Camp Cooking Question

[KC9DDI]

Hi - I hope I'm asking this in the right place... I enjoy camp cooking. My mom has had a crock-pot slow-cooker for a few years, and its great for cooking. Can anyone suggest a method of cooking slow-cooker style while camping. I'm assuming a Dutch oven would be essential, maybe by placing coals in a cardboard box, and heating the Dutch indirectly? It would be great to be able to put a stew or soup on to cook in the morning, and then having it ready to eat at dinner time, without having to spend time preparing food in the evening. Any thoughts?

[SemperParatus]

If you like slow-cooking, here is the site for you.

 

http://www.justslowcooking.com

 

Most recipes can be adapted to the dutch oven.

 

 

[OneHour]

KC9DDI,

 

I have cooked many times with the Dutch Oven but have never done the heating by induction method. Here is a question for you. By doing the slow-cooker method as you have suggested, who will be manning the cooker the whole day? In other words, who will be keeping a watch over the charcoals (aka fire)? I have seen one troop roasted chickens and turkeys using charcoal fence (?). It took about 6 hours and they took turn constantly feeding charcoals.

 

Many stew and soup can be made using the DO without much preparation (especially if you have the guys chop the ingredient ahead of time and package them ... ie. potato chunks, sliced carrots, meat cube, etc.) and the cooking time usually takes about 40-60 minutes. Anyway, good luck.

 

1Hour

[LPC_Thumper]

My first exposure to a dutch oven was when my college roommate got married. His fiance was from a very rural area of the California Central Valley. Her father made dutch of chicken for us that he browned the outside of the chicken and then dug a pit layed a fire in the pit, put the DO in and then buried. He left it for about 8 hours. You want to talk about slow coooking. The chicken just feel off the bones, and was just about PERFECT. We sat around and ate until we couldn't stand up. It was one of those wonderful memories, I still think of that night as I use DOs with my scouts. You might want to try this technique at home first to verify that it works. It helps to resolves the fire watch issue, since the fire is basically out, and there is no spark danger. I have learned that ANYTHING that can be cooked in a crock pot can be cooked in a DO. Try it before you go so you can feel assured that it's going to work. And when you come across those recipes that create problems, you still have a fridge with food so you can recover from your mistake. Have fun, and good luck!

[evmori]

Dutch oven cooking! Now that's good eating!

[Eamonn]

You might want to try Hay Box Cooking

http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1980_January_February/Rediscover_the_Hay_Box_Cooker

 

Eamonn.

[Lynda J]

I remember camping as a GS and my Dad would slow cook things in a pit lined with hay or straw. I don't remember exactly but will look in some of the camp books I still have that were my parents. I know he did baked beans in it.

 

[Lynda J]

Thumper. We call the coal fence a Cajun Microwave. My boys love doing it. I have full instruction on making one if anyone wants it. Easy to make and easy to store in your camp trailer.

They did a rosted chicken stuffed with spiced peaches at one camp trip. Took 5 house and boy was it good.

They also did stuffing in the bottom of the fence and let the drippings drop into it.

[madkins007]

You can also try solar cooking. There are literally hundreds of sites about it at many levels of complexity, from a pretty basic box/reflector set-up to some pretty cool parabolic mirror things!

[SR540Beaver]

LPC,

 

I've often read about digging a hole and cooking in it and it has always interested me. Be careful with it now days though with Leave no Trace around. Just like trenching around the old wall tents to keep water out, any disturbance of the ground such as digging is often frowned upon by many scout camps and/or other wilderness camping areas. The rule of thumb should be to obtain permission wherever you are camping if you plan on using this method of cooking.

[KC9DDI]

Just thought I'd let everyone know how it turned out...

 

I made a box oven with a cardboard box lined with aluminum foil. I put two pieces of firewood in there, and propped the Dutch oven off the botton of the oven on the firewood. I added about half a chimney of coals 3 times between 10 AM and 6 PM. I tried to keep the temperature at about 275F, and it varied between 150 and 350F. I spaced the coals around the oven, and placed two on the lid of the Dutch. It worked awesomely (is that a word?) -- better than in a crock pot at home. I went to try to stir the meat (it was a 6 pound roast I was making Italian beef sandwhiches out of) and it just fell apart. Awesome! I'd encourage anyone to give this method a try - really easy, just add some coals every few hours.