7 Camp Cooking Tips.
The fact that your home kitchen has everything you need means that outdoor food preparation might take a little more planning. But it's not really a big deal. Since you probably don't want to bring your kitchen with you, creating a checklist of camping cookware, utensils and other camping gear you'll need is a good idea. See the camping list page for many ideas. 1. At least to me, it's always nice to make camp cooking as fun as possible. One idea that can make camping easier is by preparing and cooking your camping food before your trip. Preparing food before-hand means you'll have less cookware to bring with you, less clean-up, and more time to enjoy your family and your trip. It will take a little more time pre-trip but it should be quicker and easier than getting everything together at the campsite and worrying that you may have forgotten something. Of course if your spouse takes over these duties along with some help from the kids, than you might like things the way they are... ;-) 2. Another camp cooking tip if you don't want to prepare a full meal before your trip, is to complete a portion of it. Instead of bringing raw chicken, if it works for what you need it for, try cooking it first. Not only will it be closer to ready-to-use, it's nice because you won't have to worry about the possibility of raw chicken mixing with whatever happens to be in your cooler. The easier it is to avoid Salmonella bacteria, the better. It's a bummer having to throw out what would have only been wet food, because it came into contact with raw meat.
4. Another tip that can save you some room and hassle... Think like you were packing backpacking or hiking equipment. Go lighter by using gear that can be used in several different ways. Do you have a pan that's big enough that it can double as a shallow pot, or can your small pot double as a bowl? Will your French press double as a soup pot (mine does)? Can you bring a Leatherman® multi-tool so that you can leave some tools/utensils home? (Backcountry, a 3 year Bizrate award winner, Little camp cooking ideas like this can add up quickly, and may surprise you as to how much room and weight they can save. 5. When you reach the point that down-sizing your gear is more of a hassle than it's worth, it's a good point to stop. Just keep in mind that thinking creatively can really help to pare down how much space is available in your car. This might give you the room you need to bring something else or to take a smaller car that gets better gas mileage. 6. Also bringing smaller containers, concentrated frozen juices and dehydrated foods can go a long way toward reducing the amount of stuff you bring with you. 7. Notice what you use regularly in camp cooking, what you use sometimes and what you never use. Also notice what you could use, but never have with you. Now add and subtract the equipment accordingly. Each and every trip should get better and easier, otherwise take a look at where the challenges are and make the needed adjustments. Camping should be a fun vacation, but there's always room to make it better. :-) If you have any camp cooking ideas or any other great tips that you'd like to share, please let me know with the contact us form.
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