Well, since no one else has had the chance yet, I figured I'd get some threads going here in the Camping section. As I recall, there were a couple of good cooking and recipe threads in our former home, and hopefully we can get those revived.
So, on the topic of Camp Cooking...
I'm looking for good tips on the finer points of cooking over the fire, suggestions on cookware, and anything else that you think might fall under this heading. (I'll be starting another thread for recipes, too.)
I was just given my first cast iron skillet and have no idea what to do with it. I know I have to season it, and was told to start by cooking bacon in it. Now, what? I know I'm never supposed to scrub it clean (made that mistake years ago with one of mom's well-seasoned cookie sheets :-[), but what's the best way to clean it. And what about the differences in cooking on the stove vs cooking on a fire?
Since I only cook with cast iron, I guess I can answer some of your questions.
First, clean it any way you want to. A dishwasher is the best way I've found to remove seasoning though.
If you want to avoid the need to re-season, stick to light scrubbing. I prefer a plastic kitchen brush, it will easily scrape off any stuck on food and not hurt your seasoning.
Seasoning is easy, my preferred seasoning material is bacon grease followed by lard as a second choice. Start by washing and thoroughly drying your cookware. Then lightly coat the entire surface in grease. Now just pop it into a 400 degree oven for 90-120 minutes, and then allow it to cool for 2-4 hours. You will probably need to do this twice for pre-seasoned cookware and four or more times for new iron. You will know you're done when you have a hard black surface over the entire piece.
If you have completely removed your seasoning and the piece has started to rust, remove the rust with steel wool, then clean and dry as described above.
I cook on a gas field stove so I won't even try to tell you how to deal with the vagaries of a wood campfire.
Thanks, Zaubon. A handy way to season my skillet and a good excuse to eat more bacon...what could be better! It was a bit rusty, so I did scrub it with steel wool. Cooked some bacon in it yesterday morning. Let the grease cool and got rid of most of it, but made sure to spread a good coat of it all around the inside. I didn't think to put it in a hot oven, but will do that tomorrow morning after I make some more bacon.
I don't have to do anything with the outside of the skillet, do I?
Yes, coat the entire surface, inside, outside, handle, everything. You are trying to build up a coat of cabon that will protect the iron surface from corrosion.
My favorite camp cookery piece is my cast iron dutch oven with feet. It can either hang over the fire for cooking my favorite camp dinner: venison chili -- or it can nestle in hot coals (with more placed on the lid) to bake biscuits or cornbread. Make the biscuits from Pioneer Biscuit mix -- using water instead of the milk their recipe calls for. They would go GREAT with Zaubon's camp breakfast...
The seasoning is why food cooked in it tastes so good. Ever wonder why the old "greasy spoon" type restaurants have such a following? Their grills and flat-tops have the same seasoning.
Paper plates are great because you can just burn them up in the campfire when done with them. Plain is better because the various dyes in the colorful ones have unhealthy chemicals that are exposed when they are burned, although they can yeild those nifty colored flames....
If you prefer not to have to wsh as much afterwards, you can opt to use plastic utensils and cup and just bag them up afterwards. Just a matter of storage of waste at that point. Otherwise go with stainless and hot water/soap to clean it. It's advisable not to dump the dishwater on the ground afterwards but a potalet is good for all kinds of safe, although stinky, disposal.
hmm...camp fire cooking...especially if you have the bare necessesities...I've made many a meal using just the fire, a pot, and a spoon (and of course the food).
typically we would try to make a lil nook in the edge of the fire where you can safely place your pot down, but close enough where the heat will do its work (good for pastas, boiling water, etc). another idea is to have a flat log in that same general vicinity to where you can put the pot down on top of the log and have the heat licking up pretty close to it.
I've made fettuchino alfredo over an open fire this way
if you have some sort of flat grill space, you can put the grill on the fire and grill burgers or steaks or whatnots
Open fire cooking is actually very easy and fun!
I "clean" my cast iron by filling it with a bit of water (just to cover the stuck on food). Let it boil for a minute, scrape with fork or spoon, dump water and food at edge of fire or in sink (that's a hand dug privy ;) ), wipe with paper towel (burn paper towel), repeat if necessary, turn upside down over a log that is at the edge of the fire or on a grill grate over the fire to dry. Any food bits dry and left on after that can be scraped off easily.
I make soup, pasta, casseroles, baked goods, cobbler, pizza, you name it in my cast iron! Biscuits are AWESOME in cast iron! Especially if you churn some fresh butter to accompany. :o
I did this once for an inner city kids group I was working with. I made THEM churn the butter and then sent them home each with a cup of butter. They didn't know what cast iron was and had definitely never eaten food made in one. They so bragged to their parents! It was so cool!
I cook for my Civil War Artillery Battery. The spectators always ask, "Is that fire real?", "Is that food real?", "Are you really going to eat that?" ::)
P.S. For much less expensive cast iron check your local small hardware store. The pots are just as good as name brand (i.e. Lodge) and a LOT cheaper! I use Harbor Freight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/
Yeah, Harbor freight rocks! But I officially hate you now Dinobbabe...you said the word biscuit....
Damn, now I need gravy!!! ;D
One pot meals are the way to go. The last camping trip we made a chicken corn chowder that was very tasty. If there are leftovers, get the fire going in the morning heat them up in the same pan (you may need to add a bit of liquid), when the mixture is hot crack a few eggs in it (don't break the yolks) and let them poach. Spoon it over a biscuit (there you go MacLaren) and enjoy your hearty breakfast and only one clean up.
About clean up, we use a NON-antibacterial soap, such as Dr. Bronners (plus you can wash and brush your teeth with it). We don't want to kill those beneficial bugs crawling around in the soil do we?
Quote from: Richard de Graeme on January 18, 2009, 07:25:47 AM
One pot meals are the way to go. The last camping trip we made a chicken corn chowder that was very tasty. If there are leftovers, get the fire going in the morning heat them up in the same pan (you may need to add a bit of liquid), when the mixture is hot crack a few eggs in it (don't break the yolks) and let them poach. Spoon it over a biscuit (there you go MacLaren)
Oh, you are evil indeed!!! :'(
I don't really have a name for my favorite thing to make, but it's super easy and (I think) tastes amazing.
You'll need:
Heavy duty foil
those thin sliced 'breakfast' steaks
bacon
asparagus (canned works well, I haven't tried fresh yet)
jar of artichoke hearts in oil (2 small jars or one larger)
Tear off a LONG piece of foil from the roll. Really long - after you double it over you'll want to have 5-7 feet. Double it over once :D
Take about 6 of your asparagus spears and wrap each one in a strip of bacon, arrange the wrapped spears on the first 6-8" of the doubled over foil. Fold the foil back over them, leaving a long tail, and lightly crimp the edges of the pocket full of asparagus.
On top of the pocket, arrange a couple of the steaks and a few of the artichoke hearts (you can add some of your bacon to this layer as well if you like). Fold the foil back over them in the other direction, again leaving a tail, and lightly crimp the edges of package together.
Continue until you run out of foil or ingredients. What you should have at the end of prep is a big lump of accordian-folded foil, with alternating layers of asparagus/bacon and steak/artichoke hearts. After all the layers are in place, crimp up the edges on the whole bundle firmly. I wouldn't make a bundle larger than about 4 layers, or you risk the middle not getting cooked enough.
Wrap the entire thing in one additional layer of foil, just to be sure you get no leaks. Trust me, you do NOT want a stream of bacon grease suddenly escaping into a live fire!
I suppose you could bury the lump in the coals, but I cook it over a charcoal grill/wood fire on a grate. Flip the bundle over carefully about every 10-15 minutes.
It's a little hard to describe how I tell when it's done. The top side tends to cool to the touch fairly quickly due to all the layers of foil, so when it stays too warm to lay your hand on comfortably about a minute after flipping, you know the whole bundle had been heated thoroughly.
Be very careful opening the cooked packet, it's full of steam and hot liquid grease!!
As for seasonings, that's to personal taste. IMO, the steaks don't need much aside from maybe some salt and pepper, since they soak up a lot of flavor from the liquid in the artichokes.
I love this stuff! It's one-pot cooking without the 'what kind of stew/casserole are we having this time' effect you can get sometimes. This year for TRF I plan to prepare a few bundles at home ahead of time and store them in a sealed cooler until fire time.
Quote from: MacLaren on January 18, 2009, 06:25:48 AM
Yeah, Harbor freight rocks! But I officially hate you now Dinobbabe...you said the word biscuit....
Damn, now I need gravy!!! ;D
Yep, had biscuits and gravy for breakfast yesterday... ;D
Campfire cooking requires a clean-burning, hot fire. This is only achieved with dry, seasoned wood. Stripping trees of green wood is fruitless your fire will be smoky, will burn poorly and create unnecessary pollution. If dry wood is not available, it will need to be packed in. Many public campgrounds supply firewood.
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hesslei...
Cooking (http://www.talkingcooking.com)
Quote from: hesslei on January 24, 2009, 02:58:52 AM
Campfire cooking requires a clean-burning, hot fire. This is only achieved with dry, seasoned wood. Stripping trees of green wood is fruitless your fire will be smoky, will burn poorly and create unnecessary pollution. If dry wood is not available, it will need to be packed in. Many public campgrounds supply firewood.
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hesslei...
Cooking (http://www.talkingcooking.com)
Depending on what your cooking, green wood might be what you'll want. If your cooking meat, slightly green hickory gives the best smoke for flavoring the meat.
Wow! Thanks so much for all the advice...keep it coming. ;D As soon as Spring *finally* arrives, I'll be working on some of the things you all have suggested.
Quote from: Richard de Graeme on January 18, 2009, 07:25:47 AMAbout clean up, we use a NON-antibacterial soap, such as Dr. Bronners (plus you can wash and brush your teeth with it). We don't want to kill those beneficial bugs crawling around in the soil do we?
I couldn't agree more! Antibacterial soap is one of my biggest pet-peeves, and hand sanitizer is a close second. There is nothing wrong with a good, old-fashioned bar of ivory soap and some hot water, or, as you suggested, Dr. Bronners. (Although I've never tried using it for brushing my teeth.)
Quote from: anne of oaktower on February 15, 2009, 10:18:29 AM
I couldn't agree more! Antibacterial soap is one of my biggest pet-peeves, and hand sanitizer is a close second. There is nothing wrong with a good, old-fashioned bar of ivory soap and some hot water, or, as you suggested, Dr. Bronners. (Although I've never tried using it for brushing my teeth.)
You are both so right!!! First of all the "antibacterial soap" is useless. For the antibacterial agent to be effective you must use more than is found in an average bar of soap and the hot water would have to be hot enough to scald your skin. Also, hand sanitizer is only effective when used directly after washing your hands, using the sanitizer without washing your hands does nothing. I was taught that in my food handlers course about 12 years ago when I was a restaurant manager. Your better off washing your dishes with the 3 sink meathod. One sink for soaking stuck on food an clear sink for scrubbing and rinsing and the third sink filled with boiling water to soak the clean dishes for at least 45 seconds to sanitize/sterilize the dishes. If you have access to a closed slop sink or drain you can add a cap full of bleach but if you are ground dumping, the boiling water should work fine and reduce the chance of a "plague" outbreak.
Wow! Where do you camp carrying all those sinks around?
So, for once I'm posting in the proper forum, because this isn't a recipe, this is about a cooking method. Go me.
So, I've finally got a decent pizza recipe. MMMMMMMM. pizza. This pizza has crack in it. People eat it until they are uncomfortable. It is reaaaaaaaallly good.
So I was reading about making pizza on a grill and on a fire. In every case, you've gotta have heat from above.
I don't have a dutch oven (I know, the horror! I'm trying to get one, ok!) and I'm not sure about foil. Some people use foil and put coals on top.
I have seen a giant cast iron skillet with a lid that is appropriate for putting coals on top of. Am I just going to have to break down and buy this? I do own a folding camp oven that works well for biscuits, and I thought about just using that, but it is small, and I couldn't really feed more that 4 ppl. I am also interested in a fire pit method.
What do you guys think? Anyone made successful camp pizza? I plan to make dough at home, refrigerate, and bring down to "room temp" before cooking. Then I will precook the rolled out crust a bit, top, and finish cooking. Thoughts?
Sounds feasible...go for it! Most of the camping I do is canoe camping...so weight is a concern.
You definitely need a dutch oven. Buy pizza dough in the can (easy). Line the inside of the oven with foil for easy removal. Press in dough, top with toppings, cover, coals on top and under, viola!
Not sure of the time, check after 20 minutes.
I've done the pizza in the dutch oven, it works fine but you also want to elevate the pizza from the bottom of the pot. Use foil and roll out some snake shaped pieces about a half inch thick. If you don't the bottom of the dough will burn every time before the rest is ready.
Also, it helps to go ahead and preheat the dutch oven too. Just put it in the hot coals about the same time as you get the dough out to warm and that will be plenty (helps to keep the dough from over-rising before the oven is warm.)
As far as the skillet with the lid.. yes it will work, but you have to watch your toppings more carefully because you are almost putting it under a broiler.
(Btw... if ever you want to borrow a dutch oven... come get one of mine... I'm an ex-scoutmaster and still have the stuff lol)
[edit]Oh... just to add to what Sonata mentioned on the foil dinners.
My favorite feature of those is that you can set them up at home and have them ready to throw on the fire when your at camp.
If you look on the Boy Scout website, there is an entire section on foil dinners and Dutch oven cooking with things that are borderline gourmet level cooking.
In the past my son and I have made... a full ham in foil (including the glaze and some pineapples), multitudes of different roasts, every kind of cobbler you can name lol, various breakfast casseroles, bread (that was hard... I don't reccomend it lol), soups of all types... you name it, it can be done either in foil or a dutch oven... and if you get it all together at home and just keep it in a baggie in the cooler.
Here are a couple of sites I used for starters, but once you learn that anything you normally do can be done on fire (with a bit of modification) then you start just using your own favorite recipes.
http://www.scoutorama.com/recipe/index.cfm
http://www.boyscouttrail.com/boy-scouts/boy-scout-recipes.asp [/edit]
*Even made rum cake in mine once upon a time... that was yummy... and no, the scouts didn't get to taste it lol*
Great tips!
But no pizza dough in a can. I don't even make canned biscuits at camp: much tastier and not much more trouble to do it by hand w/ pre-mixed and measured ingredients. I can make pizza dough ahead and bring with me -- I usually have some in the fridge or freezer anyway. It's like meatballs: when I make it, I make way more than I need for one dinner, so I have extra next time. That's how lazy I am! :P
After Scarby is over, I'm gonna try some pizza on my baby propane grill to see what happens. Its inside is about the size of my large pizza pan.
Quote from: midnightferret on May 14, 2009, 12:32:43 AM
Great tips!
But no pizza dough in a can. I don't even make canned biscuits at camp: much tastier and not much more trouble to do it by hand w/ pre-mixed and measured ingredients. I can make pizza dough ahead and bring with me -- I usually have some in the fridge or freezer anyway. It's like meatballs: when I make it, I make way more than I need for one dinner, so I have extra next time. That's how lazy I am! :P
After Scarby is over, I'm gonna try some pizza on my baby propane grill to see what happens. Its inside is about the size of my large pizza pan.
I prefer real dough and biscuits (best flavor in the world in a dutch oven!), too, but sometimes it's helpful for beginners. ;) Canned is what my Boy Scout Troop uses, cause otherwise we would have 20 flour covered Scouts!!! ;D
In a pinch the premade dry packets that you just add water work well, too (and no refridgeration needed).
I can't remember if this was mentioned but I like to make hobo soup. Take your favorite veggies (canned are OK, prefer fresh) and a block of salted pork (plus water or stock), cook until pork pulls apart and veggies are soft. Wonderful!!! :o You can also use what ever leftover meat you may have (turkey, beef, chicken, combo, etc.).
I'm surprised that no one has brought up the "rolling oven" that gets everyone of us to Faire. My buddy was talking about having to get a camp stove for TRF, so we could cook up some chow, but was complaining about that being one more thing to buy and pack. I asked him why get a camp stove... his Yukon has a V8 and it gets plenty hot. He looked at me like i was nuts. I was making homemade baked ziti, that night, with Tuscan Chicken & sweet Italian sausage. I told him that it may take a bit longer but i could cook it ALL on his truck's manifold... again i get this look - ??? . I had him take his truck around the block a few times, while i was double wrapping everything in heavy foil. I put the ziti tray in, followed buy a few foil packets and dropped the hood. It was time to suck down a few beers... more like a 6 pack a piece. After about 2 1/2 hours i went and checked it... almost done. To add insult to injury, I wrapped up some garlic bread, told him to fire up the truck for a minute or two and added it.
30 minutes later, TA DA! Dinner! He was all worried about carcinogens but like i told him "if you are spewing oil & gas into you engine compartment, you really shouldn't be driving this thing." My family couldn't tell the difference.
I love proving a point. MANIFOLD COOKING. It's not something most people think about but it IS doable.
BTW, i've done pork roast, country spare ribs, pot roast & veggies, beans... all kinds of stuff can be cooked on a manifold.
;D
My father-in-law was a truck driver. He lived off of big block cooking!
Quote from: Dinobabe on June 23, 2009, 04:30:14 PM
My father-in-law was a truck driver. He lived off of big block cooking!
LOL... i learned it from a truck driver when i was in the military! He told me that if it can be cooked, it can be cooked on a manifold. :D
Hah! That's great - I totally forgot about that. I used to have a Volvo when I was 18 and we cooked all kinds of things in there when we'd take camping trips on the weekends. Mostly cans of college type fare, but it was awesome!
Hell, i might make some ziti for TRF...
I have a lot at the Spring River in Arkansas-small(2400 sq ft), with only 4 trees & open sided shed for a camper I lost to a flood. My campfire is about 5' diamater and I use a basic cowboy cookset I made at my forge, also have a tripod I made. another choice is to use a 'keyhole' fire set-up. I also have, probably, 200lbs cast iron for cooking, just haven't spent enough time cooking outdoors lately. Also hope to do some traveling this year, so I'll be cooking over a fire when I go. The only part of my cooking that resembles my mother's is big batches, especially chili. Currently trying to nail down chili using 2 or more meats(beef, pork,lamb,bison, etc).
When in doubt, check out what the Boy Scouts do. Here's an unofficial site with tons of recipes.
http://www.scoutorama.com/recipe/index.cfm
Dutch oven a definite plus.
Might be some useful info here:
http://www.yelp.com/topic/huntington-beach-help-with-food-recommendations-for-a-camping-trip?category=10
Cheers
Quote from: Laird Fraser of Lovatt on July 02, 2009, 11:26:16 AM
Hell, i might make some ziti for TRF...
well that sounded delish so make sure to invite me when you do! :P