We’ll purify many gallons of drinking and cooking water for three crews spending a week canoeing in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park this summer. Here’s what I have learned about purifying water for a hundred or so Scouts and adults who have taken this trip over the past dozen years. We need water for drinking and cooking, and treat […]
Cooking
Freezer Bag Cooking: Adventure Ready Recipes
Author Sarah Kirkconnell ( Trailcooking.com) has revised and expanded her excellent book Freezer Bag Cooking with the addition of many, many great new recipes. Freezer bag cooking is a simple technique that is perfect for Scouts, hot water is added to dry ingredients in freezer bag much like one adds hot water to a prepackaged freeze-dried meal. (No, […]
REI Camp Coffee French Press
I don’t have one yet, but this coffee press was mentioned on one of our recent live chat sessions and it looks like a “must have” for connoisseurs of camp coffee! REI offers the press in three different sizes, they all get great reviews. The 48 ounce size would mollify a number of grouchy Scouters! Simple to use—add […]
CM Scrubber for Cast Iron
When you first see the CM Scrubber you’ll probably say the same thing I did; “it’s too expensive!” But the next time you have a crusty dutch oven to clean you’ll agree that it’s worth every penny. Put some water in the oven while it’s still warm, and scrub away. The chain mail design won’t scratch, and […]
Solo Stove Campfire
If you’ve been reading the blog for the past few years you’ve likely read about wood burning stoves for camping. High efficiency wood burning stoves have been around for many years but there’s been a renaissance in wood burning stove technology over the past decade or so. This renaissance has its roots in engineering simple […]
Baking, Bowlines and Bhangra! – Scouting Video Picks
YouTube is a global phenomenon; 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month, 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute, 80% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US. Here’s this week’s Scouting video picks I hope Scouters find interesting, informative and useful. Danish Dampers for Gourmet Campers! Campfire cooking idea from Scout’s UK series of Rapid […]
The Science of Seasoning Cast Iron
Blogger Sheryl Canter offers this Recipe for Seasoning Cast Iron based on what looks like a very well-thought out scientific analysis. After researching the subject she concluded: The seasoning on cast iron is formed by fat polymerization, fat polymerization is maximized with a drying oil, and flaxseed oil is the only drying oil that’s edible. From that I […]
Huevos Rancheros
I was introduced to huevos rancheros or “rancher’s eggs’ by one of my Scouts (Jesus Torralba) nearly twenty years ago when Jesus was our grubmaster for a cabin camping trip. Since then it’s been one of my preferred camping breakfasts. A lot of recipes call for toasting whole tortillas and serving whole fried eggs on top of […]
Found on Pinterest – Seasonings in a Straw
This tip comes from Field & Stream Magazine via Pinterest: Use straws to store salt, pepper, and spices for camping trips. Heat one end of a clear plastic straw with a lighter, then crimp it with your fingers or a multitool. Fill the straw with the desired seasoning, and repeat the process on the other […]
More Camp Kitchen Permutations
Here’s my latest overview of the endless permutations of the humble patrol box, chuck box, or camp kitchen. We use the Rubbermaid Action Packer to house our modest patrol cook kits. I know some of you don’t care for car camping or big patrol boxes. I find the different solutions folks come up with for setting […]
Bannock
‘Bannock” is a name for quick flat bread that originated in Scotland and was adopted by most Native Americans, voyagers, mountain men and pioneers. With a minimum of fuss and bit of practice anyone can bake a bannock loaf in a frying pan or wrapped around a stick. Bannock is simple, cheap and always welcomed […]
High Adventure Canoe Trip 4 – The Kitchen
On our high adventure canoe trip each crew packs and cooks food for a group of five to nine Scouts. Our menu is a combination of freeze dried and grocery store food that keeps the cost reasonable while providing good nutrition and good eating. After making adjustments to our menus and the kit we assembled to prepare it over […]
Steven Karoly’s Oat Hotcakes
Steven Karoly’s blog Round the Chuckbox features this recipe with a story about camping with his family: After a quick inventory, I realized that flour was in short supply in camp so I prepared the hotcake batter with ingredients on hand. Quick cooking rolled oats filled in for most of the flour. OAT HOTCAKES IN CAMP These are approximate measurements […]
Upside-Down Dutch Oven Paella
If you want to serve a memorable campfire meal I can’t imagine a much more flavorful or impressive dish than this paella. Dave Herzog (the chef who developed this recipe) is a real dutch oven impresario – you can get his recipe collections through the Cook’n recipe organizer, this requires purchasing the Cook’n software – something you may consider if […]
Do It Yourself Hybrid Freeze Dried Menu
Freeze-dried food is convenient, lightweight and packs well for extended trips. A hybrid menu of bulk freeze-dried food and grocery store ingredients is a more versatile and less expensive alternative for a patrol or high adventure crew. For our week-long canoe trips we’ve developed a hybrid menu of freeze-dried and grocery store food that our Scouts enjoy. Cost A […]
Titanium Reflector Oven
Dan Baker shared an interesting 9 ounce reflector oven idea constructed of titanium foil, aluminum and bicycle spokes. I think this is a great design, it’s lightweight, collapsible and looks like a fun project. I cannot resist taking this on my trips. I have baked pizza, chocolate muffins, bread, etc… with this and it is always terrific! […]
Portable Chuck Box Design
In the never ending search for the perfect chuck box here’s another interesting chuck box design by lupinsea found at the Expedition Portal. Looks like a lightweight, compact and functional idea (there’s a video below showing how it is set up. I could not find any plans for this box, so you’d meed to reverse engineer if you’d like to build one. Features […]
Camping Spice Kit
Convert a 7-day vitamin/medication container into a camping spice kit – what a great idea! The custom labels are nice, I think I may skip that and use a sharpie marker instead.
Horace Kephart
Horace Kephart was born in Pennsylvania in 1862 and found his way to Hazel Creek in western North Carolina (later to become part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kephart campaigned for and is considered one of the fathers of the national park. He helped plot the route of the Appalachian Trail through the Smokies. Mount Kephart was named in his honor two […]
Disposable Propane Cylinders?
I am not a scientist, so tell me if this makes sense. There are about 40,000 Scout troops in the B.S.A., they go camping (this is a very conservative average) of six weekends a year. 40k * 6= 240K weekends I’d guess, conservatively, that two-thirds of these troops own stoves or lanterns that use disposable gas canisters or disposable […]
18 Ounce Backpacking Cook Kit
Over time I have managed to get my weekend backpack down to around 25-30 pounds. I am not an fully anointed apostle of the ultra-lightweight sect but I have certainly benefited from a lot of their ideas. The backpacking cook kit described here weighs in at well less than two pounds depending on your choice of stove. Without the stove my choices […]
Campfire Potatoes
Here’s a great idea for making campfire potatoes wrapped in foil. Alternating slices of onion and potato? Why didn’t I think of that? Campfire Potatoes Ingredients: large baking potatoes whole onions, red or yellow dill, parsley, bacon bits Directions: Slice potato almost all the way through, but leave enough to hold it together. Slice the […]
How to Wash Dishes When Camping
In the age of the automatic dishwasher most folks have little to no idea of how to hand wash dishes at home let alone when camping. I still see Scouts washing dishes underneath a community water spigot or, even worse, in a stream or lake. Good dish washing technique will help you stay healthy (especially on extended […]
Cook Wild
Cook wild is not a new concept; cooking over anything other than a wood fire is a relatively new development for the human race. A recent study showed that 43 percent, or some 3 billion members, of the world’s population rely on wood fires for their primary source of cooking and heating. Gas or electric stoves are […]
