Outdoor cooking
Outdoor cooking is the preparation of food in the outdoors. A significant body of techniques and specialized equipment exists for it, traditionally associated with nomadic cultures such as the Berbers of North Africa, the Arab Bedouins, the Plains Indians, pioneers in North America, and indigenous tribes in South America. These methods have been refined in modern times for use during recreational outdoor pursuits, by campers and backpackers.
Currently, much of the work of maintaining and developing outdoor cooking traditions in Westernized countries is done by the Scouting movement and by wilderness educators such as the National Outdoor Leadership School and Outward Bound, as well as by writers and cooks closely associated with the outdoors community.
Food and recipes
The type of food common in outdoors settings is somewhat different compared to household foods and also differs depending on the type of cooking activity. While someone at a public campground may have easy access to a grocery store and be able to prepare plenty of recipes with fresh meat and vegetables, someone on an extended trip into the backcountry will not be able to carry large amounts of fresh food, due to the extra weight from high water content, and will have to rely heavily on food with low water content, such as dried meats and vegetables, packaged dehydrated camping foods, and starches such as ramen, polenta, and dried potato flakes. Wilderness experts in both categories sometimes make use of locally available wild foods as well, particularly wild vegetables and fruit but also occasionally fresh fish and wild game; however, it is not unusual for camping food, especially backcountry food, to be partially or totally vegetarian.Camping food is often very high in fat and carbohydrates to provide energy for long hikes, and hikers must rely heavily on energy-packed snacks such as trail mix, chocolate, energy bars, and sports drinks. Water can also be at a premium, so important parts of a camper's pantry include chlorine or iodine-based water disinfectants as well as drink mixes to mask the flavor of the chemical treatment.
Recipes are often designed with significant planning and home preparation in mind, with certain ingredients mixed at home and then cooked on the trail; to that end, there are several providers of freeze-dried food, both ingredients and full meals, to the outdoors market, and just-add-water instant meals from the supermarket are popular as well. Alternatively, some wilderness experts advocate bulk rationing, in which each hiker is given a selection of raw ingredients and prepares a meal from scratch on the trail.
Methods
Most outdoor cooking is dictated by the foods themselves which are to be cooked. The first five discussions below, of direct heat, boiling, frying, grilling, and roasting, will, perhaps, describe the cooking methods employed most often in outdoor cooking. These techniques will require only rudimentary, commonsensical tools. Additional methods described further below may be of interest only to those "foodies" who carry their interests into the outdoors for gourmet meals. These advanced methods may require additional equipment or techniques.Direct heat
The most traditional method for outdoor cooking is using a campfire. Campfires can be used for cooking food by several techniques, the food maybe suspended in the flames or in direct contact with the fuel. The techniques for cooking on a campfire are no different from those used for everyday cooking before the invention of stoves or when stoves were still not available. Individuals who are backpacking in an area that allows the gathering of firewood may decide to cook on a campfire to avoid the need to carry extra equipment; however, most campfire cooking is done outside of wilderness areas. Cooking food using a campfire can be tricky for those not accustomed to it; also, due to the risk of fire damage, campfires are illegal in many areas, so many campers prefer to use a portable stove instead.Boiling
In backpacking particularly, boiling water is the most common kitchen operation undertaken on the trail, used for cooking or reconstituting food, making hot beverages, cleaning up, and even sanitizing drinking water. Portable stoves are therefore generally rated in terms of how quickly they can boil a liter of water; indeed, some commercial stove models are specifically optimized for fast boiling, with other operations such as frying or baking being an afterthought.Like camp frying pans, camp pots are generally made of very lightweight material. Though less of a worry given the thermal mass of water, the camp cook must still take care not to allow food to burn, since the pot itself has very little mass to spread the heat out.
Alternatively, a fireproof container is placed above the fire.
Roasting
Possibly the simplest method of cooking over a campfire and one of the most common is to roast food on long skewers that can be held above the flames. This is popular for cooking hot dogs or toasting marshmallows for making s'mores. Hungarians often roast slab bacon over a campfire. Besides skewers and fireplace popcorn poppers, pie irons too may be used, into which can be placed slices of bread with some form of filling — which are placed over hot coals to cook. When using meat, roasting can have the advantage over grilling in that the grease that drips from the food can be reused. This can be done by placing a fireproof container under the food.Grilling
are simple to use and food being grilled tends to pick up some flavor from the smoke, although that is not by design as in a Barbecue where the meat is cooked slowly over hours at a significantly lower temperature. Grills over a campfire are used in the same way as an ordinary backyard charcoal grill. If the food is simply placed on the grill, it may catch fire so it requires constant attention. Hand-held grills, aka broilers that clamp over the food may be used for various tasks like warming food, grilling burgers or sausages or making toast. In cases where open fires are not allowed, lightweight charcoal grills are sometimes used for direct grilling of food.Frying
is not always necessary, but is often used for fish or wild game caught while on the trip, as well as pancakes and certain kinds of bread and desserts made on the trail. As a general rule, the frying medium used in camp cooking is usually either vegetable oil or margarine. Normal butter may also be appropriate for camp use, but unsalted butter or lard may not be, due to their shorter shelf life.Camp frying pans often lack handles for easy packing, with the camp cook using a clamp-like device to pick up and move the pan. Camp frying pans are generally made out of very thin metal, so extra care must be taken to evenly cook the food, especially over the small-diameter flame of a portable stove. A "round the clock" technique, where the frying pan is moved repeatedly to expose different parts of its base to the flame, is the most commonly recommended solution to the problem, though it is also possible to use a flame diffuser to achieve the same effect. For campfire use, on the other hand, some camp cooks prefer a legged cast-iron pan called a "spider", which is elevated to allow a small fire directly beneath it.
Camp cooks making pancakes in a moderate-size pan often simplify their work and speed up their service by pouring enough batter to make one large, moderate-thickness pancake that takes up the entire pan and then cutting the final product with the spatula to serve individual portions. Also, camp cooks often replicate toast using a frying pan: a bread slice is placed in a well-greased pan, pressed down with a spatula, flipped, and pressed down again.
An improvised griddle can be made by putting a flat stone directly on the fire. Food is then placed on the stone.
Baking
Putting a baking sheet pan over a furnace can allow for baking, which is in turn derived from the concept of the masonry oven. This was common for centuries, used to make bread, pies, and other items, and is still popular today, particularly among campers who enjoy stuffing their meats. Ovens can be made from cast iron, sheet metal, or aluminum foil-covered cardboard boxes. Reflector ovens are metal containers designed to surround an article of food being baked over an open flame and reflect the heat towards the food.Dutch ovens and other pots
Closely associated with the American Old West, the Dutch oven of tradition is a heavy cast iron pot, traditionally made with three short legs and a concave cover for holding hot coals on top. While such pots are generally considered too heavy for backpackers, Dutch ovens are often used in group camp-outs and cookouts.Dutch ovens were traditionally specially designed for camping, and such pots are still widely available, though sometimes at a premium over flat-bottomed stove-top models. The oven is placed in a bed of hot coals, often from a keyhole fire with additional coals placed on top of the lid, which in camp ovens usually has a raised rim to keep the coals from falling off. Dutch ovens are made of cast iron or aluminium and are generally not considered suitable for backpacking due to the heavy weight of the pot. Dutch ovens are convenient for cooking dishes that take a long time such as stews, joints of meat, and baked goods. They are not the only option for baking on a campout as devices for baking on portable stoves exist and clay ovens can be constructed at longer encampments.
A pot hanging over the fire, although picturesque, may spill, and the rigging may be difficult to construct from found wood. Generally, this is done with metal rigging, much of it identical to that historically used in home fireplaces before the invention of stoves. Two vertical iron bars with an iron cross-piece allow pots to be hung at various heights or over different temperatures of fire. Griddles, grills, and skewers can also be hung over the fire. When working with wood, one may use two tripods, lashed with tripod lashings, but the rope will be liable to melt or burn. Dovetail joints are more secure but difficult to carve.
A good alternative to cooking with a tripod is to cook directly on the fire itself. To do this properly the fire needs to have a reasonable bed of coals and to have burned down to the point where it is not a roaring fire. While the pot may be set directly upon the coals, this is not preferable since that will tend to extinguish the coals. To lift the pot up off the fire, often two small logs of similar size may be used on either side of the pot; camp-style Dutch ovens have three legs built into the pot to perform this function. An alternative is the use of a metal thread or mesh fire basket. This allows continued airflow through the fire while providing optimal heat. The one downside to this form of cooking is that the pots will become blackened with soot and ash, which can be difficult to scrub off. The ash and soot buildup can be easily avoided by applying a thin layer of dish soap to the outside of the pot before cooking. The ash and soot will stick to the soap which is then easily rinsed off later.