


July 11, 2011
Essential Tools, Utensils, and Ingredients for Camp Cooking
by David Draper
If you don’t make a habit of reading The New York Times, you might have missed this article about camp cooking. It is a bit high-brow, what with its talk of crème fraiche and fava beans, but it does illustrate a few good points, most notably that a well-stocked, yet minimalist kitchen is key to camp cooking success.
Years ago, I picked up a bargain bin chuck box and filled it with a few essentials, including a Coleman camp stove, coffee pot, skillet, and 2-quart saucepan. I also carry my trusty and dusty Boy Scout mess kit wherever I go and it’s come in handy over the past 25 or so years. Utensils are simple and multi-functional: a spatula, wooden spoon, and tongs. Throw in a good knife and an odd assortment of silverware, and I’m ready to cook and eat most anything, anywhere.
As for ingredients, I keep them simple as well, with a lidded tote of staples ready to go at a moment’s notice when I get the urge to split town on a Friday afternoon. In it, I keep some instant rice, pasta (usually macaroni), pancake mix, a few cans of beans and crushed tomatoes, plus an assortment of spices and a bottle of olive oil. There’s usually a can of Dinty Moore in there and probably some Hormel corned beef hash, because sometimes all you want to do after long day of doing nothing is open a can and heat it up.
What am I missing? Obviously there’s cold stuff that goes in the cooler, including a few venison steaks, some burger, sandwich meat or hard sausage along with a big hunk of hard cheese. And don’t forget the beer and a bottle of tonic (with some limes, of course).
Do you have a chuck box or other camp kitchen tote? If so, what do you keep in it? What are some of your Wild Chef essentials for a successful weekend in the woods?
Comments (15)
The one essential thing you left out that I make sure to have is tin foil. Not only is it great to make cooking vessels out of but its also great to extend my camp radios antenna and direct the light from my lantern.
I keep a kitchen box for camping. I have dollar store Utensils, 2 can openers in case 1 gets lost, old pots and pans, old dish towels, an old pot holder and room for cans of beans, boxes of mac and cheese, and pancake mix. I went camping with by boys ages 5, and 3 the first time. And they loved eating hotdogs, mac and cheese and pancakes cooked on the Coleman camp stove/grill.
Salt and pepper at the very least.
premixed bannochbread mix is allways a good tip. just add water and mix and u got hot panbread for breakfast. Normally i bring minimally of food with me.. flour salt pepper, a big hunk of hard butter. and u can survive on anything u catch/kill during yer stay.. but i also bring toro soup bags, just boil it up quickly and u got a meal that will keep u going in an emergency and to witch u could also add anything u have of proteins already..
Utensile wise i keep it dead simple.. have a multi fuel cooking kit inside a pot with a lid that doubles as a tiny fryingpan. and a box kit with both a deep dish and flat dish as lid and bottom including just a knife spoon and fork kit. aslo the latter included a salt. pepper boxkit.. cooking al fresco i prefer to keep it dead simple and rustic.. the big experiences i prefer to delay if possible untill i return to the home again where it can be shared with more people and enjoyed more since u have ALL the accessories and can do your very best to extract every morself of delightfull flavour from the wild game and fish u brought.. :)
But for fishing on the sea itself i like to do like my dad used to when he was a young man actually rowing 20-30 kilometers out to sea and fishing and then returning to an islet and using driftwood to cook theire meals used the freshest cleanest natural products u can possibly get, cook it in seawater with onions. pepper potatoes and what delight nature can provide;) pure living with clean tastes :P
I use my leatherman, a boyscout mess kit and sometimes a big aluminum pot I bought at the thrift store if I'm carrying the stuff on my back. I like potatoes (one medium/person/day for dinner) and vacuum-sealed country ham. Add a can or two of veg and you can do a world of things.
I'm interested in what appears to be a Kershaw with a trout on it in the lower left?
I do keep a plastic box packed with the kitchen utensils, silverware, plates, and cups for camping. Inside is a list of basics to stock it with for food.
Here's a few proven winners over the yrs:
-Make hearty soup ahead of time and freeze. Use as ice in the cooler and when it thaws eat. White Chix Chili comes to mimd.
-Frozen salmon, and pre measured minute rice, along with Homemade Teriyaki and green beans is a favorite. Pan fry salmon while beans and rice boil. Salmon doesn't last long in cooler so eat 1st night.
-Can't miss with Hotdogs cut up and boiled in Mac&Cheese
-Costco canned chicken in Mrs Grass Noodle Soup
-Always have crackers, sardines, oysters, herring, etc in-shell peanuts (occasionally cajun) or pistachios for snacks
-Best camper pies are marbled Rye, Deli corned beef, drained kraut, 1000 island, and swiss
-Take Gatorade or Tang in-case local water tastes bad
-Gorp (w/ dried fruit) + Homemade Jerky are timeless
-Apples & Peanut butter keep well
-Tabasco Chipotle or Siracha are nice additions
-Premeasured instant oatmeal with nuts, brown sugar, dried milk only needs hot water. Add hot cocoa with no xtra work.
My camp larder changes according to what I'm doing and how I've got to carry it. The one thing I'll rarely leave behind is my 8 cup Revereware percolator and freshly ground Columbian! I can end a day afield without a beer but I'll be darned if I'll begin it without coffee!
Hornd - That is indeed a Kershaw Leek by Ken Onion with a rainbow trout on the handle. It was the finest knife I ever owned and I carried it for years. I was coveted by many. And then I lost it a couple years ago when the knife fell out of my pocket on a golf course. Fact, I have not swung a club since.
TABASCO is a must....If you have cooked something up that did not turn out the way you planned at least you can enhance it with some HEAT!!!
DavidD -I love the Kershaws with Speed Assist. I have the chive. I looked for a trout model, but couldn't find.
Hey, I want to say thanks for this post and to all of you for your input, it has really gotten me to thinking about heading out for an overnighter fishing trip with my son and brother-in-law and how much I miss such things. It's been much too long. Regards.............
I am still putting my camping cookware together along with alot of things I need to replace they are worn out or cannot be repaired.
I have a milk crate with my cast Iron, and enamel cook ware ready to go.I never forget a good size bag of shredded beef jerky. You can eat it by itself or through it in a frying pan add, chopped peppers,onions, a couple of eggs and you have a good meal. We Mexicans call it Machacado.
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The one essential thing you left out that I make sure to have is tin foil. Not only is it great to make cooking vessels out of but its also great to extend my camp radios antenna and direct the light from my lantern.
I keep a kitchen box for camping. I have dollar store Utensils, 2 can openers in case 1 gets lost, old pots and pans, old dish towels, an old pot holder and room for cans of beans, boxes of mac and cheese, and pancake mix. I went camping with by boys ages 5, and 3 the first time. And they loved eating hotdogs, mac and cheese and pancakes cooked on the Coleman camp stove/grill.
premixed bannochbread mix is allways a good tip. just add water and mix and u got hot panbread for breakfast. Normally i bring minimally of food with me.. flour salt pepper, a big hunk of hard butter. and u can survive on anything u catch/kill during yer stay.. but i also bring toro soup bags, just boil it up quickly and u got a meal that will keep u going in an emergency and to witch u could also add anything u have of proteins already..
Utensile wise i keep it dead simple.. have a multi fuel cooking kit inside a pot with a lid that doubles as a tiny fryingpan. and a box kit with both a deep dish and flat dish as lid and bottom including just a knife spoon and fork kit. aslo the latter included a salt. pepper boxkit.. cooking al fresco i prefer to keep it dead simple and rustic.. the big experiences i prefer to delay if possible untill i return to the home again where it can be shared with more people and enjoyed more since u have ALL the accessories and can do your very best to extract every morself of delightfull flavour from the wild game and fish u brought.. :)
But for fishing on the sea itself i like to do like my dad used to when he was a young man actually rowing 20-30 kilometers out to sea and fishing and then returning to an islet and using driftwood to cook theire meals used the freshest cleanest natural products u can possibly get, cook it in seawater with onions. pepper potatoes and what delight nature can provide;) pure living with clean tastes :P
I use my leatherman, a boyscout mess kit and sometimes a big aluminum pot I bought at the thrift store if I'm carrying the stuff on my back. I like potatoes (one medium/person/day for dinner) and vacuum-sealed country ham. Add a can or two of veg and you can do a world of things.
Salt and pepper at the very least.
I'm interested in what appears to be a Kershaw with a trout on it in the lower left?
I do keep a plastic box packed with the kitchen utensils, silverware, plates, and cups for camping. Inside is a list of basics to stock it with for food.
Here's a few proven winners over the yrs:
-Make hearty soup ahead of time and freeze. Use as ice in the cooler and when it thaws eat. White Chix Chili comes to mimd.
-Frozen salmon, and pre measured minute rice, along with Homemade Teriyaki and green beans is a favorite. Pan fry salmon while beans and rice boil. Salmon doesn't last long in cooler so eat 1st night.
-Can't miss with Hotdogs cut up and boiled in Mac&Cheese
-Costco canned chicken in Mrs Grass Noodle Soup
-Always have crackers, sardines, oysters, herring, etc in-shell peanuts (occasionally cajun) or pistachios for snacks
-Best camper pies are marbled Rye, Deli corned beef, drained kraut, 1000 island, and swiss
-Take Gatorade or Tang in-case local water tastes bad
-Gorp (w/ dried fruit) + Homemade Jerky are timeless
-Apples & Peanut butter keep well
-Tabasco Chipotle or Siracha are nice additions
-Premeasured instant oatmeal with nuts, brown sugar, dried milk only needs hot water. Add hot cocoa with no xtra work.
My camp larder changes according to what I'm doing and how I've got to carry it. The one thing I'll rarely leave behind is my 8 cup Revereware percolator and freshly ground Columbian! I can end a day afield without a beer but I'll be darned if I'll begin it without coffee!
Hornd - That is indeed a Kershaw Leek by Ken Onion with a rainbow trout on the handle. It was the finest knife I ever owned and I carried it for years. I was coveted by many. And then I lost it a couple years ago when the knife fell out of my pocket on a golf course. Fact, I have not swung a club since.
TABASCO is a must....If you have cooked something up that did not turn out the way you planned at least you can enhance it with some HEAT!!!
DavidD -I love the Kershaws with Speed Assist. I have the chive. I looked for a trout model, but couldn't find.
Hey, I want to say thanks for this post and to all of you for your input, it has really gotten me to thinking about heading out for an overnighter fishing trip with my son and brother-in-law and how much I miss such things. It's been much too long. Regards.............
I am still putting my camping cookware together along with alot of things I need to replace they are worn out or cannot be repaired.
I have a milk crate with my cast Iron, and enamel cook ware ready to go.I never forget a good size bag of shredded beef jerky. You can eat it by itself or through it in a frying pan add, chopped peppers,onions, a couple of eggs and you have a good meal. We Mexicans call it Machacado.
Post a Comment