Having knocked up some out of date couscous in my BCB crusader type stove (Web-tex warrior) I was considering what to try next.
Any suggestions?
What's you favourite creation?
Any suggestions?
What's you favourite creation?
Recommended Camp Fodder.
- Thread starter R-Tron 3108
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Cooking good food when camping should be a joy, really your setup is very very basic and needs upgrading when you can (better pans and a stove), in the meantime you can try things like
Five minute rice, cook and add a tin of tuna/diced spam or corned beef.
Buy small zip lock bags from Tesco, add three eggs to a bag and add grated cheese then boil in the bag, you get a meal and a clean pot of water for a brew.
Pot noodle and a lump of butter
Can of Irish stew/curry
Five minute rice, cook and add a tin of tuna/diced spam or corned beef.
Buy small zip lock bags from Tesco, add three eggs to a bag and add grated cheese then boil in the bag, you get a meal and a clean pot of water for a brew.
Pot noodle and a lump of butter
Can of Irish stew/curry
How far you carrying your kit?
If it's only 10 mins from the car then i'd pack everything and the kitchen sink, it'd be bacon and eggs in the morning and steak for dinner.
If you plan on covering a fair bit of distance and/or elevation then a compromise has to be made between weights, space and tastyness.
How long are you planning on being out, this makes a difference as well, if it's 5 days with no resupply then you are going to need to pack different food than if it's a day and night out as many foods won't keep well for 5 days in a sweaty backpack.
What are you cooking with?
If you have a fire then a stew isn't out of the question, if your using a meths burner or most gas burners a stew is going to be a real challenge to cook, likewise with baking anything.
Lastly the weather plays an important part, if i'm out on a multi day hike here in Greece in summer i don't bother with a stove and have to be careful to pack food that'll last in the heat for days unrefrigerated.
If it's only 10 mins from the car then i'd pack everything and the kitchen sink, it'd be bacon and eggs in the morning and steak for dinner.
If you plan on covering a fair bit of distance and/or elevation then a compromise has to be made between weights, space and tastyness.
How long are you planning on being out, this makes a difference as well, if it's 5 days with no resupply then you are going to need to pack different food than if it's a day and night out as many foods won't keep well for 5 days in a sweaty backpack.
What are you cooking with?
If you have a fire then a stew isn't out of the question, if your using a meths burner or most gas burners a stew is going to be a real challenge to cook, likewise with baking anything.
Lastly the weather plays an important part, if i'm out on a multi day hike here in Greece in summer i don't bother with a stove and have to be careful to pack food that'll last in the heat for days unrefrigerated.
For now my trips will be day excursions and an excuse to get my son out doors and amongst some of our local woodlands.
Like you said Cbr6fs, that would be entirely different to spending a few days trekking in Greece.
Stews (canned at this stage) soups and cups of tea is more the order of the day in old blighty now the weather is cooling.
Like you said Cbr6fs, that would be entirely different to spending a few days trekking in Greece.
Stews (canned at this stage) soups and cups of tea is more the order of the day in old blighty now the weather is cooling.
You can stew and bake fine with Trangia/gas/liquid fuel stoves when you know what your doing, the OP is just starting out so KISS is the approach I'd say.
With meths it's going to be tough to keep anything simmering for much over 10 mins to 15 mins at a time, simply due to the fact that most meths burners will run out of fuel after that, so you'll have to wait till the burner cools down and then start again.
Something like a cast iron pot will retain heat during these refills but obviously that's going to be mega heavy to lug around.
So at your next trip to the supermarket have a look around to see what cooks within say 15 mins.
You can make a lid that'll enable you to simmer, so it doesn't need to be just heating stuff up you can cook to a certain extent.
Simmering will open up meals like curries, rice, ready made stews, chilli etc.
Your best bet is to make stuff at home and just warm it up when out.
My faves are stuff like cottage/Sheppard's pie, chilli, curries, noodles and the like.
Once you've got your simmering cap dialled in you might even be able to cook pasta.
Biggest obstacles really are:
Controlling the heat (simmer ring)
Stirring the food enough to stop it sticking to the pan (mad worse by the fact that it's tough to control the heat)
Refilling (not much of problem for fires or gas canisters, but a problem on meths burners)
The only real restriction is your imagination and cooking abilities, your best bet is to try stuff out at home.
Be careful i've had meths burners flare up before now spilling burning meths over the work surface, so if possible i'd recommend trying it outside.
P.S.
To simmer you basically just have to find a way of covering up some of the burner holes, less burning jets = less heat = simmer
You could even make your own meths burner with fewer rings and just use that to simmer.
I simmering stove. Good idea that. The pop can stove is light enough to take a couple of differently configured examples
Has anyone here experimented with using versions of 'hay boxes' when camping? There are modern versions that look like fancy T cosies.
Should say that another option is to make a pot cossy
Next time you're at B&Q buy a cheap windscreen reflector, you can cut that up to make a cosy.
I have in the past placed a pot cossy over my pot then just reheated the contents on the burner for a few seconds every 15 mins or so, again though not really as easy with a meths burner as a gas burner.
For cooking loose food a pot cossy would be best
If you're cooking packet food then a packet shaped type cossy would be best
These are good in that they save a LOT of fuel and they keep the contents warm for a decent amount of time.
Dead easy to make, just measure out the size you want, cut and duct tape together.
Really doesn't have to be pretty, here is a couple of mine
Next time you're at B&Q buy a cheap windscreen reflector, you can cut that up to make a cosy.
I have in the past placed a pot cossy over my pot then just reheated the contents on the burner for a few seconds every 15 mins or so, again though not really as easy with a meths burner as a gas burner.
For cooking loose food a pot cossy would be best
If you're cooking packet food then a packet shaped type cossy would be best
These are good in that they save a LOT of fuel and they keep the contents warm for a decent amount of time.
Dead easy to make, just measure out the size you want, cut and duct tape together.
Really doesn't have to be pretty, here is a couple of mine
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Given your last ever posts on British Blades was a Trangia thread you seem to have little or no understanding of using them. A Trangia storm cooker system is very effishient, will let you bring your meal to a boil and give 40+ minutes simmer time easily (50 is achievable) which is easily long enough for a stew, spag bol et al and baking is more than possible.
Any good cook will stir food to prevent possible 'sticking' whether on a domestic stove or a camp stove/fire, if folk have problems then they should get back to cooking basics and prevent the potential problems.
Over the weekend I'll cook a simple chicken stew on a Trangia to so how simple it really is to use and post a report by Monday.
I've only really boiled water and heated soup on mine but its all about playing and experimenting with them.
There's just something satisfying about cooking outside, garden or woods!
There's just something satisfying about cooking outside, garden or woods!
It's amazing what you can cook if you are a bit resourceful, it just needs a bit of experimentation.
Once you start thinking about what you can cook while out the supermarket becomes a whole different world
It's not like you have to cook to get good decent tasty food while out either, recently did a multi-day trip completely stove-less, granted it was summer in Greece not a winter Scottish mountainside, but the food really suited the climate and was tastier than mpst the boil in a bag stuff i've eaten.
If you really get into it and start multi-day trips you could also start to look into buying a dehydrator.
You can make your own recipes at home, dehydrate them, they'll last ages and pack really light, you then just add water when you want to eat.
Get the cooking bags from Lakeland or wherever, they're safe for cooking so you don't get plastic chems in your food. Don't just use any zip lock bag if it's not recommended for cooking.
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/1405/Boil...3824!&ef_id=VBq3iwAAAbSRRJGN:20140919224646:s
You're gonna hate me for this, but Spam with Garlic (yes it's a product in a can
), chunked up and beans added, gives great pleasure. Chorizo, butter beans and a squeeze of tomato purée? Maybe fry an onion quick before? If you're on gas you want to make the food fast, not boil spuds or pasta for a while. I use my 250g gas canister to do food, then unscrew and put the lantern on.
I'll add, you don't need cooking bags. I wouldn't drink tea from water that had plastic boiling in it unless it was a survival thing, I don't like plastics leaching.
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