Getting ready for camp season

[DrewsBrews]

I posted alot of this info over on tearjerkers, but not much engagement over there either. Figured I'd share here too

Testing the old equipment and trying out new stuff as we get a better idea what we actually want before finding out the hard way out at a campsite.

Pulled out the 413G to try out our new Nordicware "2 burner" size aluminum griddle. That griddle is SOOO NICE to use! Feels like acres of cooking area. The stove on the other hand.. the fuel tank cap was a bit leaky. The old gasket was welded in there from age and I tried a cap from one of the lanterns. It also wasn't a perfect air tight seal, but close enough to be functional. So I had a replacement cap shipped in after this trial run.



Stanley french press: Another new purchase.. Normally I just pack instant coffee packs since it is easy and basically takes up no room. But it does leave some to be desired. My glass french press probably wouldn't hold up too well and it needs a secondary container to warm the water. With the Stanley unit you just pull out all the guts and heat the water in the stainless container. I tested it out on the stove and worked great! I'll just put the coffee in a ziplock bag and pop it inside the container for transit.

[DrewsBrews]

Our current setup has no built in kitchen solution. I was ho-humming over building a chuck box, but I have plenty of projects on the list already. I snagged this Ozark Trail Camp Kitchen table locally for $20 on clearance a few weeks ago. Pretty much a small tall table with extra chachkis to make it seem special. Normally I wouldn't have considered it, but the price was right so I'll give it a shot. I kind of like the idea of keeping the stove away from anything else valuable. And the mostly aluminum construction means not much there to feed flames if things get out of hand. Fortunately it fits the chunky 413G pretty well if I just use the front to back cross bars and leave off the secondary flat pieces. I think they meant for that to be an option since the bars also have the grippy rubber sleeving.

I tested using the hook hanger for the PT roll. I think it could work, but the way the hanger mounts would be prone to fall out. It also comes with a lantern pole that mounts to the right back corner. I might drill new holes to mount it on the left side instead and slide the PT roll down it.



Not interested in lugging around cast iron anymore for camping. But I also didn't want some super thin "camping oriented" pans that are less than enjoyable to use. I found this very inexpensive set of thick aluminum pans and pot w/lid that use removable handles and nests together pretty well. 10" and 8" pan, 8" pot and lid. Picked em up a month or so ago along with a second handle, but unfortunately the set seems to not be sold anymore. Looks like they are moving to permanent mount handles instead. Bummer. They do have a bigger 3" deep 11" skillet w/lid that uses the same detachable handle. That might be a good size if we go to any of the gatherings and contribute to potluck.

There are other detachable handle sets on Amazon. They are more $ and the handle attachment mechanism looks more complicated (maybe less reliable IMO)





I found a seller on ebay who has new CAMP-A-TOASTERs so I picked one up. Havent tried it yet though.

[philpom]

Nice, looks like a number of great extras for the stove. I'm curious about the griddle as something possible for us. I am looking at a toaster but probably something like this:

We have purchased more camp cooking gizmos than we'll probably ever use!

[reaver]

I've used that French press for a few years, and really like it. It lives in my trailer, but we've primarily switched to doing pour overs, due to there being less clean up.

[DrewsBrews]

Nice, looks like a number of great extras for the stove. I'm curious about the griddle as something possible for us. I am looking at a toaster but probably something like this:

I did a little research on the camp toaster gadgets before purchasing this one. The general consensus I got on those 4-slice-at-an-angle ones is they only really work when fully loaded up with 4 slices, or a 5th one on top. That and limited capability with other non standard sliced bread items like bagels, rolls, hotdog buns and sub buns, etc.

My wife usually only wants one slice of toast, and I could either have one or two. The CAMP-A-TOASTER should do better for us since it is a one or two slice capacity. And since the bread items lie flat it should be able to handle other buns and bagels just fine.

Griddle:
https://www.nordicware.com/products/double-backsplash-griddle/

Be weary of the size.. it is a big sucker. If you still use a camp style stove, there is a chance it might not fit on some two burner stoves with wind deflectors deployed. The deflectors on our 413g would still fit. But the smaller more common coleman 425 probably would have that griddle hanging off the sides slightly, for example.

There is also a smaller version:
https://www.nordicware.com/products/backsplash-griddle/

Those are the official sites. I got mine off amazon.

[philpom]

Nice, looks like a number of great extras for the stove. I'm curious about the griddle as something possible for us. I am looking at a toaster but probably something like this:

I did a little research on the camp toaster gadgets before purchasing this one. The general consensus I got on those 4-slice-at-an-angle ones is they only really work when fully loaded up with 4 slices, or a 5th one on top. That and limited capability with other non standard sliced bread items like bagels, rolls, hotdog buns and sub buns, etc.

My wife usually only wants one slice of toast, and I could either have one or two. The CAMP-A-TOASTER should do better for us since it is a one or two slice capacity. And since the bread items lie flat it should be able to handle other buns and bagels just fine.

Griddle:
https://www.nordicware.com/products/double-backsplash-griddle/

Be weary of the size.. it is a big sucker. If you still use a camp style stove, there is a chance it might not fit on some two burner stoves with wind deflectors deployed. The deflectors on our 413g would still fit. But the smaller more common coleman 425 probably would have that griddle hanging off the sides slightly, for example.

There is also a smaller version:
https://www.nordicware.com/products/backsplash-griddle/

Those are the official sites. I got mine off amazon.

Thanks, I'll check it out! I don't recall our model, off to the barn I go!