A FEW TIPS ON BECOMING THE PERFECT CAMP COOK

Serious campers enjoy camping all year round because they are well equipped and set up their camp site to minimize the effects of the weather  They also plan their activities according to the season or the weather.

Whilst we don’t have any control over the weather we do have control over what we eat when we go camping.  Just as “bad” weather can turn the ill-prepared people off camping for life so too can “bad” food. Yet just as people can enjoy the vagaries of the weather with a little planning so too can they enjoy great food with a little planning.

PLANNING is the key to successful camp cooking.  You need to consider the type and quantity of food you’ll need, how long you’ll be away, how you will keep the food fresh, individual dietary needs, likes and dislikes, do you plan to cook in the open or under cover, will you use a gas stove or do you plan on using firewood.  Well there’s not much chance of cooking over an open fire when it’s bucketing down and a soggy vegemite sandwich is no match for a succulent roast chicken especially if it’s cold, wet and windy.

You don’t need to go into a lot of detail but you do need to at least consider the basics and rely on good old fashioned common sense.

VARIETY, they say, is the spice of life.  That may well be, but a variety of meals certainly makes for more enjoyable camping.  Meal variety is a combination of nutrition, appearance, taste, texture, cooking methods and ingredients.  Cooking methods such as stewing, roasting, grilling, boiling and frying ensures you have a wider choice of meals.  You can also consider soups, entrees, main meals and desserts in varying your camping menu.

Variety is probably more important on longer trips but if you are a regular camper it can be fun to experiment with different types of recipes and ways of cooking.  For example if you’ve never used a cardboard box oven give it a go.  It’s quick and easy and the results are superb.

DISCOVERING the many types of foods, ingredients and cooking methods that can be used in camp cooking.  Many old recipes can be found and since these were mostly cooked over wood stoves and fires using cast iron pots and pans they can be readily adapted to camp cooking.  You might find that Mexican, Chinese, Indian or Italian food can also be adapted to camp cooking.

There are also lots of simple recipes that children can have fun with as well as simply cooking such as potatoes cooked in foil in hot coals.  In fact it’s a great idea to involve the children in camp cooking and next month we’ll dig out a few simple children’s recipes for you.

EQUIPMENT covers stoves, pots, pans, barbecues, ovens, jaffle irons, lifters, utensils, containers, fridges, boxes, camp safes etc.  A good place to start in deciding what is best for you is to go on club trips and see what others do and use.  You’ll be amazed at the variety of bits and pieces that members use to improve their camp cooking.  Cast iron may be a little heavy and awkward to carry but it produces the best camp meals by a country mile.

Once you’ve decided what meals you want to cook, deciding what hardware you’ll need is quite simple and you can always add to it as you go.

If insects bother you consider buying a screen tent for cooking and eating.  They’re not very expensive and are stocked by most camp shops and Kmart and BigW often discount them.  It’s great to sit in the open in a mossie free dining room watching the others slopping and slapping themselves silly.  Camping is NOT about roughing it, and you can’t expect to cook well without the right equipment and the right environment.

PRACTICE makes perfect!  Camp cooking is easy once you get used it and the way to get used to it is

to try it at home first.  Sure you can’t build a roaring fire to get hot coals but you can use heat beads which probably do a better job anyway.  You’ll need to get a fairly accurate idea of how long the various meals take to cook or you risk sitting down to dinner long after everyone else has gone to bed.

It’s also acceptable to vary the recipe, which should be used as a guide only.  If you watch the fair dinkum bush cooks you will rarely find them measuring anything and rarely do they have a failure.  As we’ve mentioned before, start with something simple like a roast or a stew and as your confidence grows you can have a go at something a little more fancy.

The club runs a couple of camp cooking weekends each year at which you can pick up some good tips from the club experts.

PREPARATION is probably the key to camp cooking success.  Whilst we don’t believe in detailing each and every meal for each and every day – you might not be hungry or you might fancy something else – it is a good idea to have a detailed list of the meals, snacks, and extras you can choose from on a day to day basis.

It’s also a good idea to repack certain items, either because the original container may not last the distance or because you can better carry smaller containers.  You’ll also need a fair assortment of herbs and spices, curry, flour, rice and pasta etc.  You’ll also need a few just-in-case items such as tins of baked beans, salmon etc.  Don’t overdo it, just take enough for what you’ll need.  Keeping all your cooking bits and pieces in one box is a good idea as long as you remember to top them up from time to time.

The point is that camp cooking should never be allowed to just happen nor should it be so time consuming that it interferes with your other camping activities.  If you’ve planned a big day a quick stew or grill should be the order of the day but if there’s not much doing or it’s raining it’s a lot of fun to spend a bit of time preparing a really great camp meal.