This article is going to cover my favorite reason for camping – Eating in the great Outdoors. Don’t believe what some men may claim, “That they are the best cooks”. Hey, we cook every day, and I don’t know about you, but my family is still coming to dinner, so we can’t be too bad. It really is pretty simple.
So let’s start with cooking over the open fire. I have to start with the coffee in the morning; very simple. Get your coffee pot, throw in some coffee grounds, add water and set it on some hot coals from your campfire. In the mornings I do most of my cooking with a flat griddle. You can get a rod that you can hammer into the ground and slide the handle of your grill up and down the rod until you have your griddle the height you want to cook on. I always start with the bacon and end with hash browns, eggs or pancakes. Usually by the time your bacon is cooking, the scent alone will wake up the whole crew. Perfect timing – they can set the table. I know you can cook lite with Pam when camping. Somehow cooking with bacon grease and using real butter just makes the food taste better outdoors. I diet on Monday.
And now, the great dutch oven. The most important part of cooking with the dutch oven is to build a fire to the point where you have a lot of hot coals. Make sure you have seasoned your dutch oven. Some of the dutch oven cookware are already seasoned, so know what kind you have. Those of you who need to season your cookware, just place some cooking oil in it, spread the oil around the whole dutch oven and place it over the fire until you have the oil real hot. Once you’ve done this, you’re ready to cook.
Prepare whatever food you decide to cook and place it in the dutch oven. You can cook everything from stew to turkey and dressing. Place hot coals under the dutch oven cookware, but be sure to include the same amount of coals on top of the lid, too. Your food will cook a lot more evenly for you. For frying you can take your cast iron skillet and pull some hot coals under it and fry away. Although I like to fry over the fire like I do in the morning. I just adjust the height of the griddle or use a grill that fits above the fire and is great for cooking steak, ribs, or fish. There really isn’t anything you cannot cook over an open fire. I’ve even baked bread, but the desserts are to die for. Once you get use to your pans, you’ll find yourself creating your own gourmet meals.
You will find you cook as good or better than the average man. You may even get a little praise from him. I would love to hear about some of your cooking experiences. Keep In Touch!
