Going camping doesn’t mean you can always build and use a campfire for cooking. Here are some modern outdoor cooking items you could use.
Sometimes, your camping trip coincides with a drought, which means you shouldn’t use a campfire for cooking. Some campgrounds don’t allow fires in their areas for fear of forest fires starting. This means you need to turn to other portable devices to help you handle the cooking duties during your camping trip.
Here are several great modern outdoor cooking items that can help you enjoy some wonderful meals during your camping trip.
Cast Iron Skillet or Dutch Oven
It’s not a modern item, but it gets the job done on nearly every camping stove or grille. In fact, many teens in Scouting are taught how to use charcoal briquettes to cook using a Dutch oven, which is like a casserole dish. Scout leaders have gotten cooking using these items down to a science with an almost exact number of hot briquettes that can be used on an outdoor grill or small fire pit. Cast iron is one of the most common metals for pans used in outdoor cooking.
Portable Charcoal Grill
Some camping areas don’t provide firepits, which means you need another way to cook your food. You can use one of the most useful modern outdoor cooking items, that’s also been around for a long time. A portable charcoal grill can sit on top of a picnic table or on the ground and it gives you the heat and cooking space you need for a full meal. These small grills are great for couple’s camping but might be too small when you need to cook for a large group.
Portable Gas Grill
If you don’t want to deal with the challenges of charcoal, which can be messy and take time to get to the right temperature, a portable gas grille could be the right answer for you. These small grills can be great for camping, especially if you buy compact propane tanks to provide the fuel needed to give you the desired heat while camping and cooking. These grills are easy to clean and take up less room in your vehicle than larger cooking items.
Camp Stove
The tried-and-true camp stove is one of the most compact items you can use to cook your meals while camping. These stoves are more modern than a fire, making them some of the most useful modern outdoor cooking items that you can use and enjoy while in the wilderness. Camp stoves are collapsable, connect to a compact propane tank, and have two burners for cooking multiple items at once. These features make camp stoves the perfect choice when you need an alternative to cooking over a campfire.
Coffee Brewer
Waking up in the wilderness is wonderful, but a fresh cup of coffee can make it even better. This means you need to have an outdoor-rated coffee brewer to prepare your coffee over a camp stove or grille. These items can work well to contain all the functions required to make the coffee you and your camping companions will enjoy. Your day starts with coffee, and if you don’t want instant coffee, you’ll be glad to have a brewer to help prepare your morning joe.
High-Quality Coolers
They might not be considered modern outdoor cooking items, but coolers are essential when you go on a multiple-day camping trip. These coolers need to have ice in them and water drained out of them regularly. Some of the best coolers can seal in the cold well enough to make the ice last several days, ensuring your perishable food will remain safe for several days. Your cooler is one of the best items in your camping gear, especially if you want cold drinks when you get back from camping.
Hiking Stove
Hiking stoves have come a long way and are extremely small and portable. The idea behind them is to keep them lightweight and small to ensure you can put them in a hiking pack. If you travel on hikes that last several days, you’ll want to have one of these small stoves to heat up your freeze-dried food that you’ve put in your pack for the trip. These stoves are the difference between having a hot and cold meal while you’re out on the trails.
These are just a few of the modern outdoor cooking items you should consider when camping. You can’t always make a campfire for cooking, and that means using some of these alternative solutions to handle your cooking needs.