How do you wash dishes in camp?

[bobhenry]

Most of our camping is at gatherings which offers us the luxuary of an electric site.
This makes our Redneck hot water heater a very nice appliance to have.



It provides hot water for coffee (bags or instant) hot tea or hot chocolate and ALSO hot water to wash up with. This little 32 cup coffee maker has accompanied us on almost every camp adventure other than primative outings. We take the 2 large bowls from the ingrid picnic ball and use them for wash and rinse tempering the hot water just a bit with some cold. I did later later equip the chuckwagon and Rip Van Winkle with side tables with hospital basins built into them.



but the Red neck water heater is still with us when ever electric is available. We have had to resort to using the 14" D.O. on the campfire if electric is unavailable but simply dump the hot water into the coffee urn and still use it as a very convenient dispenser.

[bobhenry]

kinda dumb but I am into a new idea called paper plates this next year.

slow

Yep ain't nuttin' more filling than eating 1/2 of a chinette plate with a good steak neatly sliced up on it !

I also really like wearing the food from a very full paper plate when it folds and dumps the mess in my crotch.

No thank U I will just wash a real plate when I am done with it !

[LDK]

Can you say plastic and paper?

That be what I'd do but I'm kinda lazy too.

[eaglesdare]

i used paper and plastic this year for the first time. i hated all that waste, but it worked great. this was my second year of gatherings and i must say i am now used to electric. so it makes heating up water a breeze to clean out the pans. but i have also done what some others have mentioned, store it til i get home.

[pete42]

I was half kidding when I said plastic and paper.
I still have the pots and pans to wash those I do one of three ways below:

1) when tent camping heat water on campfire, wash/rinse in 2 plastic tubs

2) when travel trailer camping heat water on stove wash/rinse in double sink.

3) if and when I get a cargo-trailer it will be heat water in microwave, wash/rinse in 2 plastic tubs.

I'll still use plastic cups, plates knives and forks.

The question was "How do you wash dishes in camp?" not "when you do dishes in camp are you friendly to the planet?"

pete

[PKCSPT]

I try to avoid dishes,, and cooking while camping. sandwiches or that which can be eaten cold. Paper plates, the only thing I have to wash is a couple plastic forks or knives (yes i reuse them). As I usually only go for a night I tend to bring them home.

[stumphugger]

Paper plates are wonderful. Since I used to work in the woods, I try to support our local logging industry and tree farming. Paper is a renewable resource.

Build campfire, toss plates in when done. Plastic forks can be washed, or not. I have a tiny sink and hot water so use one of those dish brushes with a detergent holding handle. I do have my coffee mug to clean.

[rowerwet]

we plan all meals to be either easy to make and clean up, or take out that tends to come in disposable containers. doing the dishes involves tossing the paper in the fire and putting the plastic in the trash. I don't expect my wife to put together a normal meal, this is a vacation! and anyway I'm the guy that could eat the same meal everyday for weeks and not really care.

[Bogo]

When I wash dishes, I'm a mostly paper and plastic user. I'll use three medium wash tubs with a drying rack in the last one. When cooking is finished, I'll put a big pot on the stove to heat some water. When it's boiling, it is time to wash the dishes. Roughly one third goes into the wash basin with the soap, one third goes into the rinse basin, and the rest stays in the pot. I next use paper towels to remove as much food particles as possible from the dishes and then put them in the soapy hot wash water. After they are all in I add just enough cool water that I'm not scalding my self. I scrub the dishes off well, and transfer them to the rinse basin. When they are all scrubbed, the wash basin gets scrubbed, and pored into the gray water jug. In the rinse basin I add just enough water to bring the temp below scalding. They then get swished around to rinse them better, and get transferred to the drying rack in the third wash basin. The rinse basin then gets scrubbed with a bit of soap and dumped into the wash basin which gets scrubbed again and dumped into the gray water tank. I now take the last of the boiling water and pour it over the dishes on the drying rack. That water is then used to rinse out the first rinse basin, and the wash basin. I next towel off the dishes and put them away. I use paper towels for the drying, and they get dried to become the paper towels for scrubbing off the food at the next meal. If possible I'll cart the gray water jug off to be dumped immediately. I'll also rise it out a couple times if there is water available. Otherwise I just dump it down the drain or toilet.

For the most part I don't need to do dishes as I usually cook in pouches in boiling water, and never get the pots dirty. Also I use paper plates, and plastic silverware. Cleanup is a snap when you do that. When the meal is done, I cart the garbage off to the campground's bear proof dumpster.

[Kody]

A Teenager was at his grandfathers for the week. At lunch, the teenager decides to eat lunch with his grandfather

While eating, the teenager looks at his plate and notices a smudge on it.
He asks his grandfather, "Are these Plates Clean?"
His grandfather replies, "They are as clean as Cold Water Can get 'em"

At Dinner, Noticing more smudges then before, he asks "Grandpa, are you sure these plates are clean?"
His Grandfather replies "Yes! They are as clean as cold water can get 'em"

The next day at breakfast, the boy notices another smudge on his plate.... "Grandpa, Your 100% Absolutely sure these plates are clean?"
The Grandfather replies once more "I told ya boy, they are as clean as Cold Water can get 'em!"

As soon as he was done eating, they both get in the van to go to school, When he got in, the Grandfathers dog jumps on the teenager. The grandfather yells, "COLDWATER! BACK TO THE HOUSE! GO BACK!"

Kody

[indycamper]

A Teenager was at his grandfathers for the week. At lunch, the teenager decides to eat lunch with his grandfather

While eating, the teenager looks at his plate and notices a smudge on it.
He asks his grandfather, "Are these Plates Clean?"
His grandfather replies, "They are as clean as Cold Water Can get 'em"

At Dinner, Noticing more smudges then before, he asks "Grandpa, are you sure these plates are clean?"
His Grandfather replies "Yes! They are as clean as cold water can get 'em"

The next day at breakfast, the boy notices another smudge on his plate.... "Grandpa, Your 100% Absolutely sure these plates are clean?"
The Grandfather replies once more "I told ya boy, they are as clean as Cold Water can get 'em!"

As soon as he was done eating, they both get in the van to go to school, When he got in, the Grandfathers dog jumps on the teenager. The grandfather yells, "COLDWATER! BACK TO THE HOUSE! GO BACK!"

Kody

Somehow, I KNEW what the punch line would be! Love it anyway - thanks!

[JuneBug]

Usually just heat up a pot of water after eating, scrub plates and use the hot water to rinse. We also are careful to not use regular dish soap when camping. We use CampSuds or Dr. Bonner's Magic Soap. It isn't quite so "soapy" but still cuts grease and rinses off easily. Yup, paper plates always make clean up easier. We also do simple cooking, like instant oatmeal for breakfast, that is easy to clean up.

[dmckruit]

I use two plastic wash basins. In the morning I will fill one half full with water and a little dish soap and put the dirty dishes in it, then I store it on the ground underneath the galley. I'll put dirty dishes in it through out the day. Once dinner is over I will wash them. I put my drip coffee maker into double duty and use it to the water. I just went from a 4 cup one to a 12 cup one as I found I needed to run it twice for enough water for the dishes. I then fill both tubs half full of 50/50 cold water and hot water. I use one basin to wash and one to rinse.

I have a set of those enamelware camping plates that I use. I normally buy those cheap flimsy paper plates and set them on top of the enamel plates. That way I have a solid foundation to cut food up on. Makes cleanup a lot easier and prevents any paper plate failures where you get hot food on your lap.

[bobhenry]

I use two plastic wash basins. In the morning I will fill one half full with water and a little dish soap and put the dirty dishes in it, then I store it on the ground underneath the galley. I'll put dirty dishes in it through out the day. Once dinner is over I will wash them. I put my drip coffee maker into double duty and use it to the water. I just went from a 4 cup one to a 12 cup one as I found I needed to run it twice for enough water for the dishes. I then fill both tubs half full of 50/50 cold water and hot water. I use one basin to wash and one to rinse.

I have a set of those enamelware camping plates that I use. I normally buy those cheap flimsy paper plates and set them on top of the enamel plates. That way I have a solid foundation to cut food up on. Makes cleanup a lot easier and prevents any paper plate failures where you get hot food on your lap.

Well you need to move up the the large economy size

[davidc]

when camping for longer periods, with larger groups, and without access to refill water, we figured out a great way to minimize the water use for dishes.

One dish pan/bucket and two pump up sprayers. One sprayer has soap mixed into the water so there are suds when it sprays, and the other sprayer is the rinse water.

We've had 9 people's worth of dishes for 4 days use less than 7 gallons of water. Usually, my 2 gallon soapy sprayer is enough, and the rinse sprayer needs a refill or two.

If you use the bug killer type sprayers (work well if you lengthen the hosts), just be sure to mark them well as "FOOD SAFE NO CHEMICALS"