A mainstay of any Scout's arsenal of cooking methods the foil dinner is simple, fun and (almost always) delicious.
The Cuckwagon Diner site has an excellent collection of foil dinner recipes.
How about a foil pineapple upside down cake or roasted garlic jam?
Via Uncooped
'2643 Scout Camping Dinner' picture from WoofBC at Flickr.
More on Cooking
Have you tried freezer bag cooking yet? I am sold on the method - simple, lightweight, inexpensive and reasonably goof proof. Stove Stomper has a great pictorial guide to making your own freezer bag cozy from Reflectix insulation.
via Freezer Bag Cooking Blog
Last December I came upon the Freezer Bag Cooking Blog after reading a post in Tom Managan's Two Heel Drive.
I finally got down to business and tried it out. Freezer bag cooking is easy, inexpensive and an especially great way for Scouts (or anyone for that matter) to prepare food on backpacking trips.
The ingenious technique 'boils down' to this ; measure ingredients into a 1 quart freezer bag and add hot water, wait a few minutes and viola! - a great-tasting meal.
Most of the recipes consist of ingredients you can find on the grocery store shelf Add a home food dehydrator and the possibilities really expand.
In preparation for a backpacking trip I prepared a freezer bag cooking demo for our Scouts and they were impressed by how easy and how cool it was to cook something better than a brick of ramen noodles. (Jeeze, they really love ramen noodles too - yuck.)
Blogster and author Sarah Svien offers a book, home made cozies (an insulating fabric envelope for freezer bags) and a few hard to find supplies in the Freezer Bag Cooking Store. Her website features a blog and quite a few recipes.
The Gear and Techniques features basic "how to" instructions and advice.
Related Posts on Scoutmaster
Two of my favorite freezer bag recipes (the brownies are truly amazing) are included after the jump.
Freeze dried food is not the cheapest, tastiest or easiest option to fill out a camping menu. There are times, like backpacking, when the weight savings are well worth the cost. Fully prepared and packaged meals are the most expensive and the simplest. Bulk quantities of freeze-dried staples, fruits, vegetables and meats are available but hard to find.
Here's a few of the manufacturers and suppliers;
 Cache Lake offers food specifically
designed for trip outfitters. Basic meat, veggie and potato, pasta or rice entrees, breakfast items,
desserts, and vegetable sides. These foods are packaged in two- or
four-serving size packages. Their serving sizes average larger than
comparable products on the market.
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Adventure Foods offers prepackaged dishes and a large selection of bulk freeze-dried foods, condiments and hard to find ingredients. Bulk items can be ordered in quantities as small as a 1/4 pound. My ordering experience has been very positive. Pricing and service are excellent - now if their website was just a wee bit easier to navigate. Download their PDF pricelist, it's easier to work with than the website. |
Just Tomatoes Is another bulk food seller who concentrates on vegetables and fruits. They beat grocery store pricing. Their dehydrated fruits and vegetables are vine-ripened (or tree-ripened), hand-picked at peak condition, washed, cut and then placed in specially designed dehydrators and dried at low temperatures to preserve color, flavor and nutrients.
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Mountain House has been around for 30 years or so. They offer both serving sized meals and bulk foods in large #10 tin cans. Mountain House offers Boy & Girl Scouts a discount on full cases only.
To receive this discount they want a copy of your Troop Charter along with the name and contact phone number of your troop leader. |
Harvest Foodworks offers some really nice meals. Our Canadian outfitter supplied us with Harvest food for the past three summers and we all thought it to be very good indeed.
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Richmoor is another long time player in the freeze dried food business. They offer both ready made and bulk items. They make a line of natural foods for camping called Natural High. They also have a discount program for Boy & Girl Scout Troops. Once they have the name of your leader and a copy of the troop charter you qualify for 25% off list prices.
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From the Freezer Bag Cooking Blog
Have you ever wished you could have a hot biscuit or muffin in the morning? But not carry a ton of weight? Or a huge pot? You can!
I have been fascinated by the Bakepacker for a couple years, but the problem is this: even with the light version they sell, it won't fit my tiny pans... So I started looking around on the internet and came across this site from a couple years ago, where a hiker described his version of making a UL baker. I thought to myself "could I make one that was smaller? Would it work?".
See the full post HERE
Can't wait to try this one myself.
A week by Canoe in Ontario's Algonquin Park - what could be better? We head out in August.
Our crew is sorting out how to plan, cook and carry food for ten hungry canoeists. Just now we are gathering resources and trying out some techniques.
Here are some ideas we have been working on.
One highly evolved mess kit points out that a spoon is a spoon - one of the few things in life that cannot be substantially improved upon- although we try. Do we really need this many sporks (or over priced specialty camping spoons) in the world?
I carry a simple Lexan spoon - less than a buck and practically indestructible.
Light My Fire spork The perfectly designed outdoor eating utensil.(?) A spoon-fork-knife
combo that reportedly "brings a bit of civilization to the wild and a bit of the wild to
civilization". I wonder if it wouldn't be advisable to get an eye patch while you are shopping - just in case.
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Vargo Titanium Spork combines a spoon and fork for the "ultimate in
lightweight backpacking." Super light but super expensive - around 9 bucks. But hey, it is available in three colors. Why not one of each to suit your mood?
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Bamboo SporkThese 3.5" reusable sporks are made from organically and sustainably grown
bamboo. The manufacturer says: Want to loose a few pounds Consider eating with a spork - you'll
take smaller bites forcing you to slow down and be more conscious of
your portion intake. A tongue depressor would have the same effect. |
Folding Titanium Spork Tired of loosing that cubic inch of valuable pack space? A folding spork is the answer - be the first person on your block to spend fifteen dollars(!) on a spork. |
Folding Beetle Spork The sleek design allows the folded wings to rotate 180 degrees from the
closed position to the extended and ready-to-use position. When you're
finished, the wings fold back for compact storage. Dishwasher safe, it
comes with an individual travel case that slides neatly into backpacks,
lunch boxes or picnic baskets. |
Titanium Fork and Spoon Kit Only twenty bucks. For the ounce paring rich I suppose. At least it isn't a spork.
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Telescoping Spoon advertised as a space saving alternative to a larger spoon this one stretches to get at the bottom of the pot. |
Rice paddle - in plastic or bamboo part spoon, part spatula - usually about 6-7 inches in length. Great for stirring, scraping or serving. Usually available at Asian Grocery stores. |
Rehydrate Spoon - Designed specifically for dehydrated meals, the extended
handle and scraper tip allow you to get every last bite from the bottom
of your food pouch. (seen at Freezer Bag Cooking) and available at REI.
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 Piranha Foon. Tired of sporks? How about a foon! Features a little clip-on doo-dad and a name reminiscent of a James Bond villainess. In Halulite and Lexan |
The Crow likes Chinese spoons for "backpacking and travel, to anywhere in the world."
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Last but not least, from deepest darkest Canada, Alberta's answer to Spam. |
Blogger Steve Karoly is a camp cook in California who shares some great group recipes on 'Round the Chuckbox'. Here are a couple that caught my eye:
Prepare this camp version of corned beef hash in an uncovered 12-inch Dutch oven over a gas camp stove. Place a pre-heated lid on the Dutch oven to quickly cook the eggs just before serving.
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
4 slices bacon, chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 pound corned beef, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup low sodium beef broth
Hot pepper sauce, to taste
8 large eggs
Black pepper, to taste
Bring potatoes, 5 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once boiling, cook potatoes for 4 minutes, then drain and set aside. Set Dutch oven lid on lid stand. Place approximately 20 charcoal briquettes on lid to pre-heat.
Cook bacon in 12-inch Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add onion and cook until browned, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in corned beef. Mix in potatoes and lightly pack with spatula.
Reduce heat to medium and pour beef broth and hot pepper sauce evenly over hash. Cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. Then, with spatula, invert hash, one portion at a time, and fold browned bits back into hash. Lightly pack hash. Repeat process every minute or two until potatoes are cooked, about 8 minutes longer.
Make 8 indentations equally spaced on surface of hash. Crack 1 egg into each indentation and sprinkle eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce bottom heat to low and set pre-heated lid on Dutch oven. Cook until eggs are set, about 4 to 6 minutes. Serve 1 egg for each portion. Serve with catsup or your favorite chili sauce.
Here's how Dave Herzog prepared and baked 600 biscuits in a 22-inch MACA Dutch oven:
I separate each biscuit from the can. I also dip one side of each biscuit into flavored butter then place into the Dutch. I lay the ontop of each other like shingles on a roof of a house, one ring at atime. When I get to the beginning of the ring, I lift the first biscuit up and place the last under the first. I continue making rings of biscuits until I reach the tube in the center. Then, I start from the outside of the Dutch with a new layer and new ring. I can fit 900 in my 22-inch Maca this way but, because we had to move out cooking area to the other side of the building I was only able to get 600 in the oven and still make the serving time and get all our equipment moved. That included burning charcoal, 6 cooking tables, 2 portable campfires, 2 prep tables, about 60 Dutch ovens, 3 chuck boxes, and 4 largeice chests. That was only between 2 cooks. We had 2 more cooks show upjust after the biscuits were served.
I almost forgot! I cook them low and slow, it takes about 3 hours for 600 to bake and 4 hours for 900. Yes, they still come out very light and fluffy!
Next time you go camping make a pineapple upside down cake. No, really, it is easy, fun and delicious.
Preheat the dutch oven until a hand held inside gets uncomfortably warm in five seconds. While the oven is heating mix a box of white or yellow cake mix according to the instructions on the box.
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Spread margarine around the whole inside of the oven.
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Melt about 1/3 of a cup of margarine in the bottom of the oven, add about 2/3 cup of brown sugar and mix well.
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Open and drain a can of pineapple rings, place them on the bottom of the oven. Place a maraschino cherry in the center of each one.
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Carefully pour the cake mix over the pineapple and cherries.
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Put plenty of coals underneath and on top of the oven. Check after fifteen minutes - if the cake dry around the edges the oven is too hot, if the cake hasn't changed in appearance at all the oven is too cold.
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Check every fifteen or twenty minutes and adjust heat by adding or taking away coals. The cake is done when a clean splinter of wood poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.
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Remove the coals from the top of the oven. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to make sure it is loose. Replace the lid and flip the whole thing over - if you have lived a clean life the cake will fall right into the lid for serving.
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The finished product.
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Good eating.
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A promising approach to lightweight, inexpensive, easy to prepare and readily available food for camping and backpacking. Dry ingredients are put in a heavy duty freezer bag and hot water is added. Sort of a do-it-yourself freeze-dried food pouch.
Hike, backpack, bike, paddle or do other outdoor activities for any amount of time and you will learn shortly that your options and imagination are seemingly limited when it comes to food to fuel your adventure and fun. Traditional outdoor food and cookbooks are good, but they prescribe heavy ingredients, require long cooking times and consume a lot of fuel. When you are in camp, you want to enjoy your time, not dread prep work and cleanup. Commercial freeze dried foods are expensive and for many people, do not set well with their stomachs.
Freezer Bag Cooking™(FBC) style cooking changes the ideas of traditional outdoor food. It adds in convenience, variety and speed of preparation and whirls them together with modern ingredients and philosophies of lightweight outdoor adventuring.
The simplicity and portioning of FBC makes it also great for friends, couples, and families. Each recipe can be split up and in its own bag. Each person has a meal that they would like, just add water. As our motto goes "Do not take what you do not like to eat."Many people who have been introduced to the FBC style of cooking are shocked at how sensible FBC is, how good the food is and how easy it is to incorporate it into their existing outdoor menu. Whether you want to dabble or like to be obsessive and manage details, FBC style cooking can be your ticket to better eating and enjoying your outdoor experience more.
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