Special food is not necessary when camping.
You don’t have to eat freeze dried meals or dine out of cans, nor even survive on grilled foods. Any recipe you use at home can be adapted to use when camping, although trying to make an angel food cake from scratch is probably not a good idea.
There are numerous cookbooks with ideas and recipes, but any stovetop recipe is going to be fairly easy to duplicate while camping.
Camp Cooking Tips
Pre-cook.
Arriving at your campsite late on Friday night? Speed up dinner by pre-cooking it at home or buying it from the deli. Fried or rotisserie chicken, along with salad, can be a delicious start to the weekend. Use paper plates for easy clean up before bed too. Sandwiches can also be easy, served on just a paper towel.
Prevent contamination.
Seal raw meats tightly and then place into a second container to prevent any fluids from contaminating the other food items or the ice that is being used to keep the food cold.
Fluids from raw meats can contain bacteria that can make people very sick and prevention is far better than treatment.
Besides, do you really want people to remember the camp trip for who ended up in the hospital with food poisoning?
Prep raw meat at home.
Do your prepping of raw meat, whether it is shaping patties or cutting it up, at home where you have access to hot water and soap to decontaminate your hands and utensils.
In camp, avoid touching the raw meat directly, using tongs or a spatula to handle the meat. Don’t forget to wash utensils thoroughly.
Add marinades and seasonings to meat at home.
For weekend trips, add your seasonings or marinades at home for maximum flavor and minimal fuss in camp.
Use the K.I.S.S. theory.
That stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don’t fuss over meals when camping. Plan for simple foods that are easily prepared and opt for the gourmet dining when you have time at home.
Appetites are bigger when camping.
Plan on healthy snacks and prepare them at home so that they are easy to grab and eat, whether it is raw vegetables, fruit, or something else.
Easy to use butter.
Try the soft margarine in the squeeze bottle or the spray on versions for easy use in camp, whether it is for morning pancakes or a roasted ear of corn. The bottles are much easier to manage in the cooler and take up less space as well.
Cooking oil.
Trying to keep things minimalist? Reuse one of the water bottle flavoring containers, such as Mio or one of the other brands. Just pop off the top, rinse it thoroughly, and let it air dry overnight before filling with cooking oil for your backpack. It gives very accurate dispensing and doesn’t leak.
Pie Irons.
These are fun to use, and make meal preparation easy too. Best advice, have one for each child to prevent squabbles over who’s turn it is now.
Everything from grilled cheese to pocket pizzas can be made in these handy little gadgets. By buttering the bread and using canned pie filling for the centers, it can also create a tasty little fruit pie too! Wrapping the pie iron in aluminum foil makes clean up a breeze too.
Make popcorn in camp with Jiffy Pop.
The expanding container amuses the kids as well as the more grown up kids, and it’s a tasty snack too.
Bring along a stovetop percolator.
Without the stem and basket, the coffeepot makes an excellent and efficient way to heat water for everything from instant soups to hot water for washing up.
Check out recipes for freezer bag and foil pouch cooking.
It allows customized meals that are easy to prepare.
Drip Coffee.
Like drip coffee? Compact on-the-mug versions are available, including silicone models that collapse. Just add a filter, coffee grounds and boiling water to drip coffee straight into your mug. Just as good as at home!
Get a cast iron dutch oven and bake in your campfire.
It takes a bit of practice, but delicious results will occur. For baking in the campfire, buy the type with a rimmed flat lid to hold the coals.
Roast dinner in the campfire.
Potatoes are a natural to wrap in foil and bake in the campfire. Meat, besides hot dogs, can be roasted on cooking forks too. Try skewering chunks of steak, sprinkling with seasonings, and cooking to taste on the fire.
Want chips in camp? Use single serving size to prevent overindulging or chips getting stale and soggy.
Grills and grilling
Camping almost requires at least the occasional grilled meal. Know your options before leaving home.
Folding portable grills
Folding portable grills are available to use over an open fire. For grilling over wood, this type of grill is almost essential. Always let your wood fire die down to a bed of coals before grilling food or you will have more charring than grilling going on.
Portable propane grills
Portable propane grills that use the 1 lb. disposable cylinders are available. Most are designed for table top use, and are suitable for burgers, chops, hotdogs, small steaks, and other simple foods.
Don’t try to slow cook a brisket over one of these grills, as it is too small and lack precise heat control like is found on larger units.
Disposable charcoal grills
Disposable charcoal grills are another option without making a large investment. Essentially these are a large foil pan with charcoal inside and topped with a thin metal grill. These grills are best suited to foods that cook quickly, as the charcoal cannot be replenished inside for longer cooking.
Portable charcoal grills
Portable charcoal grills are available, and typically are capable of cooking more food at one time, as well as accomplishing more complex grilling tasks. Charcoal can be added for longer cooking as well.
Look for models with a domed lid to keep the heat in for slower grilling foods or cooking in colder weather. Some models also come with a case for transporting the grill in, minimizing mess in your vehicle from camping or tailgating.
Larger portable grills
Larger portable grills will use the larger tanks of propane, and offer more space as well as their own collapsible stands. These are very popular with tailgaters, making them readily available for campers as well.
Why use a portable grill with charcoal or propane while camping? It’s simple—convenience. Stooping and bending over a campfire grill is not everyone’s idea of a great activity and may be actually painful or impossible for some.
Stoves
There a number of different types of stoves available for use by the camper. Choosing the right one for you is important, as it is how you are going to prepare your food while camping.
Alcohol stoves
These can be homemade from an aluminum can and burn denatured alcohol. These are reliable but offer only basic heating ability suitable for boiling water.
These are lightweight and easy to use, and remain popular with minimalist backpackers. Their best use is heating water to rehydrate meals and make hot drinks.
Esbit stoves
These stoves use a chemical tablet that burns very hot and very quickly. They are a great emergency stove, but offer only a very hot flame that is suitable for quickly heating water to boiling. They are also reliable stoves.
Their best use is rehydrating meals and making hot drinks. Their con is that the tablets can be hard to find locally and expensive to purchase.
Liquid fuel (“Coleman gas” ) stoves
These stoves come in both single burner and double burner models. The fuel is pressurized by pumping a hand pump. After priming and lighting, the fuel is heated by the flame for greater efficiency.
These stoves are classics and have been in use a very long time. The larger versions are not suited to backpacking, as they are heavy and bulky.
Smaller, more compact and lighter versions are available as well. These have a compact burner that often has folding legs, and the tank is attached by a small diameter hose. These smaller tanks also have a hand pump for pressurizing.
Most of these stoves are also reliable classics. Most will also simmer as well as quickly bring water to a boil, making them more versatile for cooking more complex meals.
Propane stoves
Propane stoves are available in single, double, and triple models, as well as larger burners designed for large boiling or frying pots. These are very nearly identical to cooking on your stove at home in their operation.
Smaller models also are designed to use disposable 1 lb. gas canisters, making them easier to pack along. Propane stoves are generally not a good choice for backpacking, but are a great choice for car camping and tailgating.
Pocket Stoves
Pocket stoves are designed to burn almost anything small and are compact for packing. They burn paper, small twigs, small pinecones, grass knots, cow chips, or about anything that is small enough to fit into the fire chamber and is combustible. Because of their small fire chamber, they are not good for simmering for long periods or cooking anything that requires steady medium hot to hot heat levels.
They are best suited to reheating canned or cooked foods or boiling water for rehydrating food or making hot drinks.
These also make good backup stoves or emergency stoves. They are also low cost, which makes them very attractive for emergency preparation.
Sterno stoves
Sterno stoves are designed to burn Sterno, a type of gelled alcohol. They are not particularly hot and do not boil water quickly. However, they can be used to simmer food for slow cooking. Many people use this type of stove as their emergency or back up stove. Sterno is also used to keep food hot at outdoor events and buffets.
Kerosene stoves
Kerosene stoves are no longer commonly seen in the USA, although they do remain popular in other countries. Where kerosene is readily available, they can be a reliable alternative. Kerosene stoves typically use a wick to supply the fuel.
Butane stoves
These are also available. Butane is sold for these stoves either in the squat cans or in a hairspray type can, depending on the type of stove used. While they remain popular with backpackers, the small butane canisters must be packed in and then packed out as empties afterwards.
Some backpackers object to this and they choose alternative stoves. The hairspray like canisters are used in a larger square stove and these stoves are also popular with caterers, which attests to their versatility and reliability. These stoves are easy to use while car camping.
Stove Shopping Tips
When stove shopping, read descriptions and reviews alike to determine which stove is most likely to suit your needs. Many people own more than one type of stove (I own about six different ones). Different stoves work best in different circumstances. Most novice campers find either the propane or the butane stoves to be the simplest and intimidating.
Read your owner’s manual and understand how to operate and troubleshoot your stove before taking it camping. Practice using it at home to cook in your own kitchen to ensure confidence in camp.