Meals While Camping

Here's where we keep the polls, and anyone can start a poll!

How well do you eat while camping?

I go all out, a good meal outdoors is better than a five star restaurant!
21
51%
I take the basics, but I don't put a lot of effort into it.
17
41%
A can opener is my best friend while camping.
1
2%
Does heating up water count as cooking?
1
2%
Cook, who has time for that? I just eat snacks.
0
No votes
My meals consist of spirited liquids only.
1
2%
 
Total votes : 41

Meals While Camping

Postby Guest » Fri Jul 23, 2004 3:27 am

Just curious to see how much effort you folks put into meals.
I'm new here and if I'm not mistaken, it was about 5 or 6 years ago when I got my first introduction to tear drops. A friend talked to me about building one of these things, but I was too busy at the time. He took me to a gathering of tear drops and I think it was in or by Redding, CA
One thing I am clear on is that the food was great!
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Postby Ron Dickey » Sun Jul 25, 2004 1:10 am

We have enough equipment to have a banquet. 4 picnic baskets, 5 coolers all sizes, 2 stoves, hundreds of paper plates and
forks, knives and spoons, etc.

We usually meet my cousin half way and camp forest to desert, and once we went camping from Ca to NM and back. We
usually have two stoves and have a table and chair set with umbrella to eat off, or sit in our fold down chairs with umbrellas
attached and a can of beer or soda in those arm cup holder thingies.

We usually cook something simple and make hot cocoa or tea and my cousin pulls out his Military K rations which cook
in the pouch. Make cold meat sandwiches and shopped at the on the way grocery. store for simple foods.

But I never thought of going all out.
Maybe when I get my trailer I will ... but for now I sleep on the ground sound a sleep as long as the air mat is full.

Hey has anyone figured where the dishwasher goes on these teardrops??

Ron D.
still sleeping lower then a teardrop
121377......134179
Inside almost done--Trolly top has opening windows & roof.doors need assembling--pictured above waley windows..galley 1/3 done
Cross Bow in Build Journals....http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=54108
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Postby Guest » Sun Jul 25, 2004 1:20 am

In my campsite I have a dishwasher and a dish dryer.
The dishwasher is my 12 yr.old son and the dish dryer is my 10 yr. old daughter. :lol: I do all the cooking and they do most of the clean up.
With their duties come special "perks", there is a trade off.
So, I guess you could say that they go "all over the place."
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Postby mikeschn » Sun Jul 25, 2004 5:45 am

My campground cooking has a different air about it!! That is, I do more grilling, and especially more cooking over an open fire, steaks, foil surprises etc. And this outdoor food tastes better with less effort than anything I could whip up in the kitchen.

I guess the poll doesn't really reflect that kind of cooking, but if it did, that would get my vote!!!

Mike...
The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, so build your teardrop with the best materials...
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Postby Guest » Sun Jul 25, 2004 12:27 pm

mikeschn wrote:I do more grilling, this outdoor food tastes better with less effort than anything I could whip up in the kitchen.


Shhhhh... Try to keep that less effort thing a secret, OK? :wink:

Hey Mike,
We're on the same track here, although I consider the grill and foil surprizes in the coals an extension of the kitchen. I use a lot of hickory. I sometimes use mesquite, but that stuff can overpower a meat in a hurry. I like to use old alder with moldy bark when I do fish. I seldom use sauce anymore. I'll coat the inside of a salmon with mayo, though. My kids are pretty picky when it comes to food done on the smokin' grill, so that's why I gotta go with the decked out kitchen. Their first request was an oven with a pizza stone. I'm still workin' on that one, they want me to do BLT Pizza. Their second request was deep fried garlic fries and I got that one dialed in.
I should have mentioned something like "great meals with very little effort" in the poll.
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Postby D. Tillery » Sun Jul 25, 2004 7:33 pm

I tried to vote for the first and last choice but it wouldn't let me. Interesting tip on moldy bark and fish. I can't wait to try it. Tell me about the "old alder" wood. What type of mold? White, green? I'm intrigued.
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Postby Guest » Sun Jul 25, 2004 9:27 pm

Hey D,
I know you got mesquite down there, but I don't know about alder.
A trick that an Indian friend showed me is to use alder that's been down for at least a year and its best if the bark is a bit moldy. It usually has a reddish brown color to it on the inside layer against the wood and sometimes on the outside it gets a white looking mold on it. (Sounds creepy doesn't it?) Around here the Indians cook their salmon, cut into strips, stuck on a stick, with the stick stuck in the ground next to the fire. They use this type of alder. They make these long fires about ten feet long and about two feet wide, then place rows of thes sticks in the ground on both sides of the fire. (If it's not windy)
Some people cook the cheeks of the salmon also, it's a small spot of meat behind the jaw and in back of the eye. You need a pretty good sized fish to be able to get the cheeks. I don't mess with them unless the fish is at least 30 lbs.
Since I use a smokin' grill, I place the cleaned salmon, whole minus the head and guts of course, in a tin foil tray. Before I put the salmon in the grill, I coat the inside of the fish (Where the red meat is) with about 1/4" layer of mayonaise. This helps keep the moisture in the fish. I also grind fresh pepper from a hand mill over the fish too. Some people like too add lemmon juice also. Others use a bit of brown sugar, I don't use that unless I'm going to smoke the fish. Once the fish is setting in the tinfoil tray and on the grill, I wrap the top of the fish with foil also. Then I put the cover on the grill and stand by with my water squirt bottle, just in case the chunks of alder start to flame up. It takes about 20 -30 minutes for a good sized fish.
Alder yeilds a somewhat sweet tasting smoke.
If your unsure about this, I would reccomend cutting a salmon into steaks and try one or two steaks, before doing a whole fish this way. It's real easy to overcook salmon.
If you can't get alder, try some apple or hickory works well too.

So Hey,
Since you're from Texas, I'm sure you could give me a tip or two about using mesquite. I've tried it a few times and I think I need to cut back on the amount of chunks I use on the briquettes, because I allways seem to over power the meat with too much mesquite flavor.

Happy Grillin'
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Postby D. Tillery » Mon Jul 26, 2004 8:48 am

I use both indirect smoking and grilling. We have a lot of mesquite, oak and pecan down here. Mesquite burns very hot so you have to watch your food. Pecan gives great flavor on the grill but burns to a powder which is not good for a smoker where oak is best. My tastebuds are not so good so I go for flavor overload. We get samon down here on sale occasionally for $.99/lb whole, frozen no head, 3-5 lb each. I'll buy several. I almost always smoke it. It takes less than 2 hours at 225 or so. I also catch a lot of fish in the gulf and cook them several ways.

I've seen that red mold on mesquiite but I'm scared to burn the white stuff because I heard it gives off toxic fumes. Maybe that's a good thing! I'd say use the mesquite on something you want to cook fast like a steak or "burned skin" chickhen.

I guess I need to figure out how to incorporate a smoker into my tear.
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Postby tdthinker » Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:41 am

I like to cook things like chicken and steak but it is more of basics because once you through it on you just have to flip it once and take it off. They take a while to cook depending on the fires heat and that gives you plenty of time to sit down and have a good chat, your never fare away since the chat is around the fire!
Ryan
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Postby catrinka » Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:41 pm

Dean in Eureka, CA wrote:[ My kids are pretty picky when it comes to food done on the smokin' grill, so that's why I gotta go with the decked out kitchen. Their first request was an oven with a pizza stone.


Have you got a pie maker for cooking over the campfire. Put a hamburger bun in it with pizza sauce and whatever fixings you want. When its done its almost like a pizza pop.
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Postby Nick Taylor » Sun Sep 05, 2004 10:51 pm

I like to try different things when I camp and if I'm planning on grilling something, I'll take the small bbq along.

Breakfast is my favorite thing camping. Bacon & Egg sandwiches are the best and I also make great french toast.

I would like to try a ductch oven but I'd probably practice at home first.

Some friends and I are going to The Shady Dell in Bisbee, Arizona for Thanksgiving and we're working out how to do the full boat turkey dinner. Fortunately one friend is bringing his 5th wheel trailer so we'll have a full kitchen to use.

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Postby Guest » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:30 am

catrinka wrote:Have you got a pie maker for cooking over the campfire. Put a hamburger bun in it with pizza sauce and whatever fixings you want. When its done its almost like a pizza pop.


Cathy,
I've got a dutch oven and I've made pies in that on camping trips, but no pie maker. (I've never seen one of those yet)
That sounds pretty easy. My kids really appreciate the extra effort I put into cooking, (I did 99.9% of the cooking when I was married to their mother) but they are very finicky when it comes to smoked or barbequed foods. That little oven that Kai shipped to me, should be here any day now.

PS Sorry about the long time to respond, I've been totally swamped on a commercial job.
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Postby catrinka » Wed Sep 08, 2004 9:25 pm

http://members.shaw.ca/northernlitehikers/pieiron.htm

Hey Dean, check out this site for more ideas. And if you need more ideas let me know, I've been through the finicky teen years.
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Postby Guest » Wed Sep 08, 2004 10:31 pm

Thanks Cathy,
Those things look pretty nifty! I've never seen those before. They look like a cross between a waffle-iron and a George Foreman grill. I used to have a backpacking pop corn popper setup the same way, but gave way to Jiffy-Pop. I think my kids would really like the sausage, egg and cheese muffin done in one of those things. (They look like they would make one heck of a mountain golf club also :D )
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Postby mikeschn » Thu Sep 09, 2004 3:56 am

Here's a slightly different twist...

Betty Crocker has some meals, with meat in it, that need no refrigeration.
Perfect if you are in FL, and have no ice and no electricity, or if you are doing some extended teardrop camping.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/pr ... emeals.asp

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Mike...
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