Easy Cooking Tips

[Camping Dave]

What simple things do you do to make trail cooking easier / simpler / tastier / less messy / etc? Nothing fancy, just the simple stuff. I'll start.

Carry single serving mayonnaise packets. Use them where your recipes call for fats like butter or oil. Easy clean up, no oil bottle spillage.

Use a small square of plastic to scrape the sides and bottom of your cookpot or bowl. Gets out a lot more food than a spoon, make clean up easier.

[Tipi Walter]

When I first started backpacking back when Dwight Eisenhower was President, I took an entire kitchen with silverware, plates, pots, cups--the works. And in the late 1970s I whittled it down to a pot, a stove, a spoon and a Sierra Cup. Now by 2009 I take only a spoon and one lidless pot. No thermos, no cups, no fork, no plates, no cutting blocks, no spatulas. It amazes me what some people take out. Entire cook sets. A rollable cutting block. Spatulas. Drinking cups. There's nothing worse than having 4 or 5 items that need to be cleaned on a winter trip.

[seedog]

During the off season, while travleing for work I gather freebiee supplies. when i stay at hotels I never use the in room coffee and tea bags. they go home with me and get added to my ziplock. using gthese filters bags for a hot drink on the trail cuts cost and hassle of packing looses grounds. i also add in a few covience packets of honey,pb,jelly from the hotel breakfast bar.

[daddytwosticks]

seedog...I do the same thing. When the people I'm with see me do this, I get some unusual looks/comments. I just tell them they wouldn't understand if I tried to explain. Yes, I know it's a sickness.....:)

[theinfamousj]

Here's my ideal clean-up tip: if your (whatever you eat out of) has a water-tight lid, put a small amount of water and a drop of soap into it. Then add something that can get wet and is small enough to fit inside. In my case, it is my foldable spork (which also needs a cleaning, anyway).

Screw the lid onto the bowl. Shake vigorously. Dump sump water. Then add some clean water. Shake and dump again. One more rinse and you have clean dishes with very little effort.

This works great for a Caldera Caddy and any eating utensil.

Also, for tasty-food makings ... see picture! Can't beat Tony's!

[mudcap]

I agree,Tony's is hard to beat. Pretty tastey stuff. I just found them for 60 cents a pop at the dollar store. I stocked up.

[Alyssa1]

jiffy sells peanut butter single serving packets.

[Spock]

Never have to wash pots: do all cooking in freezer bags.
Design cook set for boiling water only: 2-3 cup pot, burner (alcohol or esbit), windscreen, spoon, cozy (to hold bags while food finishes cooking). Drink hot drinks out of cup.

[sarbar]

jiffy sells peanut butter single serving packets.
As does Justin's Nut Butters. They are very tasty.

[Blissful]

I saw hikers using their oatmeal packets as bowls - just pouring the water in them and eating them that way. Also with the mashed potato bags.

[rockdawg69]

Mashed potatoes in a bag. Yum! I break my taters down into 3 equal portions - 2 into ziplocks and 1 in the original packet ( makes 3 meals for me). Add hot water, bacon bits, chives, jerky pieces, squeeze butter, etc., etc., etc. - about anything works well. No mess, no fuss.
You can do the same with the pre-packaged tuna in foil and the chicken in foil.

[sarbar]

You can make tuna or chicken salad in the pouch as well. Open, add in items, stir and eat.