Make a camping kitchen gear list and check it twice, and if you are lucky, you won’t forget something. It never fails though, something escapes us, and there we are, making do without it. Careful packing and lists, however, go a long ways towards keeping that “doing without” to a minimum.
The Stove
The most essential item is your stove. Without it, you’ll be eating cold or raw food much of the time, as not all parks will allow campfires of any kind during high fire risk periods of time. In addition, firewood can be difficult to find or expensive to purchase. It is also much quicker and environmentally friendly to simply use a stove.
Stoves come in a number of models, prices, and fuels. The most economical to operate are those that use liquid fuels such as unleaded gasoline, diesel or white gas (Coleman fuel). Of these, white gas burns the cleanest. At this time, it averages at about $10 per gallon in most areas.
In my own case, a single burner stove burns about one liter of white gas in four days of fairly long cooking meals and coffee preparation. Faster preparing meals obviously are more efficient use of your fuel than something such as dry beans. In addition, stoves burning white gas vary in their ability to burn at a “simmer”.
I happen to prefer stoves that have the fuel canister connected by a fuel line rather than have the burner sitting right on top of the fuel canister, but that is a personal preference. I’ve used both types, as well as traditional two burner stoves with both propane and white gas as fuel.
Choose a stove fits your budget and needs
I’ve also used “penny” alcohol stoves, pocket stoves, wood gas stoves, and butane stoves. For simplicity, the propane and butane stoves are the easiest to use and the most similar to a gas stove at home. I’m not referring to the backpacker’s versions, but rather the one or two burner versions preferred by car campers and used for outdoor cooking at home.
Choose a stove that fits your budget and needs. Typically, one burner works for up to four people, at which time a second burner is often needed. Two burners will be sufficient for 10-12 people, with a third being required at that point. I do not suggest that inexperienced camp cooks attempt cooking for more than a dozen people without a lot of nerve and a bucket of luck!
Obtain sufficient fuel for the duration of your trip, plus a little extra as a margin of error. Nothing is more irritating than running out just as you are cooking the last meal before you go home!
Keep in mind, not all fuels are readily available at local stores near your destination, and specialty fuels such as butane canisters are virtually never available except at outdoor supply stores. Most larger towns will have the one pound propane canisters and white gas available, however.
Pots and Pans
Real food requires real pots and pans. Forget the mess kits. I’ve used them, and while they are great for one person or backpacking, I’ve never found them to work particularly well with cooking actual fresh food. They do work well for heating water, simple soups, and freeze dried meals.
You won’t need all of your pots and pans. Typically, a few do the job well. Here is the list:
- 8” nonstick skillet.
- 12” nonstick skillet.
- 4-5 quart saucepan with lid.
- 4-5 quart stockpot, preferably with bail handle, with lid.
- Compact colander.
- Mixing bowl, medium size.
- Can opener.
- Mixing spoon.
- Ladle.
- Spatula (pancake turner).
- Slotted spoon.
- Cooking spoon.
- Chef’s knife.
- Paring knife.
- Cooking fork.
- Large metal baking sheet (I use a half sheet baking pan) this works as an all-purpose surface for meal preparation as well as a tray for holding items.
- Dish pan / Dish soap / Dish cloth.
- Green scrubber.
For Coffee
That’s it, unless you drink coffee. If that is the case, add a small saucepan with a lid or a tea kettle/coffee pot and a top-of-the-mug coffee filter holder for drip coffee. It’s a lot faster to make the same drip coffee we drink at home than to percolate a pot of coffee that we’re apt to not truly care for.
Some of these items may not be necessary on all trips, and on other trips, you may want to add things like a flat griddle to use on your stove or pie irons to use over the campfire.
One of our favorites is to bring along a steamed pudding pan and steam a “cake” in the evening for dessert.
As a substitute for the steamed pudding pan, a large metal can, roughly the size of the old one pound coffee cans (if you are old enough to remember them!) will work, along with some aluminum foil and string to tie it with. Use uncoated cans. Smaller cans will also work, but may require multiple cans to steam enough.
Camp Kitchen Hacks
Here are some hints to make things go a bit smoother with your camping experience.
Vanilla
If you buy your vanilla in a large bottle, use the same drink containers like are used for the oils. Easy to pack, doesn’t leak, and accurate dispensing.
Oils
Need just a few tablespoons of an oil? Reuse those calorie free drink concentrate containers that are all the rage to flavor waters with. Just pop the tops off, rinse thoroughly, and let air dry for a day or two. Fill with oil and use a permanent marker designed for plastic to mark the ingredient on the bottle. Accurate dispensing too!
Forget the dish soap? Shampoo will work in a pinch!
Foil Scrubber
Forget the scratchy pad? Crumple a piece of foil and use that instead. Do not use on nonstick surfaces, it will scratch them. Instead, use a wooden clothespin (or a piece of stick) to scrub at stubborn stuck on bits.
Herbs & Spices
Pack the small amount used in a recipe in a small packet made from a piece of foil or plastic, then drop them together into a small plastic bag before adding it to the “big” bag holding the other shelf stable ingredients.
Sugar
Reuse a plastic jar with a screw on lid by washing it thoroughly and letting it air dry overnight before filling with sugar. It keeps the sugar dry and they don’t leak.
Cone Filters
Many mug top single drip holders use the small cone filters. To save money, use the more readily available large cones—they are cheaper too and work just fine. If the extra portion above the filter holder bothers you, trim them with scissors.
Sheet Pan
Kitchen counters don’t exist in camp, and picnic tables leave a bit to be desired. Bringing along a large sheet pan (I use a half sheet or a jelly roll pan) means you have a cleanable surface for meal prep, as well as a tray to hold things to move them.
Aluminum Foil
Aluminum foil is your friend when camping. It has many uses. It makes a great reflector for a lantern, just wrap it on the side and pinch to anything on the lantern to secure it. Wind blowing out your camp stove flame? Wrap a band of doubled aluminum foil around the base of your pot, leaving a gap on the leeward side so you can peek at it (or relight it again) Wrap leftovers in foil and heat on your campfire.
Cooler
No second cooler for drinks in hot weather? Put ice and drinks inside of a paper bag, then inside of a cardboard box, in the shade. Drape a damp cloth over the top of the box. The ice won’t keep, but it will chill drinks for the day. The bags used to bring home frozen groceries make a great low-cost and compact additional cooler for drinks. The ice keeps better (it might even last all weekend!) and it collapses for travel.
Other Hacks
Hate getting black all over your hands when using charcoal when camping? Prepackage the briquettes in paper bags. Just insert bag into grill, tear open top, apply charcoal starter and light.
No fuss, no mess! Put the paper bags inside of a used plastic grocery bag for transporting, but remove the plastic bag before lighting. Reuse one of those drink flavor bottles for charcoal starter—one bottle is enough to start the charcoal and they pack much more compactly than the big bottles, as well as are less likely to leak. Just don’t mix the charcoal starter bottles with the ones used for food products.
Want a safer, easy to use fire starter for your campfire? Rub as much petroleum jelly as you can into cotton balls, then pack them in a small tin or plastic container. (Altoid tins are great!) These starters are easy to use and non-explosive.
Is your tent making you crazy with refusing to fit back into the bag? Stop the fight, buy a bigger bag! Thrift stores and yard sales are often great sources for a low cost replacement too. Use the original bag to hold the poles, stakes and mallet. Pack the footprint, spare tarp, and tent in the new bag.