The list for the kitchen is somewhat dependent on the activities planned for the camping trip. If you are staying put for the entire camping trip, take all you need and you do not have to pack up and move during the trip. Most of the camping trips I take are to lakes or rivers and the activity is boating, fishing, and jet skiing when the weather is hot.
The menu determines the needs of the kitchen. If bacon and eggs are being cooked for breakfast, a skillet big enough to fix them in needs to be on the list. If toast and jelly is the morning starter, a way to make toast is required.
The List of Cooking Items
For a 3 to 5 day camp trip, I think the basic kitchen would include the following:
Heat source
If you are using a fire – you need fire wood 2 to 4 bundles/day and fire starter (like paper and/or kindling) or a camp stove and BBQ with fuel (Charcoal or propane or whatever your fuel needs to be).
Lighter or matches
Like a Bic Multi-Purpose Lighter to light the heat source.
Skillet, pots and pan
Depending on the menu – you might be able to leave one or two of these at home.
Cooking utensils
Specula, meat fork, cooking spoon, oven mitten, sharp knife, cutting board.
Table of some sort
I use a plastic folding table – camp stoves and BBQ maybe set on the ground, but I would rather cook standing up!
Plates, knives, forks and spoons
If you are serving a good steak – I take real plates and real knives – so much easier!
Specialty items
Coat hangers work in a pinch but long forks for Smore’s work so much better. A fixture for making toast on the stove or over the fire, long forks for cooking hot dogs over the fire, you get the idea!
You will need water, about ½ gallon/person/day. You can take bottled water to satisfy some of this – and if you are camping near a lake or stream you can use this water for cleaning dishes and flushing porta-potties.
Clean up items
Trash bags, paper towels, dish soap, scouring pad/dish rag, and a drying rack or a towel for dishes (you can just let them air dry – we have low humidity here in Colorado – but in some locations it is very high and the dishes will not dry sitting out!).
Some big tubs will make it easier to carry and organize the kitchen stuff and food.
Coolers for the food that needs to stay cooled.
Spices and sauces to flavor food.
A few of the above items we have not talked about yet – and we will do that now.
Tables
Several different folding tables are available at retailers such as Lowes, Wal-Mart, or Home Depot. These tables are priced around $30 – $35. But you can create an eating surface out of a partial sheet of plywood and saw horses. Be careful if you do not have legs that lock in place – you have the makings of an American Funniest Videos clip and you will be eating food off the ground. The 8 second rule does not apply to the outdoors – it can be on the ground for a ½ second and it will pick up sand, dirt, and grit. Eating food with grit is not pleasant! No matter how much you wash it off – there still will be some left behind.
Plates
My camping plates are from the local Goodwill store. I have a number of steak knives from the same place – I go throw their knife container and get one or two every now and then. I do not notice the payout, but when you are camping and you pull out plates and steak knives, your campers’ eyes will pop out! Cutting steak on a paper plate is tricky at best – you cannot tell where the steak ends and the paper plate begins. We have tried to share steak knives – it sometimes works and sometimes not. It depends on how well your campers know each other – the better they know each other – the fewer knives you will need for a steak dinner.
Coolers
They come in many shapes and sizes. Some have a lid attached and some not, some are soft sided. The problem with coolers is that you should leave about 1/3 the space for ice or gel packs. This will store your food for about 3 or 4 days, depending on how hot it is outside. Here are several observations about ice and coolers – Ice is one of those things that the more you need it, the faster it disappears.
Ice creates water as it melts – so anything in the cooler might be under water in a couple of days.
Use Ziploc storage bags for anything you do not want exposed to the melted ice water. We have tried the cheap bags – they leak! Tried the good sandwich bags – they leak. We have tried to keep the stuff that needs to stay dry on top of other stuff – they always end up at the bottom! We have had gremlins come into our coolers and remove lids from jars!
An Idea
One idea is to use big juice bottles filled with water and frozen – this allows for the ice to keep the contents cool and yet does not result in lots of water in the bottom two days later. Remember that water expands when frozen – so do not fill these bottles to the top! I like to use the rectangle bottles; these are more efficient space wise in the coolers. With so many different sizes of juice bottles and coolers – make sure to try the bottles in the cooler to assure they are not too tall, or too big.
When you get home – all the coolers need to be cleaned. What dirt that does not come off will be there for the next use. Over time they will get to looking dingy! And no one wants to get food out of a dirty cooler!
Heat Source for Cooking
There are a number of ways to get the heat necessary for cooking. We will cover the following sources – Sterno, camp fires, charcoal BBQ’s and propane stoves and BBQ’s.
Sterno cooking
This is one of the cheapest heat sources for camp cooking available. Sterno stove and fuel can be bought for less than $10. One can of fuel will last about 2 hours –plan accordingly.
Open Fire Cooking
Cooking using fuel burning stoves are all the rage, but cooking over an open fire provides some excitement for both cook and fellow camper unequaled by these modern marvels. There is a certain mystique about being able to create a meal over a fire. Some say it is not camping unless you get smoke in your eyes. Cooking over an open fire does feed into the “pyro” in all of us, but there are a number of considerations.
Fire location
Ring, or pit and where it is in relation to the rest of the camp site.
Fire wood
Ample wood needs to be available or brought to be able to provide a constant heat source throwout the camping trip.
Stable grate for placing pots and pans.
Pots and pans and cooking utensils suitable for using the fire for a heat source.
Fire Location
The first consideration is the fire location. Most campsites have a fire ring in place. If there is an existing fire ring, make an evaluation as to its suitability. If you are in the part of the country where bears roam – the fire needs to be at least 50 feet from the tents/sleeping area (but even further would be better). Bears will be attracted to the smell of food that cannot be avoided in the cooking area. If there is no fire ring, locate the fire in the open and downwind from the tents so smoke is taken away by the wind.
The ideal cooking fire is a keyhole pit about 2 ½ feet square and about 8 to 10 inches deep. The keyhole should be about 4” deep and about a foot square. If using a grate, make sure the width of the keyhole accommodates the grate. When it is time to cook – just shovel some coals into the cooking keyhole and you are ready to go.
Fire wood
Whenever I trim my trees I keep the trimmings and use it for camping! Cut the little stuff for kindling and use the bigger limbs for firewood. If you are trimming fruit trees keep this for smoking the food – fruit wood gives the meat a sweeter taste. I use between 3 and 4 bundles of wood per day. Even if you do not have power tools to cut the wood – you can use pruning shears to cut limbs up to about ¾” diameter and use loppers for wood up to about 1 ½ to 2” depending on the hardness of the wood.
Be sure and let green wood dry out – cut in the spring and the wood might be okay by fall. You can always buy firewood at supermarkets, but be sure and take a small axe to split the wood for kindling. Another source is http://YOURCITYHERE.craigslist.org – look for firewood under the “free stuff”. It might be an old fence or pallets – but they will make a nice camp fire!
Grate
For cooking over a fire a grate is necessary for keeping the pots and pans level and out of the fire. Most camping supplies stores have a grate with foldable legs ideal for cooking. Place the grate about 3” above the coals for medium heat, closer for more intense heat and higher for more even less intense heat. More coals for more heat and less coals for less heat.
Pots, Pans, and utensils
Long handles on all of these are needed to keep the cook cool, short handles will have the cook hot under the collar. I use cast iron fry pan and the black does not show. Check local thrift stores, like ARC, or Goodwill for pans to use for camping. I also get dishes and utensils from these thrift stores, so my camping dishes and pots and pans cost me $20 total.
Pots and pans suggestion
Any shiny pots or pans will get black with soot when used over a wood fire. One way to minimize this blackening is to make a powdered soap and water paste and apply to the bottoms and edges of all pans. Then when it is time to clean – simply wash the paste off!
Charcoal BBQ’s
This group of heat sources require planning because the fire is not ready for cooking for some time. You can use your charcoal BBQ much like the cooking fire, the only difference is the charcoal fire can be at a higher level, making it easier on the back. Again, in using this type of heat source, make sure you bring enough charcoal to get throw the camping trip. Even with this type of cooking fire, you will want to take some firewood for those camp fires at night.
Propane Stoves and BBQ’s
This group includes all stoves and BBQ’s that use other fuels, such as butane, white gas and gasoline. These stoves and BBQ’s create even heat quickly and are easy to use. This is my preference; 5 pound propane tank and hoses to connect to stove and BBQ. I use this setup for the propane distribution.
I find that a week of camping empties this tank, but I do not need to worry about bringing lots of one pound throw away cylinders. When using propane, you need a table or some legs built for the stove. The BBQ can be used while setting on the ground. Using propane, you will need matches or a full lighter (I hate to run out in the middle of a trip). I like the BIC Multi-Purpose Lighter available at about any retailer for under $4.