Camping Cooking Guide

Once you’ve gotten all of the camping cooking supplies you’ll be needing on your trip, let’s take a look at what sort of food you’ll actually be cooking and eating.

The most important thing to remember is to keep things simple. Don’t expect to be cooking fancy, elaborate meals when you’re camping. The fewer ingredients, the better. And the less active cooking time required, the better.

Breakfast

Breakfasts in the outdoors are sometimes a bit of a challenge, but there are still several practical options available. Toast is very easy to do over the campfire, and a little butter and jelly on it can make for a nice meal. If you feel like packing some eggs (and are able to keep them cool and unbroken), you can fry or scramble them over the fire in your pot or oven.

Another great breakfast option is the ready-to-make pancake mix bottles. These have the flour mix ready to go, just add water and shake, and your pancake batter is set. Pour it into your frying pan, and you’re golden.

You can also heat water over the fire and use it with various instant pack mixes to make some breakfast. You can buy instant grits, oatmeal, and other hot cereals at just about any grocery store. You can also bring along a small jar of instant coffee to get you going in the morning.

Lunch

It’s possible to survive on nothing but hot dogs for a few days (although you may soon wish you didn’t). I don’t want to suggest that you eat only hot dogs for your entire trip, but they are easy to pack, cook, and serve, and just about everyone will happily eat a couple for lunch or dinner.

Sandwiches are also great for lunchtime. If you have the facilities to keep food cold, then a pack of cold cuts, some mustard and a head of lettuce will make a tasty sandwich for the outdoors. You can also bring mayonnaise, but be super careful about keeping it chilled.

Quesadillas are also a great lunchtime option. Just bring some tortillas (corn or flour), cheese and some fajita seasoning, put them together and fry them in your pan over the fire for a bit. Some butter or oil on the outside of the tortillas will make them toast up nicely.

Dinner

Although any of the lunchtime options would technically work for dinner as well, we generally want something a bit heartier for dinner. My favorite dinner recipe is to put some beef cubes, potatoes and vegetables into a foil envelope along with some water and spices, seal it up, and put it on the edge of the campfire. In about an hour, everything is cooked nicely and it really hits the spot after a full day of camping.

August 5th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: Guides | Leave a comment

Where To Buy Camping Cooking Supplies

Buying camping cooking supplies is really not that hard, but it does help to know that you’re getting your money’s worth when you buy them. Here are several options when it comes time to buy some supplies and what you should know about each one.

Walmart – The first and most obvious choice for many of us, Walmart is almost always going to have a good supply of camping cooking items and will also most likely have decent prices on them as well. In addition to their stores, Walmart’s website has been much improved lately and it’s easier than ever to buy from them online. One thing that I would say about shopping at Walmart is to be sure and get a reputable brand name on your camping cooking supplies from them. Many of the off-brand items at Walmart are most likely going to be poor quality and it’s not worth saving a buck or two if you end up with shoddy cooking materials.

Amazon.com – Amazon is another great choice for finding and buying camping cooking supplies. They’ve got just about everything you could ever possibly need somewhere in the recesses of their website. In fact, the only problem I’ve ever really had with Amazon is getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options available. It’s easy to start browsing while looking for one thing and, an hour later, end up purchasing something totally different. If you’re shopping at Amazon, I would recommend knowing exactly what you want before you go to their website, and then make sure to actually purchase that item.

Target – Very similar to Walmart, Target is most likely going to have a good selection of items for sale, but you may end up paying a bit more at Target than at other retailers. As with Walmart, I would steer clear of buying off-brand items from Target as the quality is most likely a bit suspect.

Army Surplus Stores – I absolutely love Army surplus stores. You never really know what you’re going to find there, but just looking around and browsing is a blast. With a bit of luck, you might be able to find some good cooking supplies there. Just make sure that everything is in good shape before you buy it.

Cabelas – Cabela’s is great option for buying camping supplies of all sorts, and they have a wide selection of camping cooking supplies as well. Their prices are generally pretty reasonable as well. Chances are very good that you don’t live anywhere near a Cabela’s store, but you can purchase their products through their catalog or website.

August 5th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: Guides | One comment

Camping Cooking Supplies – Dutch Oven

I mentioned before how useful a good Dutch oven is for cooking on a camping trip and I wanted to write more on the subject to show you everything it’s capable of.

dutch oven

First off, let’s take a look at what you should know before buying one. To be ideal for camping, your Dutch oven needs to have a couple of things. It’s a little difficult to see in the image above, but the Dutch oven there has three little legs on the bottom. You want those to be there so your oven is less likely to shift around when it’s in or on the fire. They also allow you to put coals directly underneath the oven for faster cooking. Also, it goes without saying that all Dutch ovens should be cast iron. Nothing else.

You also want to get an oven that has a wire handle (detachable is great but not necessary) so you can move it more easily when it’s cooking. The wire handle will also stay much cooler than the oven itself will although you may still need to use gloves or a hotpad to grab it. Lastly, you want an oven that has the lip that wraps around the lid. This lets you put coals on top of the oven, which not only helps it cook faster, but also helps to even the temperature on the inside allowing all of the food to cook at an even rate.

The best way to use your Dutch oven is to spread some coals out to the side of your campfire. You can do this by taking the coals from your fire with some tongs, or you can also build a second, smaller fire nearby and wait for the wood to burn down to coals. Once they’re ready, put the Dutch oven on top of them, put your food in, put a few more coals on top and then just have a seat and wait for it to be ready.

You can also use your Dutch oven like a slow cooker. This is great for meals with beef or potatoes, or any other ingredient that needs to cook for a while. Just put all of your ingredients in around lunchtime, put the oven next to the fire and let it cook all afternoon. By the time dinner rolls around, everything will be done and you’ll be set. Just make sure to check the oven every hour to make sure that everything is cooking nicely.

August 5th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Guides | Leave a comment
 
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