Food preparation

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Unless you're planning on going to fast food restaurants during your camping trip (not very cheap and not very good for you), someone is going to have to cook. That is, unless you weren't going to eat, which is not likely since the fresh air and all the outdoor activity will increase appetites. In this post, I will discuss how to cook in the great outdoors.

Camp sites without electrical hookups (primitive campsites):

This will be a little more challenging than cooking at a campsite with an electrical hookup, but it can be done. There are several ways to cook at a campsite without electricity.

You can cook over a campfire. Most state campgrounds will have fire pits with a grill over them at each campsite. If you plan to cook on this, I would put aluminum foil over the grill (before cooking, please) if you are going to cook meat on these grills - these grills don't get cleaned very often. If you're heating up something in a pot, you can put that on the grill. If you don't have a fire pit with a grill, you can purchase a foldable grill that you can put over the fire. You can cook on the grill with pots and pans. There are also special holders that let you cook grilled cheese sandwiches over the fire.

Another option is a barbecue grill, either a charcoal grill or a gas grill. You can also buy grills that run on a propane canister. Barbecue grills are usually used to cook meat.

You can also cook on a camp stove. These are usually fueled by a propane canister. They come in different varieties. If you're comfortable cooking over an open flame, you can get a one or two burner stove. You would use the stove just like you would a stove at home. There are also camp stove with grills that can be used to cook meat, or you can use a pot or pan on them.

There are a few other ways of cooking without electricity, which you can find here. A couple of these are things I learned in Girl Scouts many moons ago. They cook food slower than my husband and son would like, however.

Camp sites with electrical hookups:

This is as easy as cooking at home. You can use the techniques above, or you can purchase a two burner electric stove. Be careful after you turn off the burners - they'll still be hot for a while. Don't forget the extension cords! We camp at a campsite that has an electrical hook up. I plug in a heavy duty orange three prong extension cord, plug an surge protection strip into the extension cord, and plug the stove into that. I also use an electric skillet to make pancakes and eggs.

One of the coolers I mentioned in earlier posts should be used for keeping food cold. We put meat in gallon size freezer bags and put them in the ice. Anything in a cardboard box that is to be put in the cooler (such as precooked sausage or bacon) should be taken out of the box and put in a freezer bag. The melting ice will make the cardboard soggy.

Next time, we'll talk about menu planning. Until then -

Happy camping!

Diane