Who doesn’t love cooking outdoors?
Every summer, Americans all across the country whip out their grills and host BBQ parties in their backyards. As fall approaches, their outdoor cooking ventures intertwine with camping trips in the woods. This only goes to show that Americans love outdoor cooking no matter what the occasion may be.
It is one thing to cook in your own yard and another thing entirely to cook at a campsite. There are many things you need to prepare for when heading to a campground miles away from your home. Cooking too much food while camping can be as bad as cooking too little. Luckily, you can avoid such problems and make the most of your camping cookware by implementing the following tips!
Tip #1: Invest in Quality Cookware
The type of cookware you use for campsite cooking makes a big difference. Camping iron cookware is the top choice among experienced campers for good reason!
If you plan on making outdoor camping an occasional or regular activity, then you need to invest in high-quality camping cookware. Look for camping iron cookware reviews online to learn which utensils you should buy. Most campers don’t need more than two cast iron pans or pots, but the need depends on several factors. Take the number of people you will be cooking for into consideration. The type of food you will be cooking also matters since it will determine the type of cookware you use. You can explore high-quality camping iron cookware and other camping gear on Amazon.
Tip #2: Prepare Your Cookware Properly
Preparing your camping cookware at the campsite can take a while. However, it is still important to do so. Since you will likely be cooking multiple times during your trip, you need to protect your camping cookware from wear. Campsite cooking will only become more of a nuisance if you cannot properly maintain the quality of your camping cookware.
Rub a thin layer of cast iron oil on your cookware before storing it in a dry or moist place. This will help prevent it from rusting. Many campers also wash their cast iron camping cookware with regular soap, which is not necessary. You do not need to clean your cookware with soap, but if you still want to, try to find a food-grade cast iron cookware soap that is free of sulfates and parabens. You can use tools like stiff brushes and chainmail scrubbers to remove food from your camping cookware. Preparing your cookware like this after every use will help maintain its quality.
Tip #3: Do Meal Prep Ahead of Time
If you are not used to meal prepping, that’s okay! Meal prepping is a genius way to gain access to food right when you need it. Most busy adults and students do not have the time to cook extensive recipes every day. So, their best alternative is to spend one day cooking enough food to last the whole week. Typically, people do meal prep on weekends so that they have food during their busy weekdays.
This method is also perfect for campers! Nobody wants to spend their camping trip trying to make filling meals but staying hungry is also not an option. The best way to prepare for campsite cooking in advance is to do meal prep at home. You can cut vegetables you plan on using at home and store them for cooking at the campground. Or, to make things easier, you can simply cook a whole batch of food and store it in containers. Once at the campsite, you can use your camping cookware to heat the meals. No cooking will be needed!
Tip #4: Buy Premade Meals
A lot of people can’t find the time to cook at home and others simply don’t like to cook at all. This can make even the simple task of meal prepping a challenge. Their best solution is to buy premade meals from renowned brands and bring those on their camping trip.
There are many name brands in the market that offer premade meals specifically for camping. Such meals are often vacuum-sealed and preserved in cans or pouches. You can find almost every type of meal in this form, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Making premade meals your only food source while camping requires you to buy a lot of them. This can be more costly than meal prepping but it is a good option if you can afford it. You just have to heat these meals up using your camping cookware.
Tip #5: Try Make-Ahead Meals
You have probably heard of make-ahead meals. These are also meals that you make ahead of time so you do not have to do much campsite cooking. These meals are supposed to be freezer-friendly for easy storage. You can take them out of the freezer when leaving for your camping trip and let them thaw. Pretty much any meal can be a make-ahead meal but there are some foods that should not be kept in the freezer for too long. Examples include meals with soft cheeses, milk, cooked egg whites, leafy greens like lettuce, and/or mayonnaise in them.
If you don’t want to or cannot cook proper meals, you can simply buy make-ahead meals from your local grocery store or Amazon.
We Review the Best Camping Gear For Adventurers Like You!
Whether you are a new camper or a seasoned one, the Back Country Gear website can be a great resource for you!
We have compiled the most informative hiking reviews, backpacking reviews, and outdoor gear rankings on our site. You can discover the best hiking gear and climbing tools via our backcountry blogs. We link resources for all the mentioned gear so that you can get direct access to products like the best hiking poles on Amazon, the Camping Iron Cookware reviews, and the Best Amazon Tents For Campers.
You can contact our team if you have queries.
