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 [...]]]> 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.

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 [...]]]> 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.

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.

The first thing to comes to mind on this list is some sort of camping table. Ideally, it would [...]]]> Now that you’ve got an idea of what items you’ll absolutely need to cook with when you’re camping, let’s take a look at some items that are not absolutely necessary, but that will definitely come in handy.

The first thing to comes to mind on this list is some sort of camping table. Ideally, it would be big enough and sturdy enough to allow you to do all of your food preparation on it, but even a small table would be very helpful. I can’t even tell you the number of times I’ve had to prepare my food for cooking while haphazardly balancing a plate or frying pan on a log or rock. It’s difficult at best, and if your attention wanders for just a minute your food will probably end up in the dirt.

If you’re going car camping and won’t have to carry your gear on your back to your campsite, then a table should definitely be on your list. If you are going to be backpacking in to your campsite, there are smaller folding camp tables that you could take a look at. One of them wouldn’t be too much to take in with you, and as I said, anything at all will be helpful.

Another thing that is helpful but not essential is a long fork or wire clothes hanger. These are great for roasting your food over the fire (like, say, hot dogs or smores) and also come in handy when you accidentally drop your food in the fire (and you will) and need to try and pick it out.

One other thing to consider bringing is a box of wet wipes. Not something many people would think of, but they come in really handy for easy cleaning of your food prep and cooking items. Just use them to wipe down your pots and pans, and then throw them in the fire when you’re done with them. They’re also useful for washing your hands before eating, because after a couple of days in the woods you’re going to be pretty filthy.

The last things to remember for eating on your trip are some plates and eating utensils. Some sturdy paper plates will work great and you can just throw them in the fire when you’re done. Just make sure to get paper and not plastic plates. The plastic either has to be carried out or burned (stinky!) and it’s not good for the environment anyway. I also recommend buying a decent set of metal camping eating utensils instead of using plasticware for the same reasons. You can buy a fork, spoon and knife set that snaps together for just a few bucks.