In the last post we took a look at some of the foods you might like to consider taking on your camping
vacation. Today we get a little more technical - how are you going to cook them?
The obvious, and traditional, answer is by using a fire. However, lighting a fire and then using one to cook is by no means easy. First off, you should make sure that the campground you are using permits the lighting of fires, especially during the summer season when forest and brush fires are a severe risk. When you're done, you should eradicate all trace of your fire, including covering over the burnt patch on the ground.
Safety is your next consideration: don't use liquid fuels such as gasoline to get your fire going - firelighters or crunched-up newspaper will do just fine - and make sure that your fire is sufficiently distant from your tent not to be a fire hazard. Drifting sparks can burn a nasty hole in tents even if they're supposed to be fireproof. Non-fireproof tents go up in an instant.
The actual business of cooking your food on a fire is tricky and can be a little messy if you're not careful. First, you need a fire that's hot enough, so practice your firelighting and tending skills before you go off camping, and try to ensure that you have a supply of DRY fuel when you get there - it's a good idea to take a has or spirit stove as backup in case there's a downpour and all the wood for miles around is soaked. You'll need a firm method of securing your cooking pots. A couple of forked sticks with a crossbar and metal hooks to support the pans works well, but you need to make sure that it's stable. Remember to take 'billycans' - cooking pots that have a loop handle. Remember, also, that these handles get red hot, so you need some kind of over glove or at least a thick glove to protect your hands.
Here's a quick tip: blackened cooking pots may look pretty cool, but they'll make a terrible sooty mess of the rest of your stuff when you try to pack them away. "Soap" your pots with some washing powder mixed into a thick paste - give the outside of each pan a good overing. When it comes to washing up time, a lot of the blackness will just fall off, and the rest of it will come off much more easily that would otherwise have been the case.