Cooking In the Outdoors is Easy, it Just Takes a Little Planning
There’s nothing better than eating a delicious meal while sitting under the stars at your favorite campsite. Most people venture out for a few days at a time, but often leave the house without the adequate tools to make their camping experience easy, and enjoyable. Cooking in the outdoors can be tricky if you’re not prepared. Here are tips that will make your cooking experience joyful.
6 Tips for Successful Cooking In the Outdoors
- Plan your meals before you leave the house. Clean and pre-cut your vegetables and seasonings such as onions and garlic. Store them in an airtight glass container or ziploc. If you don’t have time, buy the pre-cut veggies at the grocery store before you leave town.
- Bring a sharp chef’s knife and a large wooden cutting board – allow yourself the luxury of a good knife to cut your ingredients easily on an adequately sized board when you’re camping! There’s no need to cut ingredients on a tiny cutting board where everything spills over the edge and makes a mess
- Use a wipeable picnic tablecloth – this allows you to have a clean prep space and a nice sanitary dining table. This is a must for cooking in the outdoors.
- Have your seasonings packed into a container with a top so they are easily accessible when cooking over the BBQ pit or an outdoor stove
- Cook in pots and pans that are large enough for the amount of food you plan to prepare. There’s no need to bring tiny pots and pans – it just makes cooking in the outdoors frustrating and slow.
- Bring lots of extra kitchen towels and your favorite cleaning spray. Wiping up a mess with a damp cloth on a wipeable tablecloth works much better than using a paper towel and it’s better for the environment. Bring 5 to 10 kitchen rags and pack the soiled ones in a plastic bag to wash when you return home.
Conclusion
Camp cooking can be easy and fun. The secret is in the preparation…and hoping it doesn’t rain! Whether you are doing quick and fun meals or luxury outdoor cooking, pack the RV and hit the road. Don’t forget to cover that grungy picnic table at the campground with a nice camping tablecloth.
About the Author
When Carol isn’t producing television shows, or running LitoLuxury, she’s exploring the U.S. with her family in their Shasta Airflyte Trailer. She loves hiking in nature and cooking with friends around the campfire.
Thank you for this article. Good hints for people new to RVing or Camping. Plan to use all these hints on next outing.
If making things easier is the goal, I would choose paper towels and some Clorox wipes over a pile of cloth towels. Normally the messes you wipe up camping are worse than those in your home kitchen and I want to start with something clean every time and be able to simply throw the dirt and grime out. Also I’d be interested if you have any basis that cloth towels are better for the environment. Seems like maybe that’s true but sometimes the truth is surprising and I wouldn’t make the claim without evidence.
Yeah, honestly the thought of putting dirty towels in a plastic bag and then opening that after it has set for 2-3 or more days. I just don’t know if I would be up for that. I have some pretty sloppy cooks on my chuck wagon. Maybe you are the main cook . I was for many years , but life changes .
Over all though these are some good tips. Thank you for taking the time to share.
I, too like wipes over a cloth dishcloth when camping. Less water usage and using a fresh wipe ensures the surface area is clean. Bactetia can quickly grow in cloth dishcloths if not properly cleaned. I would think that cloth is bettet for the environment because there is less waste. Anyone know of biodegradable wipes?