How do you cook in camp?

[Scott Brady]

One of the biggest chores I find with prolonged camping is the clean-up after cooking.

There are a few schools of thought, based on my experience, but I am curious of how all of you manage the issue. Mainly, it takes quite a bit of time and quite a bit of water to clean up after a big meal, and since most of us do not have an EarthRoamer, Unicat or similar with a sink, etc. I thought it would be worthwhile to discuss.

1. Paper and Plastic: Use it, throw the whole thing away, plates, forks, spoons, cups and all. The only think to clean up may be a pot or pan.

Pros:
Super easy
Little water wasted

Cons:
Trash volume goes way up
Not the most environmental thing to do
Quality of the eating experience and robustness of the solution

2. Ultra Simple: Eat out of the bag the food is in with a spork. Have a pot you just heat water in, and is big enough to boil in a bag food, heat water for powdered coffee/chai and tea. No clean-up. Eat out of the bag you cooked in.

Pros:
The most simple and easy
Limited trash
Almost no clean-up

Cons:
Limited food types
Simple eating experience (most of the time)

3. Iron Chef: Too bad if it is complicated or messy, we will set-up a full kitchen and eat better (or at least as good) as we do at home. I have used this mindset for years. I am in nature, places I love, so I like to celebrate with good food, good beer, etc.

Pros:
The best dinning experience
Varied and elaborate food possible
Classy food presentation on titanium or lexan

Cons:
So much cleanup
Expensive to get the right equipment
Time consuming

Any good ideas on cleanup, food prep, planning, limit water use, etc?

 

[Scott Brady]

Here is some inspiration...

Pasquale's paella, cooked in a remote camp in Baja Sur... The paella was awesome, the Sangria - deadly.

Full gourmet. I have the IGT table coming, where I can dock my IGT BBQ box and Snow Peak dual burner. Beautiful stuff. http://www.snowpeak.com/lux/IGT/index.html

Tequila Tomatoes, using an All Clad wok... Fun dish.

Preparations for the 2007 Iron Chef comp., sponsored by Expedition Exchange

Chris, grilling up some yard bird...

And the tequila tomatoes!

 

[gjackson]

Connie is a clean-up queen. I don't know how she does it, but she can get everything spotless from a full blown cookout using 2L of water or less.

I'm a terrible water waster. I'll have to get her to post her secrets . . .

cheers

 

[Tucson T4R]

I take the Iron Chef approach. I enjoy the meal too much to cut conners. :chowtime:

I do go through a lot more water but I am willing to haul it in so we can relax and enjoy good food together. I do catch the used water from my sink in a 5 gal bucket and save it for putting out the fire.

 

[ken richardson]

whooooo big fella

Thats some good lookin grub there.

Honestly, I like to put on the dog, but the older i get the more I leave the serious stuff for home. Just too much work in the woods and ide rather be sitting by the fire with a cold one than finely dicing shollots and reducing a red wine sauce.

Having said that, I find the easiest thing to do is bring good frozen food an simply reheat or cook things that can esasily be done on the grill.

My ccoking gear consits of a gas grill, single burner back pack stove, a pot, a fry pan, a coffee pot and thats it.

As for dishes I use paper plastic and burn in fire when done.

for things needing to be washed, I add watter to the pan pot etc, a bit of soap, and turn the stove on. Bring to a boil and scrub with a brush. Dump water and rinse with fresh. Easy easy easy.

Never been hungry, never got sick, always had a good time.

 

[4Runnerfor4]

Cooking with Iron

I know it's heavy and a little bulky, but baking meals in the dutch oven is great. Little clean-up and a wide variety of meals to cook. Use fire wood or briquets, depending on you trip length. You do have to be on a slower time schedule though.

 

[Mlachica]

Your post made me hungry... :chowtime:

I'm no Iron Chef but that's the route I go in my camp kitchen. My main concern while cooking in the back country is water conservation. Because of its ability to clean easily I use teflon non-stick cookware. I'm really happy with my teflon coated hard anodized aluminum pots and pans. They clean okay with a wet paper towel followed by a couple damp paper towels, thus saving water. The key is to clean everythin asap. If my buzz from a few bottles of Blue Moon keeps me from cleaning while the cookware is still warm then I'll add a little water, a dab of soap and heat it up. Scrub with the soapy water, lightly rinse and wipe clean and dry. I really try to avoid the latter since it uses precious water and not to mention extra fuel.

Eating utensils (usually just a spork), plates and bowls are all titanium or stainless. The metal stuff, as opposed to lexan, clean much easier especially with oily or greasy grub. I use the same method of cleaning, damp paper towels work well enough for the back country. Keep in mind this method isn't always possible, especially if you're frying something for a long time - like chicken or huge fish :cow:

If I'm organized enough I really like to do as much prep work as possible in the comforts of my own home. This way all the utensils used during the prepping stage can be cleaned with water from your kitchen sink (the one in your house, not the one on your trailer or your bumper ). Between cutting up raw meat, dicing vegetables and washing your hands between meat handling, plenty or water would be used.

(slightly off topic) I like to save those tupperware-like containers that lunch meat comes in and store in them the prepared goods. These are perfect for those items that you don't want to get smashed in transit, like fluffy greens or tomatoes. Be sure to put them in a ziploc if you're concerned about leakage. For the stuff that can get smashed I just use ziplocs, meat in particular. After the meal is prepared the containers are perfect for smelly trash, left overs or wiped clean for later use.

I've found my camp kitchen methods to be water conscience but I do consume a lot of paper towels. However paper towels as trash don't take up a lot of space while packing out. Disposable goods (plates, bowls, cups) take up a lot of room in a trash bag. I try to offset this extra waste by using washable pack towels as much as possible.

This griddle took a little more than a few damp paper towels...
6lb, 24in alpers trout from the sierras

 

[OS-Aussie]

No Cop Outs with cooking

Life is too short to eat bad food. We believe that eating well and healthy and fresh is part of our lives, we don't compromise regardless of where we are. Ultimately it is the 5Ps. Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. We don’t camp we safari. We can recall an incident in a remote spot in northern California having high tea on a trail. Usually those that camp with us have their diets well supplemented from our table.

If you have a propane stove, anything you can cook on the stove top you can cook in the wild. For ideas, look for recipes with 5 or less ingredients. Look at Mexican, Indian, Moroccan one pot meals for out of the ordinary ideas. Invest in a food saver, vac-seal your meat (with marinades), pre cook/seal pulses, sausages, sauces, dressings, spices etc and freeze the lot, it packs so much better and holds the cold better too. You actually use your food as freezer bricks!

Instead of bread/sandwiches which is hard to keep fresh. Look at oatmeal, pancakes, egg dishes (think the liquid eggs in cartons, instead of whole eggs) for breakfasts. Pack tortillas, for wraps, quesadillas, chips etc. and couscous or rice as alternative ways to get starches at dinner. Invest in space for salad greens, fresh veges, cheese and fruit which make life worth living…2 day old bread is a good French toast for breakfast.

To cut down on water, we use non stick cookware. Coleman has a cheap griddle that is wipe clean with a paper towel and a little water/suds. We travel with that and a little non stick skillet and saucepan, and a stainless bowl, that is usually all we need. We have real utensils and melamine plates, stainless cups etc. We wash up in a small (~12x9x6”) Rubbermaid container, heated with the coleman on demand hot water. It is usually not a chore and probably uses <third gallon of water.

If you are out longer, Camp oven is the way to go. Breads/scones/stews/roasts etc. Not always practical in places with fire bans. They are heavy and require careful packing. Will do great dutch oven recipes on the stove top too.

We usually have very little trash as we pack it out, mostly it is foodsaver bags/tins/cartons that rinse out and flat pack.

Enjoying culinary delights enhance our wilderness experience. Those folks who subsist of canned tuna and ramen noodles only survive, they are not really living. Folks that think that is camping food have no imagination nor do they rise to a challenge – isn’t that what the great outdoors is all about?

 

[Hunter]

I admit, I take the easy way out when I travel on my own. uh um.. as in bachelor style.

Boil 16 OZ of water. Open bag and pour. Stir. Stir some more. Let stand for 6-8 minutes. Eat.

I admit, I am addicted to freeze dried food. :chowtime: No mess, easy to clean up. Pot is sometimes cleaner after I boil water for dinner than it was before and I just fold up the wrapper and stick it away. Heaven help me, the stuff tastes good to me too.

My favorite is to BBQ on the fire and do it old school. Steaks, chicken and vegies wrapped in aluminum foil. But more often than not, if I get away its a spur of the moment thing for a quick over night and I dont have that much time ,nor do I wanna fuss packing and cleaning a big meal. Chances are its dark:30 when I get to where ever it I want to be. Probably cold and stormy (I have thinkg for taking off in the crappy weather) and I'd rather be doing something else than messing around with stove and cleaning dishes in the back of my truck.

Now if my wife comes... well, we do things a bit fancier (as in see BBQ on grill above) but we plan our food for camping. Easy items to cook, usually pre-made stuff so its just one or two pans to heat up and I use some stainless plates that clean up OK with a wet towel. Cheeses, dips, snacks, sauces, we buy that come in or we put in, before we leave, easy and reseable containers. Bags just dont hold up in the sloshing of the cooler. If we are planning a big trip, say along weekend, then we will usually splurge and do a big dinner with all the bells and whistles.


Come to think of it, I have some beef stew and scrambled eggs some where in the back of my truck and its supposed to rain tommorow night here in AZ.... might have to find a spot have dinner in the dirt!

 

[BigAl]

Chris, grilling up some yard bird...

OMG, I have to go grill something now:chowtime:

 

[Scott Brady]

Life is too short to eat bad food...
Enjoying culinary delights enhance our wilderness experience. Those folks who subsist of canned tuna and ramen noodles only survive, they are not really living. Folks that think that is camping food have no imagination nor do they rise to a challenge – isn’t that what the great outdoors is all about?

Right on!

 

[grahamfitter]

Life is too short to eat bad food. We believe that eating well and healthy and fresh is part of our lives, we don't compromise regardless of where we are.

Absolutely. Plus its a big part of the social scene. I'm glad its not just me that fills most of the vehicle with food related stuff.

We run a 2 burner gas stove and portable gas grill on a 10 lb bulk cylinder. Metal utensils. Reusable plastic plates. Washing up bowl to keep it all clean. No disposable utensils or plates whatsoever.

We make a big effort to minimize garbage by eliminating as much packaging as we can before we leave the house or grocery store parking lot. If we're camped somewhere we can have a fire we burn as much waste as we can. The biggest volume of waste is probably empty beer bottles!

In the Northeast we don't have much to worry about water conservation but we do try to make sure the water we throw into the woods is as clean as possible - no obvious food chunks - although we could probably do better than that. If we're somewhere with an outhouse we discard all waste water into that.

I'm hungry now...

Cheers,
Graham

 

[articulate]

Mark and I agree on finding ways to conserve the water by using teflon, stainless, and titanium products. But I also agree with that Aussie fella about good food.

If I'm grilling or frying, I like to put down foil first. Most of the mess will get contained to that - just toss it in the garbage bag, afterwards. Perhaps some grease residue is left on the griddle, and that's easy to clean up. Mixed pastas that contain veggies, chicken, etc - I say to hell with it and just deal with the mess of 2-3 pots/pans and the serving bowl.

And, like Mark, you've got to wipe off the ladles, pans, cups, flatware and so forth right after you're done.

Having something that sprays water is helpful. Greg and I used a 2-gallon weed killer sprayer with water only at the Trophy. Very nice, if somewhat un-overlandy and not exactly "Classic Kit" material. Recently, I added a quick connect kitchen sink sprayer to the on-board water system. That dispenses water nicely.

 

[jim65wagon]

Beth is the Iron Chef in our family. She plans in advance the meals and we cut, chop, prepare and pack everything needed. Some things get cooked at home and simply reheated over a fire. Others get cooked fully in the field. Two rollup tables, a two-burner propane stove, a 5day cooler, and our kit box(plates, bowls, silverware, cookpots, wineglasses etc) make for a fine mess when the cooking is done. Cleanup is usually me and the kids,a tupperware bin and the zodi shower; just like at home-when the power is out.
:chowtime:

 

[adventureduo]

Usually 1 night out of the trip we do a full blown iron chef meal and use real plates, silverware etc. The rest of the nights we eat on paper plates/plastic silverware and do something super easy to clean up. Yosh usually does the cleanup and i do the cooking. Otherwise the pans would probably still be dirty from our last trip lol (cant stand doing dishes).

One thing that makes it easy with our small group is that we all designate a responsibility on the trip. One couple makes dinner, another makes lunch and another makes breakfast. We figure out what meals are whos long before we depart and usually discuss who like whats and who can't eat what. That way you lower the amount of money you spend and you get a break and relax during meal times you aren't responsible for. We tend to all clean up after dinner usually. Makes it a heck of a lot faster.