Camp Cookery

[Otter]

After years of campfires to old Colemans to inside propane to grills to infra-reds, I’m going back to my roots with a couple of cast iron skillets and a wider Coleman stove. I finally took the time to measure things and it turns out that the Coleman Triton holds a 10.5in and 8in Lodge cast iron set perfectly. I started cooking more with these at home and like the way they hold their place on a stove, cook anything with just a tad of oil or butter, and clean up easily with a few scrapes and some water. I’ll add in one of my lightweight pots for soup and think that’ll do nicely. Oh and I’ll have to replace my water kettle. The old one looks like somebody dredged a river with it.

What do y’all use for your cooking?
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[Twoxentrix]

^^^With you on going back to our roots...last year we abandoned our nice Magma 10 Piece Gourmet Nesting Stainless Steel Cookware set and replaced with our two (old & well used) cast iron skillets. As you, we kept a sauce style pan.
Nothing lives up to that old cast iron cookware!

Carry an O-Grill, but rarely use it. Looking seriously at replacing that with a Southwest Disc or Tembo Tusk (Skottle style) system.

[Otter]

TwoX: I used to carry a grill for steaks, burgers, etc., but recently decided we cooked more than we grilled, so it was worth saving the space/weight. I’ve watched folks with those skottles but think it’s probably a little more than I want to bother with. Let us know if you decide to go that way.

Who else likes to cook?
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[Scalf77]

I always like to use a Dutch Oven

-greg

[Glen]

Funny, at the moment I'm headed in the opposite direction.

I used to do BBQ competitions and got into DO cooking during that time. I also got into "Cowboy Cooking" over an open fire & pit cooking. I've even cooked a Thanksgiving turkey in an inverted metal trash can...

Although I love cooking, and especially outdoor cooking or anything involving cooking with fire, I just got tired of hauling all the stuff around with us. And I got tired of spending most of my time prepping, cooking, cleaning and loading everything back up. Especially on shorter stay trips.

I'm going to have to see if I can whittle it down to just the minimum without going through withdrawals. Maybe just my size 12 DO & a 10" skillet. Oh, and my tripod. And.....

[Jeffrey]

I never had or needed a stove, anything cast iron, a frying pan, firewood, or bbq. I bring frozen or prepared deli dinners, pastas, burritos, etc and only have to heat them in the microwave. I don't eat meat. So easy and fast and much less cleanup, weight, and storage. We've had some pretty great italian, mexican, indian, and vegetarian feasts.

[YoTerryh]

I like my Coleman Grill Stove for the versatility. I don't have to carry a stove plus a grill, and it works well for 95% of the camp cooking I do. Of course I also have my two-burner cooktop inside the van and I use it for coffee in the morning, and if I want to cook inside during foul weather, or occasionally if I need an extra burner.

One downside is that to put a skillet on the burner you almost have to always have the wind guard on that side disengaged, but I put up with that.

[Twoxentrix]

Originally Posted by Glen

...And I got tired of spending most of my time prepping, cooking, cleaning and loading everything back up. Especially on shorter stay trips.

<<< Hit that wall a while back as well >>> For the most part we now prepare meals ahead of time, pack into double bagged ziplock's. and thrown in the Fridge (takes up less space than placing product in containers). Come time to cook, just open the bag(s) and throw on the fire grill or skillet. We'll do fajitas, Steaks, sirloin cubes seasoned for kabob's (wife even makes the peanut sauce for the Kabob's ahead of time), Spaghetti (garlic bread made ahead of time), Chili, Gumbo, Indonesian skillet dishes, etc.
Paper products for plates/cups/napkins easily tossed into the fire at the end...Dishes are done!

[ShuttlePilot]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

I never had or needed a stove, anything cast iron, a frying pan, firewood, or bbq. I bring frozen or prepared deli dinners, pastas, burritos, etc and only have to heat them in the microwave. I don't eat meat. So easy and fast and much less cleanup, weight, and storage. We've had some pretty great italian, mexican, indian, and vegetarian feasts.

I'm with you, except the vegetarian part. I've gotten tired of meal planning around not having a microwave available. Plus, when Mrs ShuttlePilot is with me we like to try far off restaurants. Our M.O. when a microwave is available is to have leftovers the next day which spreads the cost over two meals. I've been working on and off over the winter to bring a Microwave into the vans galley. Here is a peak of the upgrades I've done to power the radiation box.

[ctb]

OTTER! I have been thinking of starting a thread like this and happy somebody finally did...we cook a lot on grills or portable folding grill, and of course coleman stove and a stove in Sporty but, our BEST cookery was discovered when we took our first trip to AK in '08.
We traveled in an MDX then and strictly used a cooler...we started using boil and bag meals b/c we could freeze in rectangles, vacuum seal, and stack in our cooler...we kept food frozen for over a week...only problem we found is, we would boil over a campfire or colemn, and keeping temps at bay would be difficult... bags aren't really meant to handle a full boil...if not mindful the chillbag would release its seal as we pulled it out of the water making chili soup...bummer.

Here are some pictures of our solution, the Sous Vide cooking/apparatus, plugs in van or outside (we prefer to cook outside if we can), easy/no clean up and most important, delicious meals/sauces/gravies that make even the most remote campsite a culinary experience...or something like that..

Oh yes, we also have a $25 toaster oven for cookies, turnovers, and cinnamon rolls (toaster oven yes at campsite is great, BUT traveling down the road cooking cinnamon rolls and eating...priceless!)