There’s no denying that cooking in the wild can be a challenge, especially when you factor in Scotland’s unreliable weather. However, meals do taste a little more special when you’re huddled around a campfire surrounded by beautiful scenery.
As long as you take time to plan out your meals and do some research, whipping up a feast for the whole family to enjoy shouldn’t be too daunting. To help you embrace and enjoy cooking al fresco, experts from our camping village have shared a few tips and tricks.
1. Prep
While one of the biggest appeals for some is the spontaneous nature of a touring holiday, when it comes to meals, we recommend being a little more structured. This will save time, reduce waste and make mealtimes less stressful.
Chop, slice and dice the veggies and cook your pasta, potatoes and anything else which usually takes a long time, in advance. Because trust us – trying to boil water for long periods in the wind or rain is a challenge you want to avoid. Also, measure out ingredients for each meal and label everything! This will make the whole process a lot easier from start to finish.
2. Cooking equipment
The choices for cooking outdoors when camping have increased significantly over the years. With campers packing small toasters and some campervans, caravans or motorhomes being built with a home kitchen-style cooker and / or microwave – the options are limitless. If you’re looking for a well kitted out home on wheels make sure to visit the show to see an incredible range of vehicles including show sponsor BC Motorhome.
However, two of the most popular, and widely available cooking products, are the portable BBQ and gas stove. We have a strong appreciation for the portable BBQ as they’re usually easy to transport and cooking on them doesn’t require too much love and attention. All you really need is some matches along with BBQ charcoal to help keep your fire burning. If you’re setting up base in a campsite, make sure your BBQ meets site requirement as many across the UK have banned disposable BBQs due to grass damage. When it comes to the gas stove make sure you have enough for your full trip as well as a table or stand and a safe place to store it.
When it comes to utensils don’t overdo it by packing up your whole kitchen. A basic combination of a few lightweight pots, a chopping board, cooking grate, roasting sticks, spatula and tongs can be used to prepare just about anything, from bacon and eggs to fajitas. This simplicity is part of the excitement of campfire cooking – you learn how to adapt and will be impressed with the inventive ways you can produce a meal. Boarders Leisure will be pitching up at stand 2005 and will have plenty of gadgets to help keep your campfire cooking stress free – make sure to visit their friendly team.
A top tip is to pack a lot of tin foil as this will help cook your food (we’ll discuss this later on) and can act as an additional plate which will save you some washing up!
3. Cooking
There is a wide range of cooking techniques which you could opt for, some being far more ambitious than others.
One of the easiest techniques is to wrap food in tin foil. The key here is to get the fire just right so you don’t burn the food. You want to be able to see the coal and have no large active flames. Then simply wrap the food tightly in tin foil – if cooking sweetcorn put a little bit of butter in there - and then just sit back and wait until it’s cooked.
If you’ve opted for a gas stove, then use a frying pan to cook the veggies and/or meat and a pan to re-heat some pasta. This is probably the quickest and cleanest way to rustle up a tasty meal.
4. Patience
Campfire cooking needs patience. Cooking in the great outdoors is going to take a lot longer than it does in the comfort of your kitchen but it’s arguably a lot more fun and rewarding. So just remember to factor in an extra half hour to 45 minutes to avoid people getting too hungry!
And there you have it – your ultimate guide to campfire cooking. We hope these tips will help you master the art of outside cooking. Let us know how you get on by tagging us in your social posts.
Happy camping and remember to pack extra marshmallows!
Make sure to hike on down to the show at SEC, Glasgow on 6-9th February for some touring inspiration and to speak to the experts about your next outdoor adventure. Tickets can be booked here: https://www.caravanshowscotland.com/book-tickets