Camping Cooking

lizzief79

lizzief79

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My family and I recently went camping together for the first time. I only have a double gas burner and a small table to use for food preparation. I made things like bacon and eggs for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. Creating evening meals for six people was a little more tricky. Some of the meals included a minted lamb stew, spaghetti bolognas and a tuna pasta dish.

Does anyone have any tasty ideas of meals that I can make simply when camping with limited space and equipment?
 
Oh I got one for you. Real country style. Just take a big can of pork and bean, enough to feed an entire family. Family size pork and beans. Place the whole can on the fire grille, and open the top so the heat can escape from the opened top. Now throw in some pieces of sliced hot dogs in it, and stir it constantly so the bottom contents do not burn. When the entire can is nice and hot and the hot dogs are warm, its ready to serve.
 
Wrapping a meatloaf spiced any way you like with some potatoes, onions and carrots in tin (excuse me, aluminum) foil is an extremely easy meal to fix on a camping trip. Just prepare it, set it close to but not directly over a fire. Think slow. You want it to cook slowly so you can leave it and go take a hike or something while it cooks.
 
I've never been camping myself but my fiancé's family is HUGE on camping. So much so that they have a booklet of camping recipes and ones that they love to have every year when they go camping. I've looked through the booklet and some of them looks REALLY good!

I'll have to go camping with them and let you guys know what the food tastes like :P
 
Sherry said:
Wrapping a meatloaf spiced any way you like with some potatoes, onions and carrots in tin (excuse me, aluminum) foil is an extremely easy meal to fix on a camping trip. Just prepare it, set it close to but not directly over a fire. Think slow. You want it to cook slowly so you can leave it and go take a hike or something while it cooks.
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Sorry but you guys in the US don't get it - here in the UK fires are 99% a no no. We do not have your space, it would be like lighting up a blaze in the middle of a pubic park. SOMETIMES it's possible but only on private land and then only if you're on good terms with the owner.
[PS - I envy you]
As for the recipes - you did quite well but one thing I would try is a pressure cooker [yes I know a bit old fashioned now but still very adaptable]. A full dinner can be cooked in one and with another pan and a little timing you might be really surprised.
 
sidevalve said:
Sorry but you guys in the US don't get it - here in the UK fires are 99% a no no. We do not have your space, it would be like lighting up a blaze in the middle of a pubic park. SOMETIMES it's possible but only on private land and then only if you're on good terms with the owner.
[PS - I envy you]
As for the recipes - you did quite well but one thing I would try is a pressure cooker [yes I know a bit old fashioned now but still very adaptable]. A full dinner can be cooked in one and with another pan and a little timing you might be really surprised.
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Aaaawww sidevalve. I truly feel sorry for you guys. A good camp fire is a given here in the US. Well, in the cooler months, anyway.
Actually, I have two pressure cookers--one of them being also a canner. I wouldn't want to be without them, though I don't personally know anyone else who uses one. Beats the microwave all to heck for good, fast meals.
I've really never thought to take one camping; but, now that you've mentioned it, I don't know why I haven't. I take my large fish fryer and set it up on the propane-flame, so why not the pressure cooker?
Well, now, that just opens up scores of new possibilities.
 
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I like to do the aluminum foil and coal baked potato trick. I can't explain it fully since there are various ways people like to do it, but basically, you wrap a potato in some tin foil, and cook it under a decent sized patch of coal. I know some people will first cut the potato open and put inside seasoned onions to cook the flavors from the onion into the potato too while it's cooking this way.
 
I know several people who bring their crockpot or slow-cooker along with them when they camp, so long as they are camping somewhere that has electricity. They will prepare meals like chili or soup in advance and then just warm it in the slow cooker all day until they are ready to eat. I have read on an RV forum that people who travel by motorhome sometimes just plug in their crockpot and let it cook as they are driving down the road!
 
I personally like to rough it when I camp so any chili or soup would probably be made in a cast iron pot over a stove. I totally can see people plugging in the crock pot while they are driving around on the road, but would they not worry that it would spill over? I used to ride around in the back of my parents trailer all of the time and it was not the smoothest of rides.
 
ReadWriteLearnLove said:
I know several people who bring their crockpot or slow-cooker along with them when they camp, so long as they are camping somewhere that has electricity. They will prepare meals like chili or soup in advance and then just warm it in the slow cooker all day until they are ready to eat. I have read on an RV forum that people who travel by motorhome sometimes just plug in their crockpot and let it cook as they are driving down the road!
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A slow cooker is, indeed, a good idea. I know my husband and his hunting buddy used to use one a lot when they went off on hunting trips.
Well, actually, it was his buddy who used one. He always did the cooking and my husband just shared in the eating. He said that his buddy loved to cook and that when they went hunting was the only time he got to do it, as his wife wouldn't let him cook at home.
Anyway, they would bring some of their camp goodies home with them and they were always very tasty.
I'm thinking I might just have to tote a slow cooker along the next time Ken and I go to camp. It might be good for at least one meal, but I know Ken will have to fire up the cowboy grill or smoker while we're there, too.
He always does.:)
 
I would never have thought to use a slow cooker whilst camping out. Has anyone ever heard of haybox cookery? It's an old method where pots of food are brought to the boil then placed inside a box of hay. The haybox captures and retains all the heat emitted from the pot, so the food continues to cook. There is a modern day version available called the Wonderbag.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...oes-cook-soups-stews-porridge-perfection.html
 
You don't need a wonderbag at £30 for that. I have been using a wheatbag and towel in a box with a lid for years to do the same. And it is easy and very cheap to buy and make your own wheatbag. In fact I often use it when proving dough for pizza whilst driving over to my parents home. The time it takes to drive over is roughly the proving time and 2 birds are killed with 1 stone.
 
Anything to avoid an unneeded trip is a good thing. I have never tried this method of cooking, but it does sound interesting. Is it easy to learn or is it one of those techniques that takes a while to master?
 
Rosyrain said:
Anything to avoid an unneeded trip is a good thing. I have never tried this method of cooking, but it does sound interesting. Is it easy to learn or is it one of those techniques that takes a while to master?
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It seems ridiculously easy Rosyrain! It really is just a case of bringing your pot to the boil, taking it off the stove and placing it in the bag/box. I found this wheatbag recipe booklet last night, there are some interesting ideas.

http://thermalcooker.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/wonder-box-recipe-booklet/


This booklet was published by Compassion of South Africa in 1978, 1979 & 1980.
This information may be freely quoted, acknowledgements being made to Compassion.
 
When we went camping a handful of times last year, we had currys, fajitas, steaks, pretty much anything you can knock up in a frying pan and saucepan lol

Our friends made pancakes for breakfast, was awesome!
 
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