Camp Cooking

I love camping… it’s one of my favorite parts of the summer.  And I live in Alaska where if you are not camping, you are wasting your hard-earned summer time here. I love the quiet solitude, the simplicity of camp life… and the food.

Now when I think of camp food it’s more sophisticated than it used to be. When I was younger our meals during camping centered around the packed sandwiches and hot dogs roasting on a stick over the fire. These days I can invest in my own equipment and plan my own trip… and the food is my major focus to be honest.

If you like camping and want to experience really good, wholesome meals while doing it… let me suggest a few methods

1. The tinfoil packets on the coals method.  This method is perfect for budgeting campers or those who like to prep food in the comfort of their home kitchen. What you do is pretty simple. You take a large piece of tinfoil and lay it out. Load it up with your meal and wrap it closed in a pouch. Make a few, stick them in baggy and you have a quick cook meal ready to go when you get your coals ready.  I like to make a classic pot roast style meal in these pouches. Get a steak and toss in some chopped carrots, onion and potatoes.
   
2. The Dutch Oven or Cast-Iron Skillet method.  Here you would be using a very traditional version of campfire cooking. The skillet itself can rest on some coals, as well as the dutch oven. Or the dutch oven could be suspended over the open flames of the fire.  The dutch oven is a perfect way to make a stew or to back bread. Yes… you can bake fresh bread at a campsite! The cast iron skillet can also be used to make camp biscuits or a one pot entrée like a stir-fry or casserole.
   
3. The Campfire/Lumberjack Grill method. Here you have a standing grill grate made of heavy iron that you can set up quickly over the open flame of your campfire. This is perfect for your basic grilling needs, especially if you just had a successful day of fishing! You can also use it to set up a cast-iron skillet or dutch oven to make a side to go with your meat.
   
4. The Camp Stove method.  This is my new favorite go-to method for preparing meals. This is simply a scaled down version of a propane barbecue grill. I have this exact model, with the half-grill and half-stove design. I find it multi-purpose, reliable and easy to use. For these you need smaller, backpacker style pots as the dutch oven and cast iron skillet are just too heavy and large to work on this.  You can get the same results as the lumberjack grill from #3, but with less hassle and clean-up.  It will cost you about $100 more at the very least, so it’s up to you on whether it’s a worthy investment.
   

Well now you know the gamut of available camp ground cooking styles and equipment.  There is plenty of room to mix and match for your desirable trip.  Honestly, I will use the foil packets on the camp stove in a heart beat. I have a dutch oven and a cast iron skillet in my camp-kitchen bag for when the mood strikes me.  The only one I don’t have is the lumberjack grill… and only because I chose the stove instead.

It is worth noting, particularly since I am experiencing this first-hand here, that there are times when the weather forces a burn-ban. Bans vary in degrees, but the only one of my methods listed above that generally remains open for use is the camp stove. The enclosed, controlled fire with contained ignition sources are provided only reliably with the stove and so the stove is usually the cooking equipment to be banned.

Next Food Friday… we will cover just what to cook with these options…