire, turning food, tasting as you go. If you’ve ever wanted to try a smoked brisket recipe over real flames, this is the place to learn how the process actually works.
Afternoon: The Feast
The best part. Everything you have cooked comes together for a communal meal eaten outdoors around the fire. This is not a quick sandwich at the end. It is a proper feast: multiple dishes, shared plates, and time to sit, eat, and talk about what you’ve just done.
Most people say this is the moment the day really lands. There’s something about eating food you have cooked yourself, in the place you cooked it, surrounded by trees and smoke and good company.
Do I Need Any Experience to Attend?
No. None at all. The class is designed for complete beginners as well as seasoned home cooks. Wayne guides every single step, from lighting the fire to plating the food. You will never be left standing around wondering what to do next.
That said, if you already know your way around a grill, you will still walk away with new skills. Most experienced cooks have never properly learned fire building, wood selection, or ember management. The techniques taught here go well beyond flipping burgers on a gas BBQ.
Wayne is a British Live Fire Cooking Championships finalist who has demonstrated at the Great British Food Festivals, Pub in the Park, and Ludlow Food Festival. He teaches with patience and personality, and he adjusts the pace to suit whoever is in front of him.
What Should I Wear to an Outdoor Cooking Class?
Dress for a day outdoors in a woodland. The class runs in most weather conditions, so layering is sensible.
- Footwear: Sturdy, closed-toe shoes or boots. The ground is uneven woodland, not a paved patio.
- Clothing: Old clothes you don’t mind smelling of smoke. Avoid synthetic fabrics near the fire.
- Layers: Mornings in the woods can be cool even in summer. Bring a jumper or fleece you can strip off later.
- Everything else: Provided. That includes aprons, cooking tools, ingredients, and equipment. Just bring yourself and an appetite.
What Do You Take Home?
You leave with more than a full stomach. Every guest receives:
- A branded Daddy Bear Grills apron
- A fire cooking recipe booklet to recreate dishes at home
- Real confidence to cook over fire independently
- A story worth telling
Most people who attend go home and immediately start cooking over fire in their own gardens. That’s the whole point. The recipes and fire cooking tips section on the Daddy Bear Grills website has more ideas if you want to keep practising between sessions.
Is a Live Fire BBQ Class Worth It?
If you are comparing this to a standard cookery class or an afternoon workshop at a kitchen showroom, the two are not really in the same category.
A Daddy Bear Grills class is a full-day outdoor experience in a private woodland, led by a competition-level live fire chef. You are not learning to follow a recipe card under strip lighting. You are building fires, cooking over real flame, and eating what you’ve made in the place you made it. For anyone who loves food, the outdoors, or simply wants a day that feels genuinely different, it delivers.
The class also works brilliantly as a gift. Birthdays, Father’s Day, anniversaries, group days out, or corporate team building: a Daddy Bear Grills experience is one of those gifts people actually talk about afterwards. Gift vouchers are available directly through the website.
Who Is It Perfect For?
- Food lovers who want to try something beyond a restaurant meal
- Beginners who have always been curious about cooking over fire
- Experienced grillers ready to sharpen their skills in a new environment
- Couples, friends, or families looking for a shared experience in nature
- Anyone hunting for a memorable, original gift idea in Kent
Meet Wayne Smith: The Chef Behind the Fire
Every class is led by Wayne Smith, founder of Daddy Bear Grills and one of the UK’s most passionate live fire cooking advocates. Wayne’s journey started in his mother Liz’s back garden, progressed through years of camping and experimenting with fire, and reached the national stage when he became a finalist in the British Live Fire Cooking Championships at Ludlow Castle.
He has delivered live fire cooking demonstrations at some of the UK’s biggest food events, including the Great British Food Festivals and Pub in the Park. The business operates to professional standards, fully insured and trained in food hygiene, health and safety, and allergen awareness.
What sets Wayne apart is his teaching style. He does not stand at the front and lecture. He works alongside you at the fire, explains the why behind every technique, and adapts to whoever is in front of him. You can read more about Wayne’s story and how Daddy Bear Grills came to be on the About page.
Ready to Get Your Hands Dirty?
A Daddy Bear Grills BBQ class is a full day of fire, food, and woodland air that leaves you with genuine skills, a proper feast, and the kind of experience you remember. Whether you are buying for yourself or gifting it to someone who deserves a day that is nothing like ordinary, this is it.
Book your Daddy Bear Grills experience and find out what cooking over real fire in a Kent woodland feels like. Spaces are limited for each session, so check the upcoming dates and secure your spot.
Got a question before you book? Get in touch and the team will sort you out.